§ 296.

297.

SECTION 18.

Salaries of Commissioners, secretary, etc.
Expenses of the Commission.

§ 296. Salaries of Commissioners, secretary, etc.- SEC. 18. (As amended.) That each Commissioner shall receive an annual salary of seven thousand five hundred dollars, payable in the same manner as the judges of the courts of the United States. The Commission shall appoint a secretary, who shall receive an annual salary of three thousand five hundred dollars, payable in like manner. The Commission shall have authority to employ and fix the compensation of such other employees as it may find necessary to the proper performance of its duties. Until otherwise provided by law, the Commission may hire suitable offices for its use, and shall have authority to procure all necessary office supplies. Witnesses summoned before the Commission shall be paid the same fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the courts of the United States.

All of the expenses of the Commission, including all necessary expenses for transportation incurred by the Commissioners, or by their employees under their orders, in making any investigation, or upon official business in any other places than in the city of Washington, shall be allowed and paid on the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor approved by the chairman of the Commission.

§ 297. Expenses of the Commission. The secretary of the Interstate Commerce Commission is entitled to be reimbursed for telegrams sent by him in pursuance of directions of the Commission, approved by the chairman of the Commission, and accompanied by the request of the chairman that the rules of the comptroller as to the production of copies of telegrams for which credit is asked be disregarded on account of the confidential character of the messages, the secretary hav ing also offered to submit the books of the Commission to the comptroller and auditing officers of the Treasury. United States v. Moseley, 187 U. S. 322, 47 L. Ed. 198, affirming the judgment of the Court of Claims.

§ 298. Principal office of the Commission, etc.- SEC. 19. That the principal office of the Commission shall be in the city of Washington, where its general sessions shall be held; but whenever the convenience of the public or the parties may be promoted or delay or expense prevented thereby, the Commission may hold special sessions in any part of the United States. It may, by one or more of the Commissioners, prosecute any inquiry necessary to its duties, in any part of the United States, into any matter or question of fact pertaining to the business of any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act.

§ 299. Practice of Commission in hearing.- The Commission has from its first organization followed the practice of deciding cases involving local rates to be heard before one or more members of the Commission at a central point in the territory immediately affected by the rates. 2 I. C. C. R. 309, 2 Int. Com. Rep. 799.

SECTION 20.

§ 300. Carriers subject to the Act must render full annual reports to Commission.

$300. Carriers subject to the Act must render full annual reports to Commission.-SEC. 20. That the Commission is hereby authorized to require annual reports from all common carriers subject to the provisions of this act, to fix the time and prescribe the manner in which such reports shall be made, and to require from such carriers specific answers to all questions upon which the Commission may need information. Such annual reports shall show in detail the amount of capital stock issued, the amounts paid therefor, and the manner of payment for the same; the dividends paid, the surplus fund, if any, and the number of stockholders; the funded and floating debts and the interest paid thereon; the cost and value of the carrier's property, franchises, and equipments; the number of employees and the salaries paid each class; the amounts expended for improvements each year, how expended, and the character of such improvements; the earnings and receipts from each branch of business and from all sources; the operating and other expenses; the balances of profit and loss; and a complete exhibit of the financial operations of the carrier each year, including an annual balance-sheet. Such reports shall also contain such information in relation to rates or regulations concerning fares or freights, or agreements, arrangements, or contracts with other common carriers, as the Commission may require; and the said Commission may, within its discretion, for the purpose of enabling it the better to carry out the purposes of this act, prescribe (if in the opinion of the Commission it is practicable to prescribe such uniformity and methods of keeping accounts) a period of time within which all common carriers subject to the provisions of this act shall have, as near as may be, a uniform system of accounts, and the manner in which such accounts shall be kept.

§ 301. Railroads which are not subject to section 20 of the Act. A railroad lying wholly within a state which transports freight, whether coming from within or without the state, solely on local bills of lading, under a special contract limited to its own line, and without dividing charges with any other carriers or assuming any other obligations to or for them, does not come within the provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act and is not bound to make any report of its business to the Interstate Commerce Commission. United

States ex. rel. Com. v. K. & S. R. Co., 81 Fed. Rep. 783, W. Dist. of Mich. See also Commission v. Bellaire C. & Z. R. Co., 77 Fed. Rep. 942.

The Commission has held that a carrier operating a railroad wholly within a state, but engaged in interstate transportation, is required under the Act to report to the Commission, (see report for 1897, p. 100). Interstate Commerce Commission v. Seaboard Railway Co., 82 Fed. Rep. 563. A suit is now (1905) pending in the Supreme Court of the United States brought by the Commission against the Lake Shore & M. S. R. Co. by mandamus to compel compliance with an order of the Commission to file an annual report under this section, the Circuit Court having denied the writ on the ground that it had no jurisdiction to issue an original writ. Similar suits are pending in other circuits waiting the decision of the Supreme Court in this case. In U. S. ex rel Com. v. C. K. S. R. R. Co., 81 Fed. Rep. 783 (1896), and U. S. ex rel v. Seaboard Ry. Co., 85 Fed. Rep. 955 (1898), the jurisdiction to enforce reports by mandamus seems to have been assumed. While question seems to have been raised as to the extent of the power of the Commission in the requirements of reports from the carriers, there seems to have been no judicial determination.

This case was affirmed by the Supreme Court April 10, 1905, the Court holding that the Circuit Court had no jurisdiction under this section to enforce reports by writ of mandamus, such power to issue original writs of mandamus only existing in the circuit courts when specifically conferred by statute.

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SECTION 21.

§ 302. Annual reports of the Commission to Congress on or before December 1st each year.

§ 302. Annual reports of the Commission to Congress on or before December 1st each year.- SEC. 21. (As amended March 2. 1889). 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.