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THE ORIGINAL "CULLOM BILL."

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, MAY 13, 1886. A BILL TO REGULATE COMMERCE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 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 to any other State or Territory of the United States, 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 transhipment, 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 or Territory, and not shipped to or from a foreign country from or to such 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 the term "transportation" shall include all instrumentalities of shipment or carriage.

All charges made for any service rendered or to be rendered in the transportation of passengers or property as aforesaid, or in connection therewith, or for the receiving, delivering, storage, or handling of such. property, shall be reasonable and just; and every unjust and unreasonable charge for such service is prohibited and declared to be unlawful.

SEC. 2. That if any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act shall, directly or indirectly, by any special rate, rebate, drawback, or other device, charge, demand, collect, or receive from any person or persons a greater or less compensation for any service rendered, or to be rendered, in the transportation of passengers or property, subject to the provisions of this act, than it charges, demands, collects, or receives from any other person or persons for doing for him or them a like and contemporaneous service in the transportation of a like kind of traffic under substantially similar circumstances and conditions, such common carrier shall be deemed guilty of unjust discrimination, which is hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful; and any common carrier who

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shall violate the provisions of this section as aforesaid shall be liable to all persons who have been charged a higher rate than was charged any other person or persons for the difference between such higher rate and the lowest rate charged upon like shipments during the same period; or if such lower rate was made on any time contract or understanding, the said common carrier shall be liable to pay a like rebate or drawback to all other shippers over the same route between the same points who have shipped goods during the time that such contract or understanding was in operation.

SEC. 3. That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier, subject to the provisions of this act, to make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, company, firm, corporation, or locality, or any particular description of traffic, in any respect whatsoever, or to subject any particular person, company, firm, corporation, or locality, or any particular description of traffic, to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect what

soever.

Every common carrier subject to the provisions of this act shall, according to their respective powers, afford all reasonable and proper facilities for the interchange of traffic between their respective lines, and for the receiving, forwarding, and delivering of passengers and property to and from their several lines and those connecting therewith; but no such common carrier shall be required to give the use of its tracks or terminal facilities to another carrier engaged in like business. Any common carrier who shall willfully violate the provisions of this section of this act shall be liable to the person or persons injured thereby for all damages occasioned by such violation.

SEC. 4. That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act to charge or receive any greater compensation in the aggregate for the transportation of passengers or of like kind of property, under substantially similar circumstances and conditions, for a shorter than for a longer distance over the same line, in the same direction, and from the same original point of departure or to the same point of arrival; but this shall not be construed as authorizing any common carrier within the terms of this act to charge and receive as great compensation for a shorter as for a longer distance: Provided, however, That upon application to the Commission appointed under the provisions of this act, such common carrier may, in special cases, be authorized to charge less for longer than for shorter distances for the transportation of passengers or property; and the Commission may from time to time make general rules exempting such designated common carrier in such special cases from the operation of this section of this act; and when such exceptions shall have been made and published they shall, until changed by the Commission or by law, have like force and effect as though the same had been specified in this section.

Any common carrier who shall violate the provisions of this section of this act shall be deemed guilty of extortion, and shall be liable to the person or persons against whom any such excessive charge was made for all damages occasioned by such violation.

SEC. 5. That every common carrier subject to the provisions of this act shall, within sixty days after the appointment of the Commission

hereinafter provided for, file with said Commission appointed under the provisions of this act copies of its tariffs of rates and fares and charges relating to all classes of traffic affected by the provisions of this act, including classifications and terminal charges which in any wise change, affect, or determine any part of the aggregate of such rates and fares and charges, and from time to time all changes made in the same. Such rates, fares, charges, and classifications shall be made public by such common carriers 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, charges, and classifications, 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.

And when any common carrier shall have established and published its rates, fares, charges, and classifications, or any part of the same, 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 than is set forth and specified in such published rates, fares, charges, and classifications, until the same shall have been changed as hereinafter provided. But nothing in this act shall prevent the principal officers of any railroad company or companies from exchanging passes or tickets with other railroad companies for their officers and employees. No advance in such published rates, fares, charges, and classifications shall be made except after ten days' public notice, but reductions in the same may be made without previous public notice; and the Commission shall prescribe the manner in which notice of advances and reductions in such published rates, fares, charges, and of changes in classifications shall be given.

In cases where passengers and freight traffic pass over 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 or fares or charges, it shall be deemed a compliance with the requirements of this section in respect to the filing of such tariffs if copies of such joint tariffs shall be filed by any one of said common carriers, and the same shall then be published by the common carriers who are parties thereto, in compliance with the provisions of this section; but no common carrier party to any such joint tariff shall be liable for the failure of any other common carrier party thereto to observe and adhere to the rates, fares, or charges thus made and published.

