Page images
PDF
EPUB

Secs. 6 and 7

Duty of railroad and tele

ject to this Act to

tracts and a re

Commission.

to the Commission.

be served upon any agent of the company found in such State or Territory, and such service shall be held by the court good and sufficient.

SEC. 6. That it shall be the duty of each and every one graph lines sub- of the aforesaid railroad and telegraph companies, within file copies of con- sixty days from and after the passage of this Act, to file port with the with the Interstate Commerce Commission copies of all contracts and agreements of every description existing between it and every other person or corporation whatsoever in reference to the ownership, possession, maintenance, control, use, or operation of any telegraph lines, or property over or upon its rights of way, and also a report describing with sufficient certainty the telegraph lines and property belonging to it, and the manner in which the same are being then used and operated by it, and the telegraph lines and property upon its right of way in which any other person or corporation claims to have a title or interest, and setting forth the grounds of such claim, and the manner in which the same are being then used and operated; and it shall be the duty of each and every one of said railroad and telegraph companies annuAnnual reports ally hereafter to report to the Interstate Commerce Commission, with reasonable fullness and certainty, the nature, extent, value, and condition of the telegraph lines and property then belonging to it, the gross earnings, and all expenses of maintenance, use, and operation thereof, and its relation and business with all connecting telegraph companies during the preceding year, at such time and in such manner as may be required by a system of reports Penalties for re- which said Commission shall prescribe; and if any of ports to Commis- said railroad or telegraph companies shall refuse or fail to make such reports or any report as may be called for by said Commission, or refuse to submit its books and records for inspection, such neglect or refusal shall operate as a forfeiture, in each case of such neglect or refusal, of a sum not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, to be recovered by the Attorney General of the United States, in the name and for the use Duty of Attor and benefit of the United States; and it shall be the duty ney General to prosecute. of the Interstate Commerce Commission to inform the Attorney General of all such cases of neglect or refusal, whose duty it shall be to proceed at once to judicially enforce the forfeitures hereinbefore provided.

fusal to make re

sion.

Right of Con

gress to alter,

SEC. 7. That nothing in this Act shall be construed to mand, or repeal. affect or impair the right of Congress, at any time here

Sec. 17

after, to alter, amend, or repeal the said Acts herein before mentioned; and this Act shall be subject to alteration, amendment, or repeal as, in the opinion of Congress justice or the public welfare may require; and nothing herein contained shall be held to deny, exclude, or impair any right or remedy in the premises now existing in the Equity rights of United States, or any authority that the Postmaster Gen- preserved. eral now has under title sixty-five of the Revised Statutes to fix rates, or, of the Government, to purchase lines as provided under said title, or to have its messages given precedence in transmission.

the Government

LAKE ERIE AND OHIO RIVER SHIP CANAL.

[Provision in the Act to incorporate the Lake Erie and Ohio River Ship Canal, June 30, 1906.]

*

*

*

*

*

reasonable.

approved by

SEC. 17. That the said canals shall be open to the use and navigation of all suitable and proper vessels or other water craft, by whomsoever owned or operated, upon fair and equal terms, conditions, rates, tolls, and charges; and 34 Stat. L., 809. the said company may demand, take, and recover for its own proper use, for all persons ant things of whatsoever description transported upon the said canals, feeders, and, other works, or in vessels and craft using the same, just and reasonable charges, rates, and tolls; but all such Charges shall be charges, rates, and tolls shall be equal to all persons, vessels, and goods under certain classifications to be established by the company and approved by the Interstate Charges to be Commerce Commission; and no rebate, reduction, draw- Commission. back, or discrimination of any sort on such charges, rates, and tolls shall ever be made directly or indirectly. And the said charges, rates, and tolls for the ensuing year shall be fixed, published, and posted on or in every place Publication of where they are to be collected, on or before the fifteenth day of February of each year, and shall not be changed except after thirty days' public notice, which notice shall plainly state the changes proposed to be made in the charges, rates, and tolls then in force and the time when the changed charges, rates, and tolls will go into effect; and the proposed changes shall be shown by printing new schedules or shall be plainly indicated upon the schedules in force at the time and kept open to public inspection: Provided, That the Interstate Commerce Commission

schedules.

Commission

quirements.

re

may, in its discretion and for good cause shown, allow inay modify changes upon less notice than herein specified or modify the foregoing requirements in respect to publishing and posting of such schedules, either in particular instances or by a general order applicable to special or peculiar circumstances or conditions.

PARCEL POST.

[Provisions in the Post Office Department Appropriation Acts of August 24, 1912, and July 28, 1916.]

