Circular order No. 36 was issued March 21st, 1883, as follows: CIRCULAR No 36. THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, JAMES M. SMITH, CAMPBELL WALLACE, L. N. TRAMMELL, Commissioners. The weight of a car load of any of the articles specified in class P of the Commissioners' classification, except lumber, will on and after April 23, 1883, be twenty-five thousand (25,000) pounds. Shippers to load and unload. By order of the Board. R. A. BACON, Secretary. JAMES M. SMITH, Chairman. The purpose of this Commission in issuing this Circular sufficiently appears by the terms of the order itself. From evidence laid before the Commissioners we concluded that the special rates of freight which had been allowed on the Brunswick and Albany railroad (now Brunswick and Western Railway), should be revised, and hence issued Circular order No. 37, June 27, 1883, as follows: JAMES M. SMITH, CIRCULAR No. 37. OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA, CAMPBELL WALLACE, L. N. TRAMMELL, Commissioners. LUMBER RATES BRUNSWICK AND WESTERN RAILROAD. 1. On and after Wednesday, August 1st, 1883, on the railroad known to this Commission as the Brunswick and Western (formerly Brunswick and Albany) Railroad, no more than class P of the Commissioners' rates, less ten (10) per cent. shall be the maximum rates of lumber hauled in any direction over said road. 2. The weight of a car load of lumber is 22,500 pounds. 3. Any avoidable failure on the part of this railroad in furnishing cars and transport ing them speedily, when loaded, will be considered an evasion of this order. 4. The schedule of Millers' lumber rates for trains of not less than ten cars and for trains of not less than 15 cars, as provided and allowed in Circular No. 5, dated Atlanta, Ga., April 28th, 1880, is hereby repealed. 5. Printed tariffs of the rates required by this Circular must be furnished the Commissioners' office on or before the 20th of July, 1883. A. C. BRISCOE, Secretary. JAMES M. SMITH, Chairman. This circular has had the effect intended by the Commission. Circular No. 38 was issued June 27, 1883, and reads as follows: CIRCULAR No. 38. OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA. JAMES M. SMITH, CAMPBELL WALLACE, Commissioners. L. N. TRAMMELL, CHANGE IN CLASSIFICATION. On and after Wednesday, August 1st, 1883, the following changes in the Commissioners' classification: This Circular was adopted mainly for the purpose of protecting the interests of planters of the State by cheapening the rates on improved agricultural implements; and also to give more just anp reasonable rates to manufacturers and shippers of trunks. INCREASED FREIGHT DEPOT FACILITIES. From actual observation by the Commissioners themselves, as well as through other channels of information, it came to their knowledge that many of the railroads of this State * were without sufficient means for the protection of goods in their care as common carriers at many of the stations on their lines of road. In a very able report made by a committee of the Savannah Cotton Exchange, the extent of the damage resulting from this lack of sufficient protection for the property of shippers is thus referred to: "One serious complaint which the merchants of Savannah, in common with all partie in Georgia interested directly or indirectly in cotton, have against the railroads, is the want of protection against bad weather provided by them for that article. The law which makes common carriers responsible for damage caused to merchandise, committed to their care, by reason of negligent handling, or of exposure to bad weather, should certainly apply to cotton as well as to other articles. Unfortunately the damage done to cotton by exposure to rain or by being stored on wet ground, becomes apparent only weeks or months after it really has occurred, viz: When in most cases the cotton is already thousands of miles distant, and when proof against the roads has become impossible. "The utter disregard with which cotton-the main product of this State-is being treated, would scarcely be justifiable in a semi-barbarous country. The damage thus caused to the cotton crop by exposure to bad weather amounts probably to more than one per cent of its value, or on the Georgia crop in round numbers to half a million dollars annually. Such a sum of money would probably be nearly sufficient to pay for rough but staunch sheds at all the depots in Georgia, so that one year's outlay of money would save the people of the State an annual loss amounting to about the same sum. Action under the premises would certainly seem to come within the province of the Railroad Commissioners of the State." After mature consideration the Commissioners thought proper to issue Circular No. 39 for the purpose of guarding, as far as was practicable, against the evil alluded to in the above extract. JAMES M. SMITH, CIRCULAR No. 39. OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD COMMISSION OF GEORGIA. CAMPBELL WALLACE,Commissioners. L. N. TRAMMELL, INCREASED FREIGHT DEPOT FACILITIES. 1. It is hereby ordered that each railroad company in this State at each and every freight station shall provide on or before the first day of September next ample and suitable depot or shed-room for the reception and protection from theft or damage by weather of all cotton or other articles of merchandise that may be offered them for IMMEDIATE shipment over their respective roads. 