t an exorbitant price, with a picture on it
representing a steam-boat, railway cars, and a canal packet drawn by
three prancing horses, to bring him to some place beyond Albany. _He
gets a steam-boat ticket to Albany_. Here his great ticket, with the
pictures, is protested; he has to pay once more, and instead of railroad
cars and a packet-boat, he is thrust into the steerage or hold of a line
boat, which amongst other conveniences is furnished with false scales
for weighing his luggage.

A few extracts from the testimony of some of the witnesses examined
before the Committee will show how unexaggerated was the Report.

Henry Vail is examined: he testifies that he is employed by E. Mathews.
His practice is to get all he can for tickets; he retains whatever is
over the proper price and gets his monthly pay besides. The only
exception to his getting all he can, is, he declares upon his oath, that
he "_never shaves a lady that is travelling alone_. It is bad enough,"
in his opinion, "to shave a man."[297] Charles Cooke said, in his
examination, that he had been employed by many offices. He heard
Rieschmueller tell passengers to go to the d----l, they could not get
less than twelve dollars as deck passengers on the lake, and he made
them believe they must get their tickets from him, which they did.
"Rieschmueller told me," said Cooke, "that all he was compelled to pay
for a passenger to any port on the lakes was from two dollars to two and
a-half. Wolfe told me that two dollars was the price, and all luggage
free."[298] Mervyn L. Ray swore that he knew Mr. Adams to take twelve
dollars for a passenger to Buffalo, when he (Ray) would have given him
the same fare at two dollars.

One of the witnesses, T.R. Schoger enters into some details. 1. The
first fraud, he says, practised on emigrants is this:--the moment the
vessel arrives it is boarded by runners, whose first object appears to
be to get emigrants to their respective public houses. Once there they
are considered sure prey. There are, of course, rival establishments;
each has agents (runners) and bullies. There is often bloodshed between
them. The emigrant is bewildered. He is told he will get meals for
sixpence a piece--he never gets one less than two shillings, and he is
often charged a dollar a meal. 2. The next ordeal is called booking;
that is, he is taken to the forwarding office, and told it is the _only_
office, the proprietors being owners of boats, railways,