224 



CONGRESS. (ItfTEK-STATE COMMERCE.) 



to require annual reports from all transportation com- 

 panies engaged in interstate commerce, to fix the time 

 and prescribe the manner in which such reports shall 

 be made, and to require from such companies specific 

 answers to all questions upon which the commission 

 may need information. Such annual reports will show 

 in detail the amount of capital stock issued and the 

 amounts paid therefor; the dividends paid ; the num- 

 ber of stockholders ; the funded and floating debts and 

 the interest paid thereon ; the cost and value of the 

 company's property, franchises, and equipment, with 

 a complete description of the same ; the number of 

 employe's and the salaries paid each class ; the amounts 

 expended for improvements each year, and how ex- 

 pended ; the monthly earnings and receipts from each 

 branch of business and from all sources ; the monthly 

 operating and other expenses j the balances of profit 

 and loss, and a complete exhibit of the financial oper- 

 ations of the company each year. Such reports sliall 

 also contain such information in relation to rates or 

 regulations concerning fares or freights, or agreements, 

 arrangements, or contracts with other companies, as 

 the commission may require. 



SEO. 11. That the commission shall, on or before 

 the first day in December in each year, make a report 

 to the Secretary of the Interior, which shall be by him 

 transmitted to Congress, and copies of which shall be 

 distributed as are the other reports issued from the 

 Interior Department. 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 interstate 

 commerce, together with such recommendations as to 

 additional legislation for the regulation of interstate 

 commerce as the commission may deem necessary. 

 And said commission shall precede its first report 

 with an investigation of the subject of interstate com- 

 merce, which shall embrace the subjects of establish- 

 ing a system of both maximum and minimum charges 

 for transportation, and for the preservation of free 

 competition within the limits so fixed ; for the pro- 

 hibition of discriminations of any kind whatever, 

 either in favor of or against cities, towns, or other lo- 

 calities, whether the same be competing or non-com- 

 peting points, and for applying the same principle 

 to transportation for individuals, firms, associations, 

 or corporations, in all matters relating to commerce 

 among the States ; for the preservation and enforce- 

 ment of the right of shippers to select the lines and 

 parts of lines over which their shipments shall pass, 

 to the end that said commerce amon^ the States may 

 avail itself of the all-rail or part rail and part water 

 routes of the country; for the prevention of such 

 pooling arrangements" and agreements to refrain from 

 lust competition as may tend to impose unreasonable 

 Burdens upon said commerce among the States, and 

 for the protection of said commerce against unjust ex- 

 actions based on a class of securities commonly de- 

 nominated^ u watered stock"; and said commission, 

 in conducting said investigation, shall be guided by 

 such rules of action as will be fair, just, and equitable 

 toward all of the interests involved, whether the same 

 be private, public, or corporate, connected with the 

 subject of commerce among the States. 



SEC. 12. That the route of any transportation com- 

 pany engaged in interstate commerce shall include all 

 the railroad and water routes in use by such compa- 

 ny, whether owned by said company or used by it 

 under license, lease, or permission otherwise given. 

 And it shall be unlawful for any transportation com- 

 pany as aforesaid to enter into any combination, con- 

 tract, or agreement, expressed or implied, to prevent, 

 oy change of time- schedule, carriage in different cars, 

 or by other means or devices, the carriage of inter- 

 state-commerce freights from being continuous from 

 the place of shipment to the place of destination, 

 whether said freight is carried on one or several rail- 

 roads, or parti v by rail and partly by vessel. And 

 no break of bulk, stoppage, or interruption made by 

 said transportation company shall prevent the car- 



riage of any interstate-commerce 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 ior 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. 13. That the term " transportation company 

 engaged in interstate commerce," as used in this act, 

 shall be deemed and taken to mean any corporation, 

 company, or individual now owning, operating, or 

 using any railroad or railroads, or any vessel or ves- 

 sels, in whole or in part, which are run by or for any 

 railroad company making part of its route, or that they 

 may have the right, license, or permission to operate, 

 use, or control any railroad or railroads, or any ves- 

 sel or vessels, in whole or in part, provided said cor- 

 poration, company, or individual is engaged in the 

 business of transporting freights or property of any 

 description by railroad, or partly by railroad and 

 partly by water, from one State into another State or 

 Territory of the United States, or from any Territory 

 into any State or any other Territory ; and the pro- 

 visions of this act stall apply to all persons, firms, 

 and companies, and to all associations of persons or 

 companies, whether incorporated or not, and to all 

 associations or corporations engaged in thus trans- 

 porting freights or property of any description, in the 

 manner above set forth, from one State into any other 

 State or Territory, or from any Territory into any 

 State or any other Territory. 



SEC. 14. That the provisions of this act shall be 

 construed as applicable to all railroad or transporta- 

 tion companies engaged in the carrying of freight 

 from any place in the United States through any for- 

 eign territory to any other place in the United States, 

 or from any place in the United States to any place 

 outside the United States : Provided, That tins shall 

 not apply to transportation wholly by water. 



SEC. 15. That the sum of $90,000 is hereby appro- 

 priated for the use and purposes of this act for the 

 fiscal year ending June 30, A. D. 1885, and the inter- 

 vening time anterior thereto ; ^ and it is expressly 

 provided that no pending litigation between railroad 

 companies shall in any way be affected by this act. 



SEC. 16. That nothing in this act contained shall 

 be held to require any person aggrieved by the act or 

 omission of a transportation company within the pro- 

 visions of this act to pursue the remedy provided in 

 sections 5 and 6 hereof for the ascertainment and re- 

 covery of damages on account thereof, but such per- 

 son mayj by civil action in any court of competent 

 jurisdiction, maintain an action as though this act had 

 not been passed ; and in such cases the duties, obli- 

 gations, liabilities, and responsibilities of such trans- 

 portation company in all respects shall be the same 

 as though said action had been commenced in pursu- 

 ance of the remedy in said sections 5 and 6 provided. 



The vote on the adoption of the measure was 

 as follows : 



YEAS Aldrich, Allison, Blair, Call, Cameron of 

 Wisconsin, Chace, Conger, Cullom, Dawes, Dolph, 

 Edmunds, Frye, Groome, Hampton, Hams, Harri- 

 son, Hawley, Hill, Hoar, Ingalls, Jackson, Jonas, 

 Jones of Florida, Jones of Nevada, Lamar, Lapham, 

 McMillan, Manderson, Miller of California, Miller 

 of New York. Mitchell, Morrill, Pike, Platt, Plumb, 

 Pugh, Eiddleberger, Sawyer, Sewell, Sherman, Sla- 

 ter^Vest, Wilson-43. 



NATS Bayard, Butler, Cockrell, Coke, Colquitt, 

 McPherson, Maxey, Morgan, Pendleton, Saulsbury, 

 Vance, Van Wyck 12. 



ABSENT Beck, Bowen, Brown, Camden, Cameron 

 of Pennsylvania, Fair, Farley, Garland, George, Gib- 

 son, Gorman. Hale, Kenna, Logan, Mahone, Palmer, 

 Eansom, Sabin, Voorhees, Walker, Williams 21. 



Feb. 7 and Feb. 27 Mr. Reagan asked unani- 



