BIENNIAL REPORT Second Report OF THE State Railroad Commission OF COLORADO FROM January 1, 1909, to January 1, 1911 Denver, Colorado, January 1, 1911. To His Excellency HON. JOHN F. SHAFROTH, Governor of Colorado, State Capitol, Denver, Colorado. Sir: In accordance with section 14, chapter 121, Revised Statutes of 1908, we have the honor to submit our biennial report containing an account of all matters pertaining to this office from January 1, 1909, to January 1, 1911. The statute providing for the Railroad Commission of Colorado provides that the commission "may also cause to be printed its annual reports," but there is no direct requirement to do so. As the work of regulating railroads through the instru mentality of a Commission is entirely new in this State, and as there has been a widely diversified opinion as to the effectiveness of the Commission, what it has done and what it expects to be able to accomplish in the future, the members of the Commission have deemed it wise to make a report covering its work from January first, 1909, to January first, 1911, and to some extent explain what the conditions were under which the Commission has been operating and what it has been able to do in spite of the disadvantages under which it as compelled to work. In March, 1907, the Sixteenth General Assembly of Colorado passed an act entitled: "An Act to Regulate Common Carriers in this State," providing for three Commissioners. The act became effective by law on June 20, 1907, and the Commissioners appointed by the Governor, as provided in the act, Frederick Chamberlin, Halsted L. Ritter and Bulkeley Wells, entered upon the discharge of their duties. On June 29, 1907, a number of the railroad companies instituted quo warranto proceedings against the Commission in the District Court of the Second Judicial District, and on July 29, 1907, the court held that the act creating the Commission was unconstitutional, and a judgment of ouster was entered against the members of the Commission. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of Colorado, and on June 1, 1908, that court ordered the District Court to dismiss the case without prejudice. On August 3, 1908, the railroads of this State brought suit in the United States Circuit Court, again attacking the constitutionality of the act creating the Commission. In the fall of 1908 Aaron P. Anderson, Daniel H. Staley and Worth L. Seely were elected Commissioners as provided in J93174 |