ble to ordinary suits in equity, but in such manner as to do justice in the premises; and to this end such court shall have power, if it think fit, to direct and prosecute in such mode and by such persons as it may appoint, all such inquiries as the court may think needful to enable it to form a just judgment in the matter of such petition; and on such hearing the findings of fact in the report of said commission shall be prima facie evidence of the matters therein stated; and if it be made to appear to such court on such hearing or on report of any such person or persons that the lawful order or requirement of said commission drawn in question has been violated or disobeyed, it shall be lawful for such court to issue a writ of injunction or other proper process, mandatory or otherwise, to restrain such common carrier from further continuing such violation or disobedience of such order or requirement of said commission and enjoining obedience to the same; and in case of any disobedience of any such writ of injunction or other proper process, mandatory or otherwise, it shall be lawiul for such court to issue writs of attachment or any other process of said court incident or applicable to writs of injunction or other proper process, mandatory or otherwise, against such common carrier, and if a corporation against one or more of the directors, officers, or agents of the same, or against any owner, lessee, trustee, receiver, or other person failing to obey such writ of injunction or other proper process, mandatory or otherwise; and said court may, if it shall think fit, make an order directing such common carrier or other person so disobeying such writ of injunction or other proper process, mandatory or otherwise, to pay such sum of money, not exceeding for each carrier or person in default the sum of $500 for every day, after a day to be named in the order, that such carrier or other person shall fail to obey such injunction or other proper process, mandatory or otherwise; and such moneys shall be payable as the court shall direct, either to the party complaining or into court, to abide the ultimate decision of the court, or into the Treasury; and payment thereof may, without prejudice to any other mode of recovering the same, be enforced by attachment or order in the nature of a writ of execution, in like manner as if the same had been recovered by a final decree in personam in such court. When the subject in dispute shall be of the value of $2,000 or inore, either party to such proceeding before said court may appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, under the same regulations now provided by law in respect of security for such appeal; but such appeal shall not operate to stay or supersede the order of the court or the execution of any writ or process thereon; and such court may, in every such matter, order the payment of such costs and counsel fees as shall be deemed reasonable. Whenever any such petition shall be filed or presented by the commission, it shall be the duty of the district attorney, under the direction of the AttorneyGeneral of the United States, to prosecute the same; and the costs and expenses of such prosecution shall be paid out of the appropriation for the expenses of the courts of the United States.

"If the matters involved in any such order or requirement of said commission are founded upon a controversy requiring a trial by jury, as provided by the seventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and any such common carrier shall violate or refuse or neglect to obey or perform the same, after notice given by said commission as provided in the fifteenth section of this act, it shall be lawful for any company or person interested in such order or requirement to apply in a summary way by petition to the circuit court of the United States sitting as a court of law in the judicial district in which the carrier complained of has its principal office, or in which the violation or disobedience of such order or requirement shall happen, alleging such violation or disobedience as the case may be; and said court shall by its order then fix a time and place for the trial of said cause, which shall not be less than

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twenty nor more than forty days from the time said order is made, and it shall be the duty of the marshal of the district in which said proceeding is pending to forthwith serve a copy of said petition, and of said order, upon each of the defendants, and it shall be the duty of the defendants to file their answers to said petition within ten days after the service of the same upon them as aforesaid. At the trial the findings of fact of said commission as set forth in its report shall be prima facie evidence of the matters therein stated, and if either party shall demand a jury or shall omit to waive a jury, the court shall, by its order, direct the marshal forthwith to summon a jury to try the cause; but if all the parties shall waive a jury in writing, then the court shall try the issues in said cause and render its judgment thereon. If the subject in dispute shall be of the value of $2,000 or more, either party may appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States under the same regulations now provided by law in respect to security for such appeal; but such appeal must be taken within twenty days from the day of the rendition of the judgment of said circuit court. If the judgment of the circuit court shall be in favor of the party complaining, he or they shall be entitled to recover a reasonable counsel or attorney's fee, to be fixed by the court, which shall be collected as part of the costs in the case. For the purposes of this act, excepting its penal provisions, the circuit courts of the United States shall be deemed to be always in session."

SEC. 6. That section 17 of said act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 17. That the commission may conduct its proceedings in such manner as will best conduce to the proper dispatch of business and to the ends of justice. A majority of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but no commissioner shall participate in any hearing or proceeding in which he has any pecuniary interest. Said commission may, from time to time, make or amend such general rules or orders as may be requisite for the order and regulation of proceedings before it, including forms of notices and the service thereof, which shall conform, as nearly as may be, to those in use in the courts of the United States. Any party may appear before said commission and be heard, in person or by attorney. Every vote and official act of the commission shall be entered of record, and its proceedings shall be public upon the request of either party interested. Said commission shall have an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed. Either of the members of the commission may administer oaths and affirmations and sign subpoenas."

