THE COMMITTEE HAVING UNDER CONSIDERATION THE BILL (S. 2439-QUARLES THE ACT ENTITLED 'AN ACT TO REGULATE COM- REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE. THE QUARLES BILL. IS. 2439, Fifty-eighth Congress, second session. In the Senate of the United States. December 12, 1903.] Mr. Quarles introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Interstate Commerce: A BILL Further to define the duties and powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any order made by the Interstate Commerce Commission, after hearing and determination had on any petition now pending or hereafter presented, pursuant to section thirteen of an Act entitled An Act to regulate commerce," approved February fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, declaring any existing rate or rates in said petition complained of for the transportation of persons or property, or any regulation or practice affecting such rates, or facilities afforded in connection therewith, to be unjustly discriminative or unreasonable, and declaring what rate or rates, regulation, or practice affecting such rate or rates, would be just and reasonable, and requiring them to be substituted therefor, shall become operative and be observed by the party or parties against whom the same shall be made within thirty days after notice, or, in case of proceedings for review, as hereinafter provided, then within sixty days after notice; but such order may at any time be modified, suspended, or revoked by the Commission upon full hearing of all parties in interest. SEC. 2. That when the rate substituted by the Commission as hereinbefore provided is a joint rate, and the carriers, parties thereto, fail to agree upon the apportionment thereof among themselves within twenty days after notice of such order, the Commission may issue a supplemental order declaring the portion of such joint rate to be received by each carrier party thereto, which order shall be observed by such carriers. When the order of the Commission prescribes the just relation of rates to or from common points on the lines of the several carriers parties to the proceeding, and such carriers fail to notify the Commission within twenty days after notice of such order that they have agreed among themselves as to the changes to be made to effect compliance therewith, the Commission may issue a supplemental order prescribing the rates to be charged to or from such common points by either or aÏl of the parties to the proceeding, which order shall be observed by the carriers concerned. SEC. 3. That every such order, as to its justness, reasonableness, and lawfulness, shall be reviewable by any circuit court of the United States for any district through which any portion of the road of any carrier named in such order shall run, to which a petition filed on its equity side, within twenty days from the service of such order, shall be first presented by any party interested. It shall be the duty of the Commission, within twenty days after notice, to cause to be filed in any 3 court to which such petition shall have been so presented a duly certified copy of its entire record in connection with the order to be reviewed, including petition, answers, testimony, report and opinion of the Commission, its order, and all other papers whatsoever in connection therewith. The court shall thereupon proceed to hear the same upon the petition, record, and testimony returned by the Commission; or, in its discretion, may, upon the application of either party, and in such manner as it shall direct, cause additional testimony to be taken; and thereupon if, after hearing, said court shall be of the opinion that said order was made under some error of law, or is, upon the facts, unjust or unreasonable, it shall modify, set aside, or annul the same by appropriate decree; otherwise the petition shall be dismissed. Pending such review, however, the court may, upon application and hearing, if in its opinion the order is clearly unlawful or erroneous, suspend said order. Any party to the cause may, within thirty days of the rendition of any final decree of said court, appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, which court shall proceed to hear and determine such appeal. But neither the order of the circuit court nor the execution of any writ or process thereon shall be stayed or suspended during the pendency of such appeal. The said several courts of the United States shall be and are vested with full jurisdiction and all necessary powers in the premises. The case in both the circuit court and the Supreme Court shall have precedence over all except criminal cases. SEC. 4. That the defense in all such proceedings for review shall be undertaken by the United States district attorney for the district wherein the action is brought, under the direction of the AttorneyGeneral of the United States, and the costs and expenses of such defense shall be paid out of the appropriations for the expense of the courts of the United States. The Commission may, with the consent of the Attorney-General, employ special counsel in any proceeding under this Act, paying the expense of such employment out of its own appropriation. SEC. 5. That if any party bound thereby shall refuse or neglect to obey or perform any order of the Commission mentioned in section one of this Act at any time while the same is in force, obedience and performance thereof shall be summarily enforced by writ of injunction or other proper process, mandatory, or otherwise, which shall be issued by any circuit court of the United States upon petition of said Commission or of any party interested, accompanied by a certified copy of the order alleged to be violated and evidence of the violation alleged, and in addition thereto the offending party shall be subject to a penalty of five thousand dollars for each day of the continuance of such violation, which, together with costs of suit, shall be recoverable by said Commission by action of debt in any circuit court of the United States, and when so recovered shall be for the use of the United States. SEC. 6. That all Acts or parts of Acts in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not affect causes now pending in court nor rights which have already accrued, but such causes shall be prosecuted to a conclusion and such rights enforced in a manner heretofore provided by law. All existing laws relative to testimony in cases or proceedings under or connected with the Act to regulate commerce shall also apply to any case or proceeding authorized by this Act. SEC. 7. That this Act shall take effect from its passage. DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE INTERSTATE COM MERCE COMMISSION. U. S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE COMMERCE, December 16, 1904. STATEMENT OF MR. EDWARD P. BACON. The CHAIRMAN. Please state your full name, Mr. Bacon; where you reside, your business, and whom you represent here to-day. Mr. BACON. My full name is Edward P. Bacon; I reside at Milwaukee; I am engaged in the grain business in that city. I appear before you, gentlemen, as the chairman of the executive committee of the Interstate Commerce Law Convention which was held in St. Louis October 28 and 29 last, that being the second meeting of that convention, the first meeting having been held November 20, 1900. That convention consisted of 300 delegates, from more than 170 different organizations. The convention was called for the purpose of expediting legislation for amendment to the interstate-commerce act to enlarge the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission so as to give the act greater effectiveness. A petition was adopted by the convention for the enactment of such legislation, a copy of which petition has been sent to each member of this committee and of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Senator CULLOM. Will you state whether you are going to speak to any bill before this committee? Mr. BACON. I had not desired so to do. In fact, I have not appeared for the purpose of presenting any argument, but simply to present the matter generally for your consideration, with the earnest desire on the part of the convention I represent that some legislation to this effect be immediately enacted. Senator TILLMAN. In other words, the President has sent us one message and you bring another from the people? Mr. BACON. We bring one from the people from all the people. 1 do not here represent a particular class-not the shippers alone, but I represent the entire community, consumers and producers, as well as shippers, the consumers and producers being in fact much more largely interested in this subject than the shippers themselves by reason of the fact that the freights paid by shippers are simply paid by them as middle men, and the increased cost, if any, is passed over to the people in the increased price the consumers pay for the agricultural or marketable products of the country. I wish particularly to say that it seems to our committee-and it was so expressed at the convention that there have been ample hearings on this question before the committees of Congress during the past 5 |