1887, with an enlargement of the definition of the word "railroad" and the word "transportation." By this enlargement it is believed that the" devices" resorted to by carriers, through the use of switches and cars owned by shippers, and by the use of refrigerator cars, and so forth, can be obviated.

Section 2 contains certain amendments of section 6 of the act of 1887 as amended by the act of 1889. Under its provisions more prompt obedience to the law on the part of the carriers relating to tariff schedules will be secured, and there is also a requirement that icing and other charges be stated in their schedules. It is believed that requiring thirty days' notice of the changing of schedules will do away with the discriminations heretofore made through what is called the "midnight tariffs." The section, however, gives to the Commission power to permit the filing of changes of rates on less than thirty days' notice.

Section 3 modifies section 14 of the act of 1887. The present law requires the Commission, whenever an investigation is made, to make and report a finding of facts as well as of conclusions. It is believed that in the great majority of instances the labor of making a finding of facts is unnecessary, and, therefore, the section is so modified as to eliminate that as a duty, except in cases where damages are awarded.

Section 4 contains marked modifications of section 15 of the act of 1887. It is this section that confers the power upon the Commission to establish a rate or to declare what will be a proper charge in certain instances. As before observed, the power to initiate rates is not given to the Commission. So far as is known but very few persons have thought it wise to confer this power, and it is just to the Interstate Commerce Commission to say that, as we are advised, no member of the Commission thinks it wise that they should be invested with this power.

The recommendations of the section on this subject are

that the Commission shall be authorized and empowered, and it shall be its duty, upon hearing on complaint made as provided in section 13 or upon complaint of a common carrier, it shall be of the opinion that any of the rates or charges whatsoever demanded, charged, or collected by any common carrier or carriers, subject to the provisions of this act, for the transportation of persons or property as defined in the first section of this act, or that any regulations or practices whatsoever of such carrier or carriers affecting such rates, are unjust or unreasonable, or unjustly discriminatory, or unduly preferential or prejudicial, or otherwise in violation of any of the provisions of this act, to determine and prescribe what will, in its judgment, be the just and reasonable and fairly remunerative rate or rates, charge or charges, to be thereafter observed in such case as the maximum to be charged; and what regulation or practice in respect to such transportation is just, fair, and reasonable thereafter to be followed; and to make an order that the carrier shall cease and desist from such violation to the extent to which the Commission find the same to exist, and shall not thereafter publish, demand, or collect any rate or charge for such transportation in excess of the maximum rate or charge so prescribed, and shall conform to the regulation or practice so prescribed.

This order goes into effect in thirty days after notice to the carrier, and remains in force, unless it be suspended, modified, or set aside by the Commission, or set aside or suspended by a court of competent jurisdiction. A provision of the bill, however, limits the existence of the order to a period of three years after the same has been obeyed by the carrier. The provision above quoted requires the

Commission to establish the maximum rate or charge that may be exacted by the carrier. The word maximum was used in order that some flexibility might be given to the rate, and that the carrier might, if it so elected, charge a less sum than that fixed by the Commission. This section further provides that if the owner of property transported, directly or indirectly, renders any service in connection with or furnishes any instrumentality, the charges for these shall be no more than is just and reasonable, and also gives to the Commission power upon complaint to determine what is a reasonable charge, as the maximum, to be paid by the carrier or carriers for the service or the use of the instrumentality. It is believed that under this provision those excessive charges, constituting rebates that are in some instances paid to shippers who own their own cars, may be controlled. The Commission may also establish through routes and determine upon the division of rates, when such division can not be agreed upon by the carriers, but this power is limited to cases when no reasonable or satisfactory through route exists.

The fifth section is an amendment to section 16 of the act of 1887, as amended by the act of 1889, and is intended to aid complainants in whose behalf damages are awarded, on complaint, by the Commission. It provides the method of service of notice. It authorizes the Commission to suspend or modify its orders. It authorizes the Commission to modify the time in which an order shall take effect. It imposes upon the carrier its duty to comply with the order of the Commission as long as it is in effect. It provides a penalty of $5,000 for disobedience of an order made under section 15, and the forfeiture shall be paid to the United States, and the duty of prosecution for recovery of the forfeiture is imposed upon the Attorney-General. The Commission is given power, with the consent of the AttorneyGeneral, to employ counsel in any proceeding under this act. The section also provides for the enforcement of the order of the Commission, other than for the payment of money, by the Commission or any party injured applying to the circuit court in the district where the carrier has its principal office or in which the violation shall happen, for the enforcement of the order. This application shall be made by petition

if, upon such hearing as the court may determine to be necessary, it appears that the order was regularly made and duly served and that the carrier is in disobedience of the same. The court shall enforce obedience to such order by a writ of injunction or other proper process, mandatory or otherwise, to restrain such carrier, its officers, agents, or representatives from further disobedience or to enjoin upon it or them obedience to the same; and in the enforcement of such process the court shall have those powers ordinarily exercised by it in compelling obedience to its writs of injunction and mandamus.