SEC. 7. That section 18 of said act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 18. That each commissioner shall receive an annual salary of $7,500, payable in the same manner as the judges of the courts of the United States. The commission shall appoint a secretary, who shall receive an annual salary of $3,500, payable in like manner. The commission shall have authority to employ and fix the compensation of such other employés as it may find necessary to the proper performance of its duties. Until otherwise provided by law, the commission may hire suitable offices for its use, and shall have authority to procure all necessary office supplies. Witnesses summoned before the commission shall be paid the same fees and mileage that are paid to witnesses in the courts of the United States.

"All of the expenses of the commission, including all necessary expenses for transportation incurred by the commissioners, or by their employés under their orders, in making any investigation, or upon official business in any other places than in the city of Washington, shall be allowed and paid on the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor approved by the chairman of the commission."

SEC. 8. That section 21 of said act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 21. That the commission shall, on or before the 1st day of December in each year, make a report,

which shall be transmitted to Congress, and copies of which shall be distributed as are the other reports transmitted to Congress. This report shall contain such information and data collected by the commission as may be considered of value in the determination of questions connected with the regulation of commerce, together with such recommendations as to additional legislation relating thereto as the commission may deem necessary; and the names and compensation of the persons employed by said commission."

SEC. 9. That section 22 of said act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 22. That nothing in this act shall prevent the carriage, storage, or handling of property free or at reduced rates for the United States, State, or municipal governments, or for charitable purposes, or to or from fairs and expositions for exhibition thereat, or the free carriage of destitute and homeless persons transported by charitable societies, and the necessary agents employed in such transportation, or the issuance of mileage, excursion, or commutation passenger tickets; nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit any common carrier from giving reduced rates to ministers of religion, or to municipal governments for the transportation of indigent persons, or to inmates of the national homes or State homes for disabled volunteer soldiers under arrangements with the boards of managers of said homes; nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent railroads from giving free carriage to their own officers and employés, or to prevent the principal officers of any railroad company or companies from exchanging passes or tickets with other railroad companies for their officers and employés; and nothing in this act contained shall in any way abridge or alter the remedies now existing at common law or by statute, but the provisions of this act are in addition to such remedies: Provided, That no pending litigation shall in any way be affected by this act."

SEO. 10. That the circuit and district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction upon the relation of any person or persons, firm, or corporation, alleging such violation by a common carrier, of any of the provisions of the act to which this is a supplement and all acts amendatory thereof, as prevents the relator from having interstate traffic moved by said common carrier at the same rates as are charged, or upon terms or conditions as favorable as those given by said common carrier for like traffic under similar conditions to any other shipper, to issue a writ or writs of mandamus against such common carrier, commanding such common carrier to move and transport the traffic, or to furnish cars or other facilities for transportation for the party applying for the writ: Provided, That if any question of fact as to the proper compensation to the common carrier for the service to be enforced by the writ is raised by the pleadings, the writ of peremptory mandamus may issue, notwithstanding such question of fact is undetermined, upon such terms as to security, payment of money into the court, or otherwise, as the court may think proper, pending the determination of the question of fact: Provided, That the remedy hereby given by writ of mandamus shail be cumulative, and shall not be held to exclude or interfere with other remedies provided by this act or the act to which it is a supplement.

The bill was reported in the House on Sept. 12. 1888, and passed on Sept. 13, after amendment. The first two amendments were formal, referring to the posting of schedules in "two public and conspicuous places." The following amendments were also adopted:

To amend section 2 by inserting after the word "weighing" the words "false representation of the contents of the package."

To amend section 2 of an act entitled "An act to regulate commerce," approved Feb. 4, 1886. by striking out wherever they occur in said section the words

"under substantially similar circumstances and conditions."

To amend section 3 of same act by striking out wherever they occur in said section the words "undue and unreasonable."

To amend section 4 of same act by striking out of said section all after the word "distance" where it occurs before the word " Provided."

To amend an act entitled "An Act to regulate commerce," approved Feb. 4, 1887, by adding the following section:

"That in all civil actions and proceedings of whatever nature arising under an act entitled An act to regulate commerce,' approved Feb. 4, 1887, and under all acts amendatory thereof concurrent jurisdiction with United States courts is hereby conferred upon State courts of competent jurisdiction."

