Notes of Decisions Rendered Since 1909. Section not violated.-Ritter v. O. S. L. R. R. Co., 19 I. C. C. 443, 447. Notes of Decisions Rendered Since 1920. Federal law supersedes state anti-pooling statutes.-Joint Passenger-Train Service, 107 I. C. C. 493. § 437. Consolidation of Carriers.-Whenever the Commission is of opinion, after hearing, upon application of any carrier or carriers engaged in the transportation of passengers or property subject to this Act, that the acquisition, to the extent indicated by the Commission, by one of such carriers of the control of any other such carrier or carriers either under a lease or by the purchase of stock or in any other manner not involving the consolidation of such carriers into a single system for ownership and operation, will be in the public interest, the Commission shall have authority by order to approve and authorize such acquisition, under such rules and regulations and for such consideration, and on such terms and conditions as shall be found by the Commission to be just and reasonable in the premises. The Commission may from time to time, for good cause shown, make such orders, supplemental to any order made under paragraph (1) or (2), as it may deem necessary or appropriate. Section 5, paragraphs (2) and (3), Interstate Commerce Act added by Transportation Act, 1920, Section 407. Sections 437 to 443 are all taken from Section 407 and are part of Section 5. § 438. Commission to Adopt a Plan. The Commission shall as soon as practicable prepare and adopt a plan for the consolidation of the railway properties of the continental United States into a limited number of systems. In the division of such railways into such systems under such plan, competition shall be preserved as fully as possible and whereever practicable the existing routes and channels of trade. and commerce shall be maintained. Subject to the foregoing requirements, the several systems shall be so arranged that the cost of transportation as between competitive systems and as related to the values of the properties through which the service is rendered shall be the same, so far as practicable, so that these systems can employ uniform rates in the movement of competitive traffic and under efficient management earn substantially the same rate of return upon the value of their respective railway properties. Paragraph (4) of Section 5 as added by Transportation Act, 1920. § 439. Notice of Plan to Be Given.-When the Commission has agreed upon a tentative plan, it shall give the same due publicity and upon reasonable notice, including notice to the Governor of each State, shall hear all persons who may file or present objections thereto. The Commission is authorized to prescribe a procedure for such hearings and to fix a time for bringing them to a close. After the hearings are at an end, the Commission shall adopt a plan for such consolidation and publish the same; but it may at any time thereafter, upon its own motion or upon application, reopen the subject for such changes or modifications as in its judgment will promote the public interest. The consolidations herein. provided for shall be in harmony with such plan. Paragraph (5) of Section 5 as added by Transportation Act, 1920. Plan adopted and promulgated.-Consolidation of Railroads, 159 I. C. C. 522. § 440. Conditions Under Which Consolidations Must Be Made. It shall be lawful for two or more carriers by railroad, subject to this Act, to consolidate their properties or any part thereof, into one corporation for the ownership, management, and operation of the properties theretofore in separate ownership, management, and operation, under the following conditions: The proposed consolidation must be in harmony with and in furtherance of the complete plan of consolidation mentioned in paragraph (5) and must be approved by the Commission: "The bonds at par of the corporation which is to become the owner of the consolidated properties, together with the outstanding capital stock at par of such corporation, shall not exceed the value of the consolidated properties as determined by the Commission. The value of the properties sought to be consolidated shall be ascertained by the Commission under section 19a of this Act, and it shall be the duty of the Commission to proceed immediately to the ascertainment of such value for the properties involved in a proposed consolidation upon the filing of the application for such consolidation. Sub-paragraphs, heading, and (a) and (b) of paragraph (6) of Section 5 added by Transportation Act, 1920. § 441. Applications to Consolidate. Whenever two or more carriers propose a consolidation under this section, they shall present their application therefor to the Commission, and thereupon the Commission shall notify the Governor of each State in which any part of the properties sought to be consolidated is situated and the carriers involved in the proposed consolidation, of the time and place for a public hearing. If after such hearing the Commission finds that the public interest will be promoted by the consolidation and that the conditions of this section have been or will be fulfilled, it may enter an order approving and authorizing such consolidation, with such modifications and upon such terms and conditions as it may prescribe, and thereupon such consolidation may be effected, in accordance with such order, if all the carriers involved assent thereto, the law of any state or the decision or order of any state authority to the contrary notwithstanding. Sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (6) of Section 5 added by Transportation Act, 1920. § 442. Express Companies Consolidation. The power and authority of the Commission to approve and authorize the consolidation of two or more carriers shall extend and apply to the consolidation of four express companies into the American Railway Express Company, a Delaware corporation, if application for such approval and authority is made to the Commission within thirty days after the passage of this amendatory Act; and pending the decisions of the Commission such consolidation shall not be dissolved. Paragraph (7) of Section 5 was added by Transportation Act, 1920. § 443. Anti-Trust Laws Not to Apply.-"The Carriers affected by any order made under the foregoing provisions of this section and any corporation organized to effect a consolidation approved and authorized in such order shall be, and they are hereby, relieved from the operation of the 'anti-trust laws,' as designated in Section 1 of the Act entitled 'An Act to supplement existing laws against unlawful restraints and monopolies, and for other purposes,' approved October 15, 1914, and of all other restraints or prohibitions by law, state or federal, in so far as may be necessary to enable them to do anything authorized or required by any order made under and pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section." Paragraph (8) of Section 5 as added by Transportation Act, 1920. § 444. Rail Carrier Not to Own Competing Water Carriers. -From and after the first day of July, nineteen hundred and fourteen, it shall be unlawful for any railroad company or other common carrier subject to the Act to regulate commerce to own, lease, operate, control, or have any interest whatsoever (by stock ownership or otherwise, either directly, indirectly, through any holding company, or by stockholders or directors in common, or in any other manner) in any common carrier by water operated through the Panama Canal or elsewhere with which said railroad or other carrier aforesaid does or may compete for traffic or any vessel carrying freight or passengers upon said water route or elsewhere with which said railroad or other carrier aforesaid does or may compete for traffic; and in case of the violation of this provision each day in which such violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense. Added by Amendment of August 24, 1912, Sec. 11. Known as Panama Canal Act, made par. (9) of Sec. 5 by Transportation Act, 1920. § 445. Whether or Not Competition Exists to Be Determined by the Commission.-Jurisdiction is hereby conferred on the Interstate Commerce Commission to determine questions of fact as to the competition or possibility of competition, after full hearing, on the application of any railroad company or other carrier. Such application may be filed for the purpose of determining whether any existing service is in violation of this section and pray for an order permitting the continuance of any vessel or vessels already in operation, or for the purpose of asking an order to install new service not in conflict with the provisions of this paragraph. The Commission may on its own motion or the application of any shipper institute proceedings to inquire into the operation of any vessel in use by any railroad or other carrier which has not applied to the Commission and had the question of competition or the possibility of competition determined as herein provided. In all such cases the order of said Commission shall be final. Added by Amendment of Aug. 24, 1912, Sec. 11, par. (10), Section 5. On April 14, 1914, the Commission issued the following conference ruling: 461. Water carriers controlled by other common carriers. -Section 5 of the Act as amended by the Panama Canal Act prohibits common carriers subject to the Act to have, after July 1, 1914, any interest, directly or indirectly, in any common carrier by water, or any vessel carrying freight or passengers, with which said carrier does or may compete for traffic. The manifest purpose of this law is to bring about discontinuance of common ownership or control of water carriers except in those instances in which, after investigation and hearing, it is found that such operation is in the interest of the public or of advantage to the convenience and commerce of the people, and neither excludes, prevents, nor reduces competition on the route by water. The Act does not in specific words authorize the continuance of such common ownership or control beyond July 1, 1914, pending the decision of the Commission on application relative thereto; but it is provided that any application filed before July 1, 1914, may be considered and granted thereafter. It is not conceivable |