Appeals lie to the Supreme Court direct, and such cases are to have priority in hearing and determination over all other causes except criminal causes, but such appeal shall not vacate or suspend the order appealed from.

Section 6 provides for rehearings before the Commission.

Section 7 is an amendment of section 20 of the act of 1887, and gives the Commission additional power with regard to reports from all common carriers, subject to the law, and to prescribe the manner in which such reports shall be made and the subject-matter of the report, and provides a penalty for failure to obey such requirements. It

also gives the Commission power, in its discretion, to prescribe the form of accounts, records, and memoranda to be kept by carriers, and that the Commission shall at all times have access to such records and books and other accounts to be kept. It provides penalties for the wrongful making of accounts or records or for destroying records or books of accounts. It authorizes examinations to be made by experts appointed by the Commission, and imposes a penalty of fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment of not more than two years upon any examiner who divulges any knowledge that may come to him in the performance of his duties.

Section 8 provides for the enlargement of the Commission by the appointment of two additional Commissioners by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, extends the term of Commissioners to seven years, and increases the annual salary of Commissioners from $7,500 to $10,000.

Section 9 makes applicable all existing laws with reference to the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence and the compelling of testimony to any and all prosecutions under this act.

Section 10 is a repeal of all parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this act, but provides that such repeal shall not interfere with causes now pending in the courts of the United States.

No member of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce believes that the provisions of this bill will be satisfactory to all persons who may be affected by it, nor that it will be satisfactory even to those who desire legislation upon the lines of the bill. But it must be remembered that the bill involves great questions, involving thousands of millions of property and interests that are measured by hundreds of millions of dollars every year, and all sections of the country, and that complete harmony of sentiment upon any measure involving so much is not to be expected. Such harmony belongs to the realm of the impossible. We can only say that from the divergent views entertained by us, and that have been urged upon us during protracted hearings, we have done the best we could to provide a measure that we think will give at least very considerable relief from evils that are recognized to be many and grievous.

For the convenience of members, the committee appends to this report a copy of the bill, the act of 1887 as amended by the act of 1889, and the act of 1903, known as the "Elkins bill."

A BILL To amend an act entitled "An act to regulate commerce," approved February fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and all acts amendatory thereof, and to enlarge the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section one of an act entitled "An act to regulate commerce," approved February fourth, eighteen hundred and eightyseven, be amended so as to read as follows:

SEC. 1. That the provisions of this act shall apply to any common carrier or carriers engaged in the transportation of passengers or property wholly by railroad (or partly by railroad and partly by water when both are used under a common control, management, or arrangement for a continuous carriage or shipment), from one State or Territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, to any other State or Territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, or from one place in a Territory to another place in the same Territory, or from any place in the United States to an adjacent foreign country, or from any place in the United States through a foreign country to

any other place in the United States, and also to the transportation in like manner of property shipped from any place in the United States to a foreign country and carried from such place to a port of transshipment, or shipped from a foreign country to any place in the United States and carried to such place from a port of entry either in the United States or an adjacent foreign country: Provided, however, That the provisions of this act shall not apply to the transportation of passengers or property, or to the receiving, delivering, storage, or handling of property wholly within one State and not shipped to or from a foreign country from or to any State or Territory as aforesaid.

"The term 'railroad,' as used in this act, shall include all bridges and ferries used or operated in connection with any railroad, and also all the road in use by any corporation operating a railroad, whether owned or operated under a contract, agreement, or lease, and shall also include all switches, spurs, tracks, and terminal facilities of every kind used or necessary in the transportation of the persons or property designated herein, and also all freight depots, yards, and grounds used or necessary in the transportation or delivery of any of said property; and the term 'transportation' shall include cars and other vehicles and all instrumentalities and facilities of shipment or carriage, irrespective of ownership or of any contract, express or implied, for the use thereof and all services in connection with the receipt, delivery, elevation, and transfer in transit, ventilation, refrigeration or icing, storage, and handling of property transported; and it shall be the duty of every carrier subject to the provisions of this act to provide and furnish such transportation upon reasonable request therefor, and to establish through routes and just and reasonable rates appllcable thereto

"All charges made for any service rendered or to be rendered in the transportation of passengers or property as aforesaid, or in connection therewith, shall be just and reasonable; and every unjust and unreasonable charge for such service or any part thereof is prohibited and declared to be unlawful." SEC. 2. That section six of said act, as amended March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, be amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 6. That every common carrier subject to the provisions of this act shall print and keep open to public inspection schedules showing the rates, fares, and charges for the transportation of passengers and property which any such common carrier has established, and which are in force at the time upon its route. The schedules printed as aforesaid by any such common carrier shall plainly state the places between which property and passengers will be carried, and shall contain the classification of freight in force, and shall also state separately the terminal charges, icing charges, and all other charges which the Commission may require, and any rules or regulations which in any wise change, affect, or determine any part of the aggregate of such aforesaid rates, fares, and charges. Such schedules shall be plainly printed in large type, and copies for the use of the public shall be posted in two public and conspicuous places in every depot, station, or office of such carrier where passengers or freight, respectively, are received for transportation, in such form that they shall be accessible to the public and can be conveniently inspected.