2. Where depot room is not now sufficient to meet this requirement, cheaply constructed wooden sheds may be supplemented to fully protect the cotton or other merchandise stored from dampness by contact with the ground, sides or over head. 3. Railroads are not required to receive cotton or other merchandise and warehouse the same unless the articles offered are in good shipping condition, well prepared by proper pack. ing and intelligent, plain marking, and accompanied with orders for immediate shipment. JAMES M. SMITH, Chairman. A. C. BRISCOE, Secretary. In issuing this order it has been charged that the Commissioners sought to exceed the power vested in them by law. This makes it proper that we should here briefly state our own views upon this important subject. When goods are received by a railroad company for immediate shipment the company takes upon itself all the duties and responsibilities which the law imposes upon common carriers. The carrier agreeing to perform the service immediately, is bound to exercise extraordinary care and diligence in complying with this as well as with all other obligations of his contract. If he fails to perform his duty in this respect, he is liable in damages for all injury resulting from such failure. We are aware that it is frequently difficult for the railroads to comply literally with their contracts for immediate shipments from all the stations on their lines of road. A reasonable time should be allowed to enable the company to bring its cars to the point required, if necessary, and for loading and moving them upon schedule time. This, in many instances, is productive of some delay, but such delay ought in no case to be longer than is reasonably necessary. During such delays the goods received for immediate shipment remain in charge of the company, who holds them under its con tract as a common carrier. If, while the shipment thus delayed, there should be loss, except from the act of God or the public enemy, the company would be bound to answer in damages therefor. Beyond question a carrier is bound for any loss caused by his own careless handling or by unnecessary exposure of the property of his patron. If, after receiving the goods upon a contract for immediate shipment the carrier leaves them exposed to rains and to thieves, and loss and damage should result therefrom, there could be no question as to his liability therefor. Losses occurring from the first mentioned cause and the extent as well as the irreparable nature of the same, are clearly stated in the extract given above from the report of the committee of the Savannah Cotton Exchange. In this report the annual losses on cotton produced in this State, resulting from careless handling and negligent storing by rail road carriers, is put at half a million dollars. In the very nature of the case it is impossible, in most instances, to fix liability for these losses upon the railroads by proofs in courts of justice. In many instances the losses cannot be known until the cotton is thousands of miles away from the points of shipment, and it therefore becomes impracticable to show by evidence where, in the long course of transit, the damage was done. Thus the producer and shipper in many instances are, in effect, left without any remedy whatever. Have the Commissioners power to prevent this evil? With but rare exceptions reparation for the wrong cannot be obtained through the courts of justice. If the Commissioners have power to prevent the evil, then it is clearly their duty to exercise that power in the interest of the public. This we have attempted in Circular No. 39. By the act establishing the Commission it is made the duty of the Commissioners to "make just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs to be observed by all the railroad companies in this State doing business on the railroads thereof;" and also to "make reasonable and just regulations to be observed by all the railroad companies doing business in this State, as to charges at any and all points for the necessary handling and delivering of freights." It is further made their duty to "make such just and reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation of freight and passengers on the railroads of this State." In fixing upon what are just and reasonable rates and charges of freights to be transported by railroads, proper compensation for the labor bestowed and the expense and risk incurred in the handling and caring for the goods before they are actually placed on the cars, must be duly considered, taken into account and allowed. Any rate which excludes this allowance does injustice to the carrier. It follows, then, that just and reasonable rates of freight includes compensation to the company for all required attention given to the shippers' property from the moment it is received until it is delivered at the place of its destination. The company is compensated in the form of just and reasonable rates of freight for extraordinary care and attention bestowed, from the time the freight is received from the shipper to the time of its delivery to the consignee. If the carrier fails in his duty by carelessly and negligently handling and keeping the goods before they are shipped, he not only receives compensation for services which he has not performed, but if damage