To be added after the word "created," in line 10 of section 3 of this act :

"And said commission is hereby authorized and required to prescribe for the use and guidance of said common carriers in making their schedules of rates and charges for transportation of persons and property one uniform classification, and shall transmit copies thereof to said common carriers on or before the first Monday in January, 1889, and thereafter the failure or refusal of any such common carrier to observe said classification in making schedules of rates shall be an unlawful act, and all rates and charges not in conformity with said classification shall be deemed and be unreasonable rates and charges.

That the following section be added to the said act of 1887: "That the commission is hereby authorized, empowered, and required to execute and enforce the provisions of this act, and upon the request of said commission the Attorney-General of the United States shall institute and prosecute all necessary proceedings in the proper court for the enforcement of this act and for the punishment of all violations thereof."

Add to the end of section 1, the following: "Provided, however, That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act to carry refined oils and other petroleum products, cotton-seed oil, and turpentine for any shipper, in tank or cylinder cars, who shall own, lease, or control the same in any manner, except upon the condition that said carrier shall charge the same rate for the transportation of said products in wooden packages or barrels, in car-load lots, as in said tank or cylinder cars, the said tank and cylinder cars and said wooden packages and barrels being carried free in each case.

To insert in the original section 22 the words "or inmates of soldiers' and sailors' orphans' homes."

The Senate non-concurred in the House amendments; a conference committee was appointed, and at the second session of the Congress, Feb. 5, 1889, the following report was submitted:

The committee of conference, ou the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the House to the bill (S. 2,851) to amend an act entitled "An act to regulate commerce," approved Feb. 4, 1887, having met, after full and free conference have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows:

That the House recede from its amendment numbered 8.

That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendments of the House numbered 1, 2, and 4, and agree to the same.

That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the House numbered 5, and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by said amendment insert the following:

"And the commission is hereby authorized and required to execute and enforce the provisions of this act; and, upon the request of the commission, it shall be the duty of any district attorney of the United States to whom the commission may apply to insti

CONGRESS.

tute in the proper court and to prosecute, under the direction of the Attorney-General of the United States, all necessary proceedings for the enforcement of the provisions of this act, and for the punishment of all violations thereof; and the costs and expenses of such prosecution shall be paid out of the appropriation for the expenses of the courts of the United States." And the House agree to the same.

That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the House numbered 6, and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by said amendment insert the following:

And of soldiers' and sailors' orphans' homes, ineluding those about to enter and those returning home after discharge."

And the House agree to the same.

That as to the amendments numbered 3 and 7 the committee of conference are unable to agree.

The disagreement was to the amendment relating to the transportation of oil in barrels and tank cars and the amendment conferring concurrent jurisdiction on State courts. A second conference committee was appointed, the conferrees on the part of the House receded from the position of insisting upon these amendments, and the conference report was presented March 2 and agreed to by the House, as the railroad commission was urgent for the main part of the measure, and there was no time to spend in further discussion. The President approved of the bill the same day.

Appeal in Capital Cases.-At the first session of the Congress a bill was passed to provide for a writ of error in capital cases, and for other purposes, but through pressure for time it did not receive the approval of the President. On Jan. 7, 1889, the Senate passed the measure again, as follows:

Be it enacted, etc., That there shall be, and is hereby, established a circuit court of the United States in and for the western district of Arkansas, for the northern district of Mississippi, and for the western district of South Carolina, respectively, as the said districts are now constituted by law. And terms of said circuit courts, respectively, shall be held at the times and places now provided by law for the holding of the district courts in said districts respectively, and terms of the circuit court shall be held also at Helena, in the eastern district of Arkansas, at the same times the district court is now required by law to be held; and also at the times and places in West Virginia, where the district court is now provided by law to be held. SEC. 2. That said circuit courts, respectively, shall have and exercise, within their respective districts, the same original and appellate jurisdiction as is or may be conferred by law upon the other circuit courts of the United States; and all suits, causes, and proceedings now pending in the said several respective district courts, and also in the district court of the district of West Virginia, and also in the district court of the eastern district of Arkansas, held at Helena, in and concerning which the said district courts exercise circuit court powers, shall be transferred to and belong to the jurisdiction of said circuit courts, respectively, and shall be proceeded with accordingly.