[blocks in formation]

The classification of articles mailable as well as the weight limit, the rates of postage, zone or zones and other conditions of mailability under this Act, if the Postmas87 Stat. L., 558. ter General shall find on experience that they or any of them are such as to prevent the shipment of articles desirable, or to permanently render the cost of the service greater than the receipts of the revenue therefrom, he is Consent of the hereby authorized, subject to the consent of the Interchanges in zones, state Commerce Commission after investigation, to reetc., in parcel post. form from time to time such classification, weight limit, rates, zone or zones or conditions, or either, in order to promote the service to the public or to insure the receipt of revenue from such service adequate to pay the cost thereof.

Commission

Classification may be reformed.

*

*

If the Postmaster General shall find on experience that the classification of articles mailable, as well as the weight limit, or the rates of postage, zone or zones, 39 Stat. L., 412. and other conditions of mailability, under section eight

of the act approved August twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and twelve, or any of them, are such as to prevent the shipment of articles desirable, or to permanently render the cost of the service greater than the receipts of the revenue therefrom, he is hereby authorized to re-form from time to time such classification, weight limit, rates, zone or zones, or conditions, or either, in order to promote the service to the public or to insure the receipt of revenue from such service adequate to pay the cost thereProposed of: Provided, however, That before any change is hereproved by Com- after made in weight limit, rates of postage, or zone or mission. zones, by the Postmaster General, the proposed change

changes to be ap

shall be approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission after thorough and independent consideration by that body in such manner as it may determine.

RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE PAY.

[Provision in the Post Office Department Appropriation Act of July 28, 1916.]

[blocks in formation]

The provisions of this section respecting the rates of compensation shall not apply to mails conveyed under special arrangement in freight trains, for which rates not exceeding the usual and just freight rates may be paid, in accordance with the classifications and tariffs approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

[blocks in formation]

oath.

Railroad companies carrying the mails shall submit, Evidence under under oath, when and in such form as may be required by the Postmaster General, evidence as to the performance of service.

Information from the

The Postmaster General shall, from time to time, request information from the Interstate Commerce Com- mission. mission as to the revenue received by railroad companies from express companies for services rendered in the transportation of express matter, and may, in his discretion, arrange for the transportation of mail matter other than of the first class at rates not exceeding those so ascertained and reported to him, and it shall be the duty of the railroad companies to carry such mail matter at such rates fixed by the Postmaster General.

Com

Commission may determine

The Postmaster General is authorized, in his discretion, to petition the Interstate Commerce Commission for certain rates. the determination of a postal carload or less-than-carload rate for transportation of mail matter of the fourth class and periodicals, and may provide for and authorize such transportation, when practicable, at such rates, and it shall be the duty of the railroad companies to provide and perform such service at such rates and on the conditions prescribed by the Postmaster General.

The Postmaster General may, in his discretion, distin- Slower service. guish between the several classes of mail matter and provide for less frequent dispatches of mail matter of the third and fourth classes and periodicals when lower rates for transportation or other economies may be secured thereby without material detriment to the service.

Buppies a The Postmaster General is authorized to return to the mails, when practicable for the utilization of car space paid for and not needed for the mails, postal cards, stamped envelopes, newspaper wrappers, empty mail bags, furniture, equipment, and other supplies for the Postal Service.

Return of emp ty men tags

Weights of mai! taken

Existing meth

od of mail pay to

be

maintained

The Postmaster General, in cases of emergency between October first and April first of any year, may hereafter return to the mails empty mail bags and other equipment theretofore withdrawn therefrom as required by law, and, where such return requires additional authorization of car space under the provisions of this section, to pay for the transportation thereof as provided for herein out of the appropriation for inland transportation by railroad routes.

The Postmaster General may have the weights of mail taken on railroad mail routes, and computations of the average loads of the several classes of cars and other computations for statistical and administrative purposes made at such times as he may elect, and pay the expense thereof out of the appropriation for inland transportation by railroad routes.

Pending the decision of the Interstate Commerce Comtemporarily mission, as hereinafter provided for, the existing method and rates of railway mail pay shall remain in effect, except on such routes or systems as the Postmaster General shall select, and to the extent he may find it practicable and necessary to place upon the space system of pay in the manner and at the rates provided in this section, with the consent and approval of the Interstate Commerce Commission, in order to properly present to the Interstate Commerce Commission the matters hereinafter referred thereto: Provided, That if the final decision of the Interstate Commerce Commission shall be adverse to the space system, and if the rates established by it under whatever method or system is adopted shall be greater or less than the rates under this section, the Postmaster General shall readjust the compensation of the carriers on such selected routes and systems in accordance therewith, from the dates on which the rates named in this section became effective.

Pay to be fair and reasonable.

All railway common carriers are hereby required to: transport such mail matter as may be offered for transportation by the United States in the manner, under the conditions. and with the service prescribed by the Post

« PreviousContinue »