ensue, he is liable for a violation of his contract. In order to transport goods at all, it is necessary that the carrier shall have possession of them. He must receive and control them from the time of their reception until his contract for transportation is fully ended. The preliminary possession and handling are necessarily incidental to, and they form a part of the transportation itself. The compensation therefor is received in the form of rates allowed for the entire service, these rates being fixed with reference to every risk and expense incident to such service. But, in fixing what shall be just and reasonable rates, we must also consider the work with reference to the facilities and accommodations which it is the duty of the carrier to furnish for the protection of his patron's goods. It would not be reasonable and just to allow as high a rate of compensation for bad service as for good service; for insufficient accommodations as for sufficient ones. The carrier, who in the course of his business throws his customers' goods upon the ground, allowing them to be exposed to loss and damage, does not deserve as high a rate of compensation as if he had kept them safely and securely from injury. But the Commissioners would find it entirely impracticable to vary the rates to be charged with reference to such a distinction as this. From the very nature of the case we find ourselves obliged to fix rates upon the basis which the law itself has established, viz That the carrier is bound to extraordinary diligence in keeping and transporting his em ployers' property, entrusted to his care. By the Commissioners' rates the railroads are given just and reasonable compensation for the entire service rendered by them upon the assumption that they will perform their duty as common carrier according to law. It is impossible to enforce rates based upon this assumption without requiring the roads to discharge their whole duty to the public. They must be required to furnish sufficient protection for goods in their charge, as common carriers, awaiting shipment or delivery We have imposed no new duty upon them. In Circular 39 we have simply made a regulation which is intended to prevent a much complained of evil. The power to make such a regulation is clearly included in the powers vested in the Commission "to make just and reasonable rates of freight,” because necessarily incidental thereto. But in issuing the order under consideration, we did not exceed our powers, because the law also makes it our duty, as Commissioners, to "make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation of freight and passengers on the railroads in this State." Rules and regulations to prevent unjust discriminations between persons and places by the railroads is what is here required. The Legislature intended, through the Commission, to provide for enforcing the great principle that the railroads in their dealings with the people ought to act reasonably and justly. Great powers are given to these corporations to be exercised for the benefit of the public as well as for the profit of the corporations themselves. It was intended that the Commissioners should, by reasonable rules and regulations, prevent such an exercise of corporate powers as would build up the fortunes of favorite persons and places at the expense and injury of other and less favored persons and places. It will be noted that the preventive remedy to be provided here by the Commissioners against the evil of unjust discrimination, is not confined to unjust discrimination in rates of transportation alone. Such "just and reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary for the prevention of unjust discrimination" in the matter or thing of transportation itself, is also intended. The giving of superior and unjust advantages for transportation to one place or person over other places or persons to the injury of the latter, are to be prevented by "just and reasonable rules and regulations" issued and enforced by the Commission. The Commissioners are required to prevent unjust discriminations between places on the lines of railway by "just and reasonable regulations," requiring the companies to provide sufficient means of protection at the stations on their respective roads for the protection of the property already transported or to be carried by them over their lines of road. If at one station sufficient protection against all damage and loss is provided for the secure keeping of goods received for shipment, and at a neighboring station no such provision exists at all, but the goods received for shipment thereat are thrown upon the ground and left exposed by the carrier to danger of injury from weather and to loss from thieves, will it be pretended that the public served at the latter station are not unjustly discriminated against in the matter of transportation? Is not the one furnished by the carrier with advantages which are denied to the other? To ask this question is to answer it affirmatively. Each place should be treated with justice and fairness in the advantages and facilities afforded for transportation by the carrier. All stations on the road should be treated reasonably alike. To secure this important object the Commissioners thought proper to issue the circular under consideration. It was not intended in that circular that the railroad companies |