(C. L. 144.) STOCK. See Securities: stock. TAXES. See Operating Expenses: taxes. construction and maintenance by railroad company of tele- jointly used property owned by one carrier to be included ..... commissions on incoming and outgoing messages, fixed rates: interexchange service, free: agreement, by, held not to include long distance calls originating at rural stations located beyond discriminatory and refusal to give service until interexchange service, toll: established increase authorized short-haul business, company handling consider- .... PAGE 1-10 6-7 102, 105 101-105 59-64 102-105 123-125 121-126 53-55 121-126 49 101-102 78-82 interexchange service, toll continued: time limit and overtime charge, approved..... priority right of company considered in requiring another company previously ordered to abandon toll line, to dis- continue free service over so-called rural line used and supervised by them but belonging to oil company, for acceptance of toll calls switched from exchanges of three towns over independent trunk line where com- contract providing for service to subscribers of other companies exchanges found reasonable, binding on purchaser of property (Kan.) . . . . . physical connection for, within specified time and costs be borne by applicant, ordered (S. D.)...... unlimited, secured by consolidation, approved... UNDERGROUND CONSTRUCTION. See Lines: removal. basis of, in general, reproduction cost new adjusted, used construction and maintenance by railroad of tele- graph company's line under contract was partial payment in advance for services, etc., and did not make line part of railroad's assets; former order including same in railroad valuation reversed (One Commissioner dissenting) (I. C. C.).. jointly used property owned by one carrier to be materials and supplies, allowance made for.... working capital, allowance made for (O.)... 6-7 Interstate Commerce Commission. In re MAKING OF INVENTORIES UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 19A OF THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT OF PROPERTY USED BY TELEGRAPH COMPANIES AND BY OTHER CARRIERS FOR COMMON CARRIER PURPOSES. Ex parte No. 42. Decided November 6, 1923. Ruling in Texas Midland Case Reversed Expenditures Made by Rail road Company Under a Contract with the Telegraph Company for the Construction of a Telegraph Line Held to Constitute Advance Payment on Account of Serv ices to be Furnished Under Contract and no Part Thereof to be by the Railroad Company. REPORT. In our report in Valuation Docket No. 2, Texas Midland Railroad, 75 I. C. C. 1, 45, under Account No. 26, Telegraph and Telephone Lines, we, among other things, said: The telegraph line along the right-of-way of the carrier consists of three wires from Ennis to Kaufman, four wires from Kaufman to Terrell, three wires from Terrell to Greenville, and three wires from Commerce to Paris. There are also three wires from Greenville to Commerce paralleling the right-of-way of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company of Texas. The carrier has the exclusive use of one wire from Ennis to Paris and The Western Union Telegraph Company has the exclusive use of the remaining wires. The labor of constructing all the telegraph lines from Ennis to Paris was performed by the carrier, but the materials were furnished and are owned by the telegraph company. In view of the fact that title to this property is in the telegraph company, the bureau allowed nothing to the carrier in estimating the cost of reproduction new. A telegraph line is necessary in the conduct of the business of the carrier, and for the purposes of estimating cost of reproduction new of its property it is assumed that it would equip itself with this facility [I. C. ( in the same manner that it did originally. Therefore, the carrier would be obliged to perform the same amount of work in a theoretical reproduction of the property as it did in original construction. Such work estimated at prices prevailing on valuation date would amount to $8,715. This amount will be added to the cost of reproduction new as stated in the tentative valuation. And this ruling was followed in Valuation Docket No. 4, Kansas City Southern Railway Company, 75 I. C. C. 223, 240. The correctness of the ruling in the Texas Midland Case, which was made by us on July 31, 1918, was from time to time thereafter called in question by interested parties, especially by representatives of The Western Union Telegraph Company, whereupon we issued an order dated June 12, 1922, in which, among other things, we said: It further appearing, That, in the progress of its valuation work and in the performance of its duties under Section 19a of the Interstate Commerce Act, the Commission is continually confronted with the necessity of determining whether any part of the telegraph property used by any telegraph company shall be inventoried to any common carrier other than that telegraph company, in cases where it clearly appears that the property is owned by the telegraph company and also in cases where the matter of ownership has not been agreed upon by and between the carriers who use the property, and It further appearing, That the questions of law have been presented from time to time to the Commission for determination in valuation cases which have heretofore come before the Commission for hearing and determination, but the Commission desires further light on such questions of law, It is ordered, That the subject-matter of this order be, and it is hereby, assigned for argument in briefs to be filed in the office of the Commission on or before the first day of October, 1922. It is further ordered, That a copy of this order be served upon each telegraph company, upon each of the other common carriers subject to the Interstate Commerce Act who use telegraph property which is also used by a telegraph com any, and upon the various state railroad commissions. In response to our order of June 12, a large number of briefs were filed, in som of which arguments are made in |