If any common carrier shall neglect or refuse to file or publish its tariffs of rates, fares, and charges as provided in this section, or any part of the same, such common carrier shall be subject to a writ of mandamus, to be issued by any circuit court of the United States within the jurisdiction where the principal office of said common carrier is situated, 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 Commissioners appointed under the provisions of this act; and failure to comply with its requirements shall be punishable as and for a contempt; and the said Commissioners, as

complainants, 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, until such common carrier shall have complied with the aforesaid provisions of this section of this act; and for any willful violation or failure to comply with the aforesaid provisions of this section the court may award such costs, including counsel fees, by way of penalty, on the return of said writs and after due deliberation thereon, to the Commission aforesaid, as may be just.

SEC. 6. That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act to enter into any combination, contract, or agreement, expressed or implied, to prevent, by change of time schedule, carriage in different cars, or by other means or devices, the carriage of freights from being continuous from the place of shipment to the place of destination; and no break of bulk, stoppage, or interruption made by such common carrier shall prevent the carriage of freights from being and being treated as one continuous carriage from the place of shipment to the place of destination, unless such break, stoppage, or interruption was made in good faith for some necessary purpose, and without any intent to avoid or unnecessarily interrupt such continuous carriage or to evade any of the provisions of this act.

SEC. 7. That any common carrier who shall willfully do, cause to be done, or permit to be done any of the acts, matters, or things in this act declared to be unlawful shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof in any district court of the United States within whose jurisdiction such offense was committed, be subject to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars for each offense: Provided, however, That whenever such common carrier is a corporation, any officer, agent, or person connected therewith who shall be guilty of any such violation of this act shall be personally liable as and for a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof in any district court of the United States within whose jurisdiction such offense was committed, shall be subject to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars for each offense.

SEC. 8. That a commission is hereby created and established to be known as the Inter-State Commerce Commission, which shall be composed of five Commissioners, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Commissioners first appointed under this act shall continue in office for the term of two, three, four, five, and six years, respectively, beginning with the first day of July, anno Domini eighteen hundred and eighty-six, the term of each to be designated by the President; but their successors shall be appointed for terms of six years, except that any person chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of the Commissioner whom he shall succeed. Any Commissioner may be removed by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. Not more than three of the Commissioners shall be appointed from the same political party. No person in the employ of or holding any official re

lation to any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act, or owning stock or bonds thereof, or who is in any manner pecuniarily interested therein, shall enter upon the duties of or hold such office. Said Commissioners shall not engage in any other business, vocation, or employment. No vacancy in the Commission shall impair the right of the remaining Commissioners to exercise all the powers of the Commission. SEC. 9. That the Commission hereby created shall have authority to inquire into the management of the business of all common carriers subject to the provisions of this act, and shall keep itself informed as to the manner and method in which the same is conducted, and shall have the right to obtain from such common carriers full and complete information necessary to enable the Commission to perform the duties and carry out the objects for which it was created; and for the purposes of this act the Commission shall have power to require the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of all books, papers, tariffs, contracts, agreements, and documents relating to any matter under investigation, and to that end may invoke the aid of any court of the United States in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and documents under the provisions of this section.

And any of the circuit courts of the United States within the jurisdiction of which such inquiry is carried on may, in case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any common carrier subject to the provision of this act, or other person, issue an order requiring such common carrier or other person to appear before said Commission (and produce books and papers if so ordered) and give evidence touching the matter in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof.

SEC. 10. That any person, firm, corporation, or association, or any mercantile, agricultural, or manufacturing society, or any body politic or municipal organization, complaining of anything done or omitted to be done by any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act in contravention of the provisions thereof, may apply to said Commission by petition, which shall briefly state the facts; whereupon a statement of the charges thus made shall be forwarded by the Commission to such common carrier, who shall be called upon to satisfy the complaint or to answer the same in writing within a reasonable time, to be specified by the Commission. If such common carrier, within the time specified, shall make reparation for the injury alleged to have been done, said carrier shall be relieved of liability to the complainant only for the particular violation of law thus complained of. If such carrier shall not satisfy the complainant within the time specified, or there shall appear to be any reasonable ground for investigating said complainant, it shall be the duty of the Commission to investigate the matters complained of in such manner and by such means as it shall deem proper.

Said Commission shall in like manner investigate any complaint forwarded by the railroad commissioner or railroad commission of any State or Territory, at the request of such commissioner or commission, and may institute any inquiry on its own motion in the same manner and to the same effect as though complaint had been made.

No complaint shall at any time be dismissed because of the absence of direct damage to the complainant.

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