"Any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act receiving freight in the United States to be carried through a foreign country to any place in the United States shall also in like manner print and keep open to public inspection, at every depot or office where such freight is received for shipment, schedules showing the through rates established and charged by such common carrier to all points in the United States beyond the foreign country to which it accepts freight for shipment; and any freight shipped from the United States through a foreign country into the United States the through rate on which shall not have been made public, as required by this act, shall, before it is admitted into the United States from said foreign country, be subject to customs duties as if said freight were of foreign production.

"No change shall be made in the rates, fares, and charges or joint rates, fares, and charges which have been established and published by any common carrier in compliance with the requirements of this section, except after thirty days' public notice, which shall plainly state the changes proposed to be made in the schedule then in force and the time when the changed rates, fares, or charges will go into effect; and the proposed changes shall be shown by printing new schedules, or shall be plainly indicated upon the schedules in force at the time and kept open to public inspection: Provided, That the Commission may, in its discretion and for good cause shown, allow changes upon less than the notice herein specified, or modify the requirements of this section in respect to pub

lishing, posting, and filing of tariffs, either in particular instances or by a general order applicable to special or peculiar circumstances or conditions.

"And when any such common carrier shall have established and published Its rates, fares, and charges in compliance with the provisions of this section, It shall be unlawful for such common carrier to charge, demand, collect, or receive from any person or persons a greater or less compensation for the transportation of passengers or property, or for any services in connection therewith, than is specified in such published schedule of rates, fares, and charges as may at the time be in force.

"Every common carrier subject to the provisions of this act shall file with the Commission hereinafter provided for copies of its schedules of rates, fares, and charges which have been established and published in compliance with the requirements of this section, and shall promptly notify said Commission of all changes made in the same. Every such common carrier shall also file with said Commission copies of all contracts, agreements, or arrangements with other common carriers in relation to any traffic affected by the provisions of this act to which it may be a party. And in cases where passengers and freight pass over continuous lines or routes operated by more than one common carrier, and the several common carriers operating such lines or routes establish joint tariffs of rates, fares or charges for such continuous lines or routes, copies of such joint tariffs shall also in like manner be filed with said Commission. Such Joint rates, fares, and charges on such continuous lines so filed as aforesaid shall be made public by such common carriers when directed by said Commission, in so far as may, in the judgment of the Commission, be deemed practicable; and said Commission shall from time to time prescribe the measure of publicity which shall be given to such rates, fares, and charges, or to such part of them as it may deem it practicable for such common carriers to publish, and the places in which they shall be published.

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No change shall be made in joint rates, fares, and charges, shown upon joint tariffs, except after thirty days notice to the Commission, which shall plainly state the changes proposed to be made in the schedule then in force and the time when the changed rates, fares, or charges will go into effect. The Commission may make public, or require the carriers to make public, such proposed changes in such manner as may, in its judgment, be deemed practicable, and may prescribe from time to time the measure of publicity which common carriers shall give to advances or reductions in joint tariffs.

"It shall be unlawful for any common carrier party to any joint tariff to charge, demand, collect, or receive from any person or persons a greater or less compensation for the transportation of persons or property, or for any services in connection therewith, between any points as to which a joint rate, fare, or charge is named thereon, than is specified in the schedule filed with the Commission in force at the time.

"The Commission may determine and prescribe the form in which the schedules required by this section to be kept open to public inspection shall be prepared and arranged, and may change the form from time to time as shall be found expedient.

"If any such common carrier shall neglect or refuse to file or publish its schedules or tariffs of rates, fares, and charges as provided in this section or any part of the same, such common carrier shall, in addition to other penalties herein prescribed, be subject to a writ of mandamus, to be issued by any circuit court of the United States in the judicial district wherein the principal operating office of said common carrier is situated or wherein such offense may be committed, and if such common carrier be a foreign corporation in the judicial circuit wherein such common carrier accepts traffic and has an agent to perform such service, to compel compliance with the aforesaid provisions of this section; and such writ shall issue in the name of the people of the United States, at the relation of the Commission appointed under the provisions of this act; and the failure to comply with its requirements shall be punishable as and for a contempt; and the said Commission, as complainant, may also apply, in any such circuit court of the United States, for a writ of injunction against such common carrier to restrain such common carrier from receiving or transporting property among the several States and Territories of the United States, or between the United States and adjacent foreign countries, or between ports of transshipment and of entry and the several States and Territories of the United States as mentioned in the first section of this act, unil such common carrier shall have complied with the aforesaid provisions of this section of this act.”