thereof, and shall also from time to time carefully examine and inspect the condition of each railroad in the state, and of its equipment, and the manner of its conduct and management, with reference to the public safety and convenience, and for the purpose of keeping the several railroad companies advised as to the safety of their bridges, shall make a semi-annual examination of the same, and report their condition to the said companies. And if any bridge shall be deemed unsafe by the commissioners, they shall notify the railroad company immediately, and it shall be the duty of said railroad company to repair and put in good order within ten days after receiving said notice, said bridge, and in default thereof, said commissioners are hereby authorized and empowered to stop and prevent said railroad company from running or passing its trains over said bridge, while in its unsafe condition. Whenever, in the judgment of the railroad commissioners, it shall appear that any railroad corporation fails, in any respect or particular, to comply with the terms of its charter or the laws of the state, or whenever in their judgment any repairs are necessary upon its road, or any addition to its rolling stock, or any addition to or change of its stations or station houses, or any change in its rates of fare for transporting freight or passengers, or any change in the mode of operating its road and conducting its business is reasonable and expedient in order to promote the security. convenience and accommodation of the public, said railroad commisssioners shall inform such railroad corporation of the improvements and changes which they adjudge to be proper, by a notice thereof in writing to be served by leaving a copy thereof certified by the commissioners' clerk, with any station agent, clerk, treasurer or any director of said corporation and a report of the proceedings shall be included in the annual report of the commissioners to the legislature. Nothing in this section shall be construed as relieving any railroad company from their present responsibility or liability for damage to person or property. 2034. Report. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 4. The said railroad commissioners shall, on or before the first Monday in December in each year, make a report to the governor of their doings for the preceding year, containing such facts, statements and explanations as will disclose the working of the system of railroad transportation in this state, and its relation to the general business and prosperity of the citizens of the state, and such suggestions and recommendations in respect thereto as may to them seem appropriate. Said report shall also contain as to every railroad corporation doing business in this State : First.-The amount of its capital stock. Second. The amount of its preferred stock, if any, and the condition of its preferment. Third.—The amount of its funded debt and the rate of interest. Fifth. The cost and actual present cash value of its road and equipment, including permanent way, buildings and rolling stock, all real estate used exclusively in operating the road and all fixtures and conveniences for transacting its business. Sixth.—The estimated value of all other property owned by such corporation, with a schedule of the same, not including lands granted in aid of its construction. Seventh.-The number of acres originally granted in aid of construction of its road by the United States or by this state. Eighth.-Number of acres of such land remaining unsold. Ninth.-A list of its officers and directors, with their respective places of residence. Tenth.-Such statistics of the road and of its transportation business for the year as may, in the judgment of the commissioners, be necessary and proper for the information of the general assembly, or as may be required by the governor. Such report shall exhibit and refer to the condition of such corporation on the first day of July of each year, and the details of its transportation business transacted during the year ending June thirtieth. Eleventh.-The average amount of tonnage that can be carried over each road in the state with an engine of given power. 2035. Reports of railroad companies. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 5. To enable said commissioners to make such a report, the president or managing officer of each railroad corporation doing business in this state, shall annually make to the said commissioners, on the fifteenth day of the month of September, such returns, in the form which they may prescribe, as will afford the information required for their said official report; such returns shall be verified by the oath of the officer making them; and any railroad corporation whose return shall not be made as herein prescribed by the fifteenth day of September, shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for each and every day after the sixteenth day of September that such return shall be wilfully delayed or refused. 2036. Salaries. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 6. The said commissioners shall hold their office in the capitol, or at some other suitable place in the city of Des Moines. They shall each receive a salary of three thousand dollars per annum, to be paid as the salaries of other state officers are paid, and shall be provided at the expense of the state with necessary office furniture and stationery, and they shall have authority to appoint a secretary, who shall receive a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum. 2037. Oath; bond. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 7. Said commissioners and secretary shall be sworn to the due and faithful performance of the duties of their respective offices before entering upon the discharge of the same, as prescribed in section six hundred and seventy-six of the code [§ 1141], and no person in the employ of any railroad corporation, or holding stock in any railroad corporation, shall be employed as secretary. Each of said commissioners shall enter into bonds with security to be approved by the executive council, in the sum of ten thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties. 2038. Examination of books of officers. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 6. The said commissioners shall have power, in the discharge of the duties of their office, to examine any of the books, papers or documents of any such corporation, or to examine under oath or otherwise any officer, director, agent or employee of any such corporation; they are empowered to issue subpœnas and administer oaths in the same manner and with the same power to enforce obedience thereto in the performance of their said duties as belong and pertain to courts of law in this state; and any person who may wilfully obstruct said commissioners in the performance of their duties, or who may refuse to give any information within his possession that may be required by said commissioners within the line of their duty, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable, on conviction thereof, to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, in the discretion of the court, the costs of such subpoenas and investigation to be first paid by the state on the certificate of said commissioners. 2039. Duty of railroad to furnish and transport cars. 17 G. A.. cb. 77, § 10. It shall be the duty of any railroad corporation, when within their power to do so, and upon reasonable notice, to furnish suitable cars to any and all persons who may apply therefor, for the transportation of any and all kinds of freight, and to receive and transport such freight with all reasonable dispatch, and to provide and keep suitable facilities for the receiving and handling the same at any depot on the line of its road; and also to receive and transport in like manner, the empty or loaded cars, furnished by any connecting road, to be delivered at any station or stations on the line of its road, to be loaded or discharged, ot reloaded and returned to the road so connecting; and for compensation it shall not demand or receive any greater sum than is accepted by it from any other connecting railroad, for a similar service. The duty of one railway to transport the cars of another road may be enforced by mandatory injunction, and the fact that the receiving of such cars by the former road will cause a strike of its employees will constitute no defence. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Burlington, C. R. & N. R. Co., 34 Fed. Rep., 481. 2040. Reasonable rates. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 12. No railroad company shall charge, demand or receive from any person, company or corporation an unreasonable price for the transportation of persons or property, or for the handling or storing of freight, or for the use of its cars, or for any privilege or service afforded by it in the transaction of its business as a railroad corporation. In an action, not brought under this statute, to recover excessive charges, held, that concealment by defendant of facts showing the charges to be excessive was sufficient to prevent the statute of limitations running against the action. Carrier v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 79–80; Cook v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 46 N. W. Rep., 1080. At common law a carrier has no right to make unjust discrimination between customers, and where it appeared that defendant had regularly given rebates to other customers, which it had denied to plaintiff under similar circumstances and the giving of which it had concealed from him, held that` he could recover the amount of such excessive charges. Also, held, that the payment by the shipper in such case was not voluntary so as to preclude recovery. Cook v. Chicago, R. I. & P. R. Co., 46 N. W. Rep., 1080. 2041. Penalty. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 13. Any railroad corporation which shall violate any of the provisions of this act, as to extortion or unjust discrimination, shall forfeit for every such offense to the person, company, or corporation aggrieved thereby, three times the actual damages sustained or overcharges paid by the said party aggrieved, together with the cost of suit, and a reasonable attorney's fee to be fixed by the court, and if an appeal be taken from the judgment or any part thereof, it shall be the duty of the appellate court to include in the judgment an additional reasonable attorney's fee for services in the appellate court or courts, to be recovered in a civil action therefor. And in all cases where complaint shall be made, in accordance with the provisions of section fifteen [§ 2043], hereinafter provided, that an unreasonable charge is made, the commissioners shall require a modified charge for the service rendered, such as they shall deem to be reasonable, and all cases of a failure to comply with the recommendation of the commissioners shall be embodied in the report of the commissioners to the legislature; and the same shall apply to any unjust discrimination, extortion, or overcharge by said company, or other violation of law. This section is not applicable to interstate commerce. Cook v. Chicago R. I. & P. R. Co., 75-169. In an action brought to recover excessive charges for interstate transportation, held that plaintiff might, by amendment abandon the claim therefor under this section and ask the relief to which he would be entitled at common law. Ibid. The extortion or unjust discrimination contemplated in this section is such as arises from extortionate or discriminating charges and not such as arises from failure or refusal to furnish transportation, or to furnish cars, nor does § 2039 make any provisions against discriminating in furnishing cars or transportation of property. It simply imposes duties which the common law lays upon all carriers with others relating to the furnishing of cars and the transportation of cars delivered to the railroad by a connecting road. The penalty in treble damages provided in this section is therefore not applicable to such discrimination. Bond v. Wabash, St. L. & P. R. Co., 67-712. This statute, so far as it imposes a forfeiture for doing acts therein prohibited, is to be regarded as penal and cannot be extended by implication. Ibid. 2012. Investigation of accidents. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 14. Upon the occurrence of any serious accident upon a railroad which shall result in personal injury, or loss of life, the corporation operating the road upon which the accident occurred shall give immediate notice thereof to the commissioners whose duty it shall be, if they deem it necessary, to investigate the same, and promptly report to the governor the extent of the personal injuries, or loss of life, and whether the same was the result of the mismanagement or neglect of the corporation on whose line the injury or loss of life occurred. Provided, that such report shall not be evidence or referred to in any case in any court. 2043. Examination of rates. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 15. It shall be the duty of said commissioners upon the complaint and application of the mayor and aldermen of any city or the mayor and council of any incorporated town, or the trustees of any township, to make an examination of the rate of passenger fare or freight tariff charged by any railroad company, and of the condition or operation of any railroad, any part of whose location lies within the limits of such city, town or township, and if twenty-five or more legal voters in any city or township shall, by petition in writing, request the mayor and aldermen of such city or the trustees of such township, to make the said complaint and application, and the mayor and aldermen, or the trustees, refuse or decline to comply with the prayer of the petition, they shall state the reason for such non-compliance in writing upon the petition, and return the same to the petitioners; and the petitioners may thereupon, within ten days from the date of such refusal and return, present such petition to said commissioners and said commissioners, shall, if upon due inquiry and bearing of the petitioners, they think the public good demands the examination, proceed to make it in the same manner as if called upon by the mayor and aldermen of any city, or the trustees of any township. Before proceeding to make such examination, in accordance with such application or petition, said commissioners shall give to the petitioners and the corporation reasonable notice, in writing, of the time and place of entering upon the same. If, upon such an examination, it shall appear to said commissioners that the complaint alleged by the applicants or petitioners is well founded, they shall so adjudge, and shall inform the corporation operating such railroad of their adjudication within ten days, and shall also report their doings to the governor, as provided in the fourth section of this act [§ 2034]. 2044. To whom applicable. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 16. In the construction of this act, the phrase railroad shall be construed to include all railroads and railways operated by steam, and whether operated by the corporation owning them or by other corporations or otherwise. The phrase railroad corporation shall be construed to mean the corporation which constructs, maintains or operates a railroad operated by steam power. 2045. Cumulative. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 17. Nothing in this act shall be construed to estop or hinder any persons or corporations from bringing suit against any railroad company for any violation of any of the laws of this state for the government of railroads. 2046. 17 G. A., ch. 77, § 18. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. 2047. Decrees of commissioners enforced. 20 G. A., ch. 133, § 1. The [circuit and] district courts of this state shall have jurisdiction to enforce, by proper decrees, injunctions and orders, the rulings, orders and regulations affecting public right, made or to be made by the board of railroad commissioners, such as are now, or may hereafter be, authorized to be made by them for the future direction and observance of railroads in this state. The proceedings therefor shall be by equitable action in the name of the state of Iowa, and shall be instituted by the attorney-general, whenever advised by the board of railroad commissioners that any railway corporation, or person operating a line of road in this state, is violating and refusing to comply with any rule, order or regulation made by such board of railroad commissioners, and applicable to such railroad or person. It shall be the duty of the court in which any such cause shall be pending to require the issues to be made up at the first term of the court to which such cause is brought, which shall be the trial term, and to give the same precedence over other civil business. If the court shall find that such rule, regulation, or order is reasonable and just, and that in refusing compliance therewith said railway company is failing and omitting the performance of any public duty or obligation, the court shall decree a mandatory and perpetual injunction compelling obedience to and compliance with such rule, order, or regulation by said railroad company, or other person, its officers, agents, servants and employees and may grant such other relief as may be deemed just and proper. All violations of such decree shall render the company, persons, officers, agents, servants and employees who are in any manner instrumental in such violations, guilty of contempt of court, and the court may punish 74347 |