SEC. 3. That there shall be appointed for each of said circuit courts in this act mentioned, by the circuit-court judge of the circuit in which said districts are respectively embraced, a clerk, who shall take the oath and give the bond required by law for clerks of circuit courts, who shall discharge all the duties and be entitled to all the fees and emoluments prescribed by general law. And the marshals of the United States in and for said respective districts shall act as marshals of said circuit courts, and the district attor

neys of the United States in and for said respective districts shall discharge the duties of district attorneys in said circuit courts. Hereafter all appointments of clerks of circuit courts of the United States shall be made by the circuit judges of the respective circuits in which such circuit courts are or may be hereafter established; and all provisions of law inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

SEC. 4. That said circuit courts, respectively, shall have power to make such orders and directions as shall be proper for the transfer from said district courts of all causes, proceedings, matters, records, files, and papers as by force of this act should belong to the said circuit courts.

SEO. 5. That the provisions of the act entitled "An act to amend sections 533, 558, 571, and 572 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to courts in Arkansas and other States," approved Jan. 31, 1877, conferring upon the district courts named therein circuit-court powers; and section 571 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended by said last-mentioned act, and all provisions of law inconsistent with any of the provisions of this act, be, and the same are hereby, repealed. SEC. 6. That hereafter in all cases of conviction of death, tried before any court of the United States, the crime the punishment of which provided by law is final judgment of such court against the respondent shall, upon the application of the respondent, be reexamined, reversed, or affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States upon a writ of error, under such rules and regulations as said court may prescribe. Every such writ of error shall be allowed as of right and without the requirement of any security for the prosecution of the same or for costs. Upon the allowance of every such writ of error, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the court to which the writ of error shall be directed to forthwith transmit to the

clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States a certified transcript of the record in such case, and it shall be the duty of the clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States to receive, file, and docket the same. Every such writ of error shall during its pendency operate as a stay of proceedings upon the judgment in respect of which it is sued out. Any such writ of error may be filed and docketed in said Supreme Court at any time in a term held prior to the term named in the citation as well as at the time so named; and all such writs of error shall be advanced to a speedy hearing on motion of either party. When any such judgment shall be either reversed or affirmed the cause shall be remanded to the court from whence it came for further proceedings in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court, and the court to which such cause is so remanded shall have power to cause such judgment of the Supreme Court to be carried into execution. No such writ of error shall be sued out or

granted unless a petition therefor shall be filed with

the clerk of the court in which the trial shall have been had during the same time or within such time, not exceeding sixty days next after the expiration of the term of the court which the trial shall have been

had, as the court may for cause allow by order entered of record.

SEO. 7. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after the 1st day of May, A. D. 1889.

The House passed the measure on Jan. 19, and it became a law without the approval of the President.

For the Protection of Girls.-At the first session of the Congress the House passed, and the Senate passed with amendments, a bill for the protection of girls in the District of Columbia under sixteen years of age. The House non-concurred in the Senate amendments, and a conference committee was appointed, which reported, Jan. 19, 1889, in favor of the following form of the measure:

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That every person who shall carnally and unlawfully know any female under the age of sixteen years, or who shall be accessory to such carnal and unlawful knowledge before the fact in the District of Columbia, or other place except the Territories, over which the United States has exclusive jurisdiction, or on any vessel within the admiralty or maritime jurisdiction of the United States, and out of the jurisdiction of any State or Territory, shall be guilty of a felony, and when convicted thereof shall be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for the first offense for not more than fifteen years, and for each subsequent offense, for not more than thirty years.

The report was agreed to, and the President approved the measure, Feb. 9.

The Sawdust Game.-At the first session of the Congress the House passed a bill to punish pretended dealers in counterfeit money, and other fraudulent devices for using the United States mails. On Feb. 26, 1889, the Senate amended and passed the measure as follows:

That section 5480 of the Revised Statutes be, and the same is hereby, so amended as to read as follows: "SEC. 5480. If any person having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or to sell, dispose of, loan, exchange, alter, give away, or distribute, supply, or furnish, or procure for the lawful use any counterfeit or spurious coin, bank notes, paper money, or any obligation or security of the United States or of any State, Territory, or municipality, company, corporation, or person, or anything repre

