Page images
PDF
EPUB

of said Act to regulate commerce or of any Act supplementary thereto or amendatory thereof by any common carrier, to issue a writ or writs of mandamus* commanding such common carrier to comply with the provisions of said Acts, or any of them.

And to carry out and give effect to the provisions of said Acts, or any of them, the Commission is hereby authorized to employ special agents or examiners who shall have power to administer oaths, examine witnesses, and receive evidence. (New. Added by Act Approved June 29, 1906.)

Sec. 20. Commerce Act Continued Bill of Lading Compulsory Initial Carrier Liable for Damages.- That any common carrier, railroad, or transportation company receiving property for transportation from a point in one State to a point in another State shall issue a receipt or bill of lading therefor and shall be liable to the lawful holder thereof for any loss, damage, or injury to such property caused by it or by any common carrier, railroad, or transportation company to which such property may be delivered or over whose line or lines such property may pass, and no contract, receipt, rule, or regulation shall exempt such common carrier, railroad, or transportation company from the liability hereby imposed: Provided, That nothing in this section shall deprive any holder of such receipt or bill of lading of any remedy or right of action which he has under existing law. (New. Added by Act Approved June 29, 1906.)

That the common carrier, railroad, or transportation company issuing such receipt or bill of lading shall be entitled to recover from the common carrier, railroad, or transportation company on whose line the loss, damage, or injury shall have been sustained the amount of such loss, damage, or injury as it may be required to pay to the owners of such property, as may be evidenced by any receipt, judgment, or transcript thereof. (New. Added by Act Approved June 29, 1906.)

*The writ of mandamus, prior to the amendment of June 29, 1906, was authorized to compel the filing of schedules under section 6. Under section 20 as amended the writ is authorized to compel obedience to any requirement of the Commerce Act, or of the Elkins Act, or acts supplementary thereto.

REPORTS- FREE TRANSPORTATION.

[ocr errors]

35

Sec. 21. Commerce Act Commission to Make Annual Reports to Congress.-That the Commission shall, on or before the first 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. (As amended March 2, 1889.)

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Sec. 22. Commerce Act Free or Reduced Rates Excursions Mileage Commutation Rates Remedies Cumulative.-*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, and of Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Homes, including those about to enter and those returning home after discharge, 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 employees, 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 employees; 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. (As amended March 2, 1889.)

Provided, further, That nothing in this act shall prevent the issuance of joint interchangeable five-thousand mile tickets,

*This Section has been partly re-enacted by new provisions on the same subject embraced in Section 1 of the Commerce Act, and should be read in connection therewith. See Sec. 1, ante, page 3. Where the provisions are inconsistent, Section I governs.

with special privileges as to the amount of free baggage that may be carried under mileage tickets of one thousand or more miles.

·

But before any common carrier, subject to the provisions of this act, shall issue any such joint interchangeable mileage tickets with special privileges, as aforesaid, it shall file with the Interstate Commerce Commission copies of the joint tariffs of rates, fares, or charges on which such joint interchangeable mileage tickets are to be based, together with specifications of the amount of free baggage permitted to be carried under such tickets, in the same manner as common carriers are required to do with regard to other joint rates by section six of this act; and all the provisions of said section six relating to joint rates, fares, and charges shall be observed by said common carriers and enforced by the Interstate Commerce Commission as fully with regard to such joint interchangeable mileage tickets, as with regard to other joint rates, fares, and charges referred to in said section six. It shall be unlawful for any common carrier that has issued or authorized to be issued any such joint interchangeable mileage tickets to demand, collect, or receive from any person or persons a greater or less compensation for transportation of persons or baggage under such joint interchangeable mileage tickets than that required by the rate, fare, or charge specified in the copies of the joint tariff of rates, fares, or charges filed with the Commission in force at the time. The provisions of section ten of this act shall apply to any violation of the requirements of this proviso. (Added by Laws 1895, chap. 61; approved February 8, 1895.)

Sec. 23. Commerce Act Remedy by Mandamus to Move Traffic or Furnish Cars.- 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 tarffic 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 or mandamus against said 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

COMMERCE COMMISSION ENLARGED.

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 shall 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. (New section added March 2, 1889, being section 10 of chap. 382; approved March 2, 1889.)

Sec. 24. Commerce Act

[ocr errors]

Commission Enlarged Salaries Term of Office. That the Interstate Commerce Commission is hereby enlarged so as to consist of seven members with terms of seven years, and each shall receive ten thousand dollars compensation annually. The qualifications of the Commissioners and the manner of the payment of their salaries shall be as already provided by law. Such enlargement of the Commission shall be accomplished through appointment by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, of two additional Interstate Commerce Commissioners, one for a term expiring December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and eleven, one for a term expiring December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and twelve. The terms of the present Commissioners, or of any successor appointed to fill a vacancy caused by the death or resignation of any of the present Commissioners, shall expire as heretofore provided by law. Their successors and the successors of the additional Commissioners herein provided for shall be appointed for the full term of seven years, except that any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of the Commissioner whom he shall succeed. Nor more than four Commissioners shall be appointed from the same political party.

Sec. 9. Act of June 29, 1906 Application of Existing Laws. That all existing laws relating to the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence and the compelling of testimony under the Act to regulate commerce and all Acts

38 ACT JUNE 29, 1906, APPLICATION OF REPEALER.

amendatory thereof shall apply to any and all proceedings and hearings under this Act.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Sec. 10. Act of June 29, 1906 Repealed. That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, but the amendments herein provided for shall not affect causes now pending in courts of the United States, but such causes shall be prosecuted to a conclusion in the manner heretofore provided by law.

[ocr errors]

Act of June 29, 1906

[ocr errors]

Sec. II. Act to Take Effect.— That this Act shall take effect, and be in force from and after

its passage.

- --

Resolution June 29, 1906 Act in effect sixty days after Passage. Section II of the Act of June 29, 1906 amending the Commerce Act, provided that the Act should take effect and be in force from and after its passage. On the same day the following joint resolution was passed:

Resolved, etc., That the Act entitled "An Act to amend an Act entitled An Act to regulate commerce,' approved February 4, 1887, and all acts amendatory thereof, and to enlarge the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission," shall take effect and be in force sixty days after its approval by the President of the United States.

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »