of the bridge, and a map of the location, giving, for the space of one mile above and one mile below the proposed location of the bridge, the topography of the banks of the river, the shore-lines at high and low water, the direction and strength of the current at low, medium, and high-water stages, and the soundings, accurately showing the bed of the stream, the location of any other bridge or bridges, and shall furnish such other information as may be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject; and until the said plan and location of the bridge are approved by the Secretary of War the bridge shall not be built; and should any changes be made in the plan of said bridge during the progress of construction, such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War. To be finished in SEC. 10. That in case the construction of the bridge authorized in this act be not commenced within two years and completed within seven two years. years from the date of its approval, then this act shall be null and void. Pooling of earn SEC. 11. That whereas a principal reason for giving authority to build the bridge herein contemplated is to secure reasonable rates and ings forbidden. tolls for corporations and individuals for passing over the same, the Saint Louis Merchants' Bridge Company, or its successors or assigns, shall not agree or consent to the consolidation of this bridge with any other bridge across the Mississippi River, or to the pooling of the earnings of this bridge company with the earnings of any other bridge company on said river, nor shall any person who is or may be a stockholder or director or manager of any other bridge over said river be a stock. holder or director or manager of the bridge herein provided for: Provided, That if this provision of this act shall at any time be violated in any of these particulars, such violation shall, without legal proceeding, feit franchise. at once forfeit the privilege hereby granted, and said bridge shall be come the property of the United States, and the Secretary of War shall take possession of the same in the name and for the use of the United States. Proviso. Violation to for SEC. 12. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby Right to amend, expressly reserved. And it is further provided that no bridge shall be etc., reserved. constructed across the Mississippi River within two miles above or two miles below the bridge herein authorized. Approved, February 3, 1887. Proviso. CHAP. 92.--An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for the muster and pay of certain officers and enlisted men of the volunteer forces," approved June third, eighteen hundred and eighty-four. Feb. 3, 1887. Date of commis Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section one of "An act to provide for the muster and pay of certain officers and enlisted men of sion to certain volthe volunteer forces," approved June third, eighteen hundred and eighty. unteer officers. four, be, and is hereby, amended so as to read as follows: "That the joint resolution approved July eleventh, eighteen hundred and seventy, entitled 'Joint resolution amendatory of joint resolution for the relief of certain officers of the Army,' approved July twentysixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, is hereby so amended and shall be so construed that in all cases arising under the same any person who was duly appointed and commissioned, whether his commission was actually received by him or not, shall be considered as commissioned to the grade therein named from the date from which he was to take rank under and by the terms of his said commission, and shall be entitled to all pay and emoluments as if actually mustered at that date: Provided, That at the date from which he was to take rank by the terms of his commission there was a vacancy to which he could be so commissioned and that he was actually performing the duties of the grade to which he was so commissioned, or, if not so performing such Vol. 23, p. 34. To receive pay, etc., from date of commission. Provisos. ed, or duties were duties, then from such time after the date of his commission as he may have actually entered upon such duties: And provided further, That any Prisoners of war person held as a prisoner of war, or who may have been absent by reason or disabled officers. of wounds or in hospital by reason of disability received in the service in the line of duty, at the date of his commission, if a vacancy existed for him in the grade to which so commissioned, shall be entitled to the same pay and emoluments as if actually performing the duties of the grade to which he was commissioned and actually mustered at such date: And provided further, That this act and the resolution hereby amended shall be construed to apply only in those cases where the commission bears date prior to June twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixtythree, or after that date when their commands were not below the minimum number required by existing laws and regulations: And provided Pay received to further, That the pay and allowances actually received shall be deducted from the sums to be paid under this act. Application. be deducted. Approved, February 3, 1887. Feb. 3, 1887. Preamble. ver. CHAP. 93.-An act for the relief of Elon A. Marsh and Minard Lefever. Whereas, heretofore, to wit, on the twenty-eighth day of December, anno Domini eighteen hundred and eighty, in due form of procedure and in all legal respects, letters patent numbered two hundred and thirty-six thousand and fifty-two of the United States of America were duly granted and issued to Elon A. Marsh and his assignee, Minard Lefever, of Battle Creek, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, one of the United States, for a new and useful improvement in steam-engine valve-gear, save that the said letters patent were not, by accident or mistake, at the said time of issuing, to wit, on the twenty-eighth day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty, signed, as by law required, by the Secretary of the Interior; and Whereas the said named letters patent were afterward, to wit, on the twenty-fourth day of February, anno Domini eighteen hundred and eighty-two, but not before, duly signed by the then Acting Secretary of the Interior: Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Elon A. Marsh States of America in Congress assembled, That the letters patent named and Minard Lefe- in the preamble of this act are hereby and by this act made legal, valid, Patent for steam- complete, and operative, in law and equity, from the twenty-eighth day engine valve-gear of December, eighteen hundred and eighty, to the same extent and for to issue as from the same term that the same would have been legal, valid, complete, Dec. 28, 1880. and operative if the signature of the Secretary of the Interior had, at the time of the supposed issue of said letters patent on the day aforesaid, been placed thereon, and the omission of said signature thereon had not occurred. Provided, however, That the provisions of this act Pending suits shall not be held, or construed to apply to or affect any suits now pending, nor any cause of action arising prior to its passage. Approved, February 3, 1887. Proviso. not affected. C. Feb. 4, 1887. CHAP. 103.-An act to provide for the erection of a public building at Wilmington, North Carolina. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Wilmington, N. States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to purchase a site for, and Public building. cause to be erected thereon, a suitable building, with a fire-proof vault extending to each story, for the accommodation of the post-office, customhouse, United States court rooms, and other Government offices, at the city of Wilmington, in the State of North Carolina. The site, and building Site. Estimates. Provisos. thereon, when completed upon plans and specifications to be previously Plans. made and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall not exceed the cost of two hundred thousand dollars; nor shall any site be purchased until estimates for the erection of a building which shall furnish sufficient accommodations for the transaction of the public business, and which shall not exceed in cost the balance of the sum herein limited after the site shall have been purchased and paid for, shall have been approved by the Secretary of the Treasury; and no purchase of site, nor plan for said building, shall be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury involving an expenditure exceeding the said sum of two hundred thousand dollars: Provided, That no money to be appropriated for this purpose shall be available until a valid title to the site for said building shall be vested in the United States, nor until the State of North Carolina shall cede to the United States exclusive jurisdiction over the same during the time the United States shalt be or remain the owner thereof, for all purposes except the administration of the criminal laws of said State and the service of civil process therein: Provided, That the site on which the said building shall be erected shall be Open space. so selected as to leave an open space around the same of not less than forty feet in width, including streets and alleys. Approved, February 4, 1887. Title. CHAP. 104.-An act to regulate commerce. Feb. 4, 1887. Interstate com. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of this act shall apply to any common carrier or carriers engaged in the transpor- merce regulations. tation of passengers or property wholly by railroad, or partly by railroad Application. and partly by water when both are used, under a common control, management, or arrangement, for a continuous carriage or shipment, from one State or Territory of the United States, or the District of Colum bia, to any other State or Territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, or from any place in the United States to an adjacent foreign country, or from any place in the United States through a foreign country to any other place in the United States, and also to the transportation in like manner of property shipped from any place in the United States to a foreign country and carried from such place to a port of transshipment, or shipped from a foreign country to any place in the United States and carried to such place from a port of entry either in the United States or an adjacent foreign country: Provided, however, That the provisions of this act shall not apply to the transportation of passengers or property, or to the receiving, delivering, storage, or handling of property, wholly within one State, and not shipped to or from a foreign country from or to any State or Territory as aforesaid. The term "railroad" as used in this act shall include all bridges and ferries used or operated in connection with any railroad, and also all the road in use by any corporation operating a railroad, whether owned or operated under a contract, agreement, or lease; and the term "transportation" shall include all instrumentalities of shipment or carriage. to Proviso. within one State. "Railroad." tion." Charges to be All charges made for any service rendered or to be rendered in the transportation of passengers or property as aforesaid, or in connection reasonable. therewith, or for the receiving, delivering, storage, or handling of such property, shall be reasonable and just; and every unjust and unreasonable charge for such service is prohibited and declared to be unlawful. SEC. 2. That if any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act shall, directly or indirectly, by any special rate, rebate, drawback, or other device, charge, demand, collect, or receive from any person or persons a greater or less compensation for any service rendered, or to be rendered, in the transportation of passengers or property, subject to the provisions of this act, than it charges, demands, collects, or receives Special rates, rebates, etc., prohib ited. Undue preferences to persons, localities, and traffic prohibited. Equal facilities to be afforded connecting lines. from any other person or persons for doing for him or them a like and contemporaneous service in the transportation of a like kind of traffic under substantially similar circumstances and conditions, such common carrier shall be deemed guilty of unjust discrimination, which is hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful. SEC. 3. That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act to make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, company, firm, corporation, or locality, or any particular description of traffic, in any respect whatsoever, or to subject any particular person, company, firm, corporation, or locality, or any particular description of traffic, to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect what soever. Every common carrier subject to the provisions of this act shall, according to their respective powers, afford all reasonable, proper, and equal facilities for the interchange of traffic between their respective lines, and for the receiving, forwarding, and delivering of passengers and property to and from their several lines and those connecting therewith, and shall not discriminate in their rates and charges between such connecting lines; but this shall not be construed as requiring any such Terminal facili- common carrier to give the use of its tracks or terminal facilities to another carrier engaged in like business. ties. Shorter distance circumstances. SEC. 4. That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject to charges not to be the provisions of this act to charge or receive any greater compensation more than for longer, under similar in the aggregate for the transportation of passengers or of like kind of property, under substantially similar circumstances and conditions, for a shorter than for a longer distance over the same line, in the same direction, the shorter being included within the longer distance; but this shall not be construed as authorizing any common carrier within the terms of this act to charge and receive as great compensation for a shorter as for a longer distance: Provided, however, That upon applicaCommissioners tion to the Commission appointed under the provisions of this act, such may authorize ex- common carrier may, in special cases, after investigation by the Commission, be authorized to charge less for longer than for shorter distances for the transportation of passengers or property; and the Commission may from time to time prescribe the extent to which such designated common carrier may be relieved from the operation of this section of this act. Proviso. ception. Pooling of freights or earnings prohibited. Common carri SEC. 5. That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act to enter into any contract, agreement, or combination with any other common carrier or carriers for the pooling of freights of different and competing railroads, or to divide between them the aggregate or net proceeds of the earnings of such railroads, or any portion thereof; and in any case of an agreement for the pooling of freights as aforesaid, each day of its continuance shall be deemed a separate offense. SEC. 6. That every common carrier subject to the provisions of this ers to print and act shall print and keep for public inspection schedules showing the post schedules. rates and fares and charges for the transportation of passengers and property which any such common carrier has established and which are in force at the time upon its railroad, as defined by the first section of this act. The schedules printed as aforesaid by any such common carrier shall plainly state the places upon its railroad between which property and passengers will be carried, and shall contain the classification of freight in force upon such railroad, and shall also state separately the terminal charges and any rules or regulations which in any wise change, affect, or determine any part or the aggregate of such aforesaid rates and fares and charges. Such schedules shall be plainly printed in large type, of at least the size of ordinary pica, and copies for the use of the public shall be kept in.every depot or station upon any such railroad, in such places and in such form that they can be conveniently inspected. Any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act receiving Schedules of freight in the United States to be carried through a foreign country to freight through foreign countries. any place in the United States shall also in like manner print and keep for public inspection, at every depot where such freight is received for shipment, schedules showing the through rates established and charged by such common carrier to all points in the United States beyond the foreign country to which it accepts freight for shipment; and any freight shipped from the United States through a foreign country into the United States, the through rate on which shall not have been made public as required by this act, shall, before it is admitted into the United Goods subject to States from said foreign country, be subject to customs duties as if said schedules not postcustoms duties, if freight were of foreign production; and any law in conflict with this ed. section is hereby repealed. No advance shall be made in the rates, fares, and charges which have Advances not to been established and published as aforesaid by any common carrier in be made until after compliance with the requirements of this section, except after ten days' 10 days' notice. public notice, which shall plainly state the changes proposed to be made in the schedule then in force, and the time when the increased rates, fares, or charges 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 for public inspection. Reductions in such published rates, fares, or charges may be made with. be made without out previous public notice; but whenever any such reduction is made, notice of the same shall immediately be publicly posted and the changes made shall immediately be made