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sented to be or intimated or held out to be such counterfeit or spurious articles, or any scheme or artifice to obtain money by or through correspondence, by what is commonly called "the sawdust swindle "or "counterfeit money fraud," or by dealing or pretending to deal in what is commonly called " green articles," green coin," bills," paper goods," spurious Treasury notes," "United States goods," 66 green cigars," or any other names or terms intended to be understood as relating to such counterfeit or spurious article, to be effected by either opening or intending to open correspondence or communication with any other person, whether resident within or outside the United States, by means of the post-office establishment of the United States, or by inciting such other person or any person to open communication with the person so devising or intending, shall, in and for executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, place or cause to be placed any letter, packet, writing, circular, pamphlet, or advertisement in any post-office, branch post-office, or street or hotel letter-box of the United States, to be sent or delivered by the said post-office establishment, or shall take or receive any such therefrom, such person so misusing the post-office establishment shall upon conviction, be punishable by a fine of not more than $500 and by imprisonment for not more than eighteen months, or by both such punishments, at the discretion of the court. The indictment, information, or complaint may severally charge offenses to the number of three when committed within the same six calendar months; but the court thereupon shall give a single sentence, and shall proportion the punishment especially to the degree in which the abuse of the post-office establishment enters as an instrument into such fraudulent scheme and device."

SEO. 2. That any person who, in and for conducting, promoting, or carrying on, in any manner by means of the post-office establishment of the United States, any scheme or device mentioned in the ceding section, or any other unlawful business what soever, shall use or assume or request to be addressed by any fictitious, false, or assumed title, name, or address, or name other than his own proper name, or shall take or receive from any post-office of the United States any letter, postal card, or packet addressed to any such fictitious, false, or assumed title, name, or

address, or name other than his own lawful and proper name, shall, upon conviction, be punishable as provided in the first section of this act. SEO. 3. That the Postmaster - General may, upon evidence satisfactory to him, that any person is using any fictitious, false, or assumed name, title, or address in conducting, promoting, or carrying on, or assisting therein, by means of the post-office establishment of the United States, any business scheme or device in violation of the provisions of this act, instruct any postmaster at any post-office at which such letters, cards, or packets, addressed to such fictitious, false, or assumed name or address arrive to notify the party claiming or receiving such letters, cards, or packets to appear at the post-office and be identified; and if the party so notified fail to appear and be identified, or if it shall satisfactorily appear that such letters, cards, or packets are addressed to a fictitious, false, or assumed name or address, such letters, postal cards, or packages shall be forwarded to the dead-letter office as fictitious matter.

SEC. 4. That all matter the deposit of which in the mails is by this act made punishable is hereby declared non-mailable; but nothing in this act shall be so construed as to authorize any person other than an employé of the dead-letter office, duly authorized thereto, to open any letter not addressed to himself.

SEC. 5. That whenever the Postmaster-General is satisfied that letters or packets sent in the mails are addressed to places not the residence or business address of the persons for whom they are intended, to direct postmasters to deliver such letters only from the enable such persons to escape identification, he may post-office upon identification of persons addressed.

The House non-concurred in the Senate amendments, but after a conference receded from its The President approved the

non-concurrence.

measure, March 2.

International Money Orders.-Both Houses passed the following bill increasing the maximum amount of international money-orders.

Be it enacted, etc., That section 4028 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (second edition, 1878) be, and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 4028. The Postmaster-General may conclude arrangements with the post departments of foreign been or may be concluded for the exchange, by means governments with which postal conventions have of postal orders, of small sums of money, not exceeding $100 in amount, at such rates of exchange and compensation to postmasters, and under such rules and regulations as he may deem expedient; and the expenses of establishing and conducting such systems of exchange may be paid out of the proceeds of the money-order business."

SEC. 2. That this act shall take effect within six months from the date of its approval by the Presdent.

The President approved the measure Feb. 1, 1889.

Appropriations.-Just previous to the final adjournment of the Congress, March 2, 1889, Mr. Randall, of Pennsylvania, submitted a summary of the various general appropriation bills passed during the second session of the Fiftieth Congress, which is presented in tabular form on the next page.

Summary. The Fiftieth Congress began its first session on the first Monday of December, 1887, and did not finally adjourn until Oct. 20, 1888. The second session, beginning at the usual time, expired by limitation of law on March 4, 1889. There were introduced in the house 12,664 bills and 269 joint resolutions. There were introduced in the Senate 4,000 bills

*Fifty per cent. of the amounts appropriated for the District of Columbia is paid by the United States. The amount for the water department (estimated for 1890 at $237,125.64) is paid out of the revenues of that department.

+ This amount includes $2.855,798.62 for payment of judgment of Court of Claims in favor of the Choctaw nation.

The appropriations for the postal service are paid out of the postal revenues (estimated for 1890 at $62,508,658.12), and any deficiency in the revenue is provided for out of the Treasury of the United States. § This is the estimate submitted for rivers and harbors for 1890. "The amount that can be profitably expended," as reported by the chief of engineers, is $32,012,250.

mates, page 177.)

This sum is approximated.

(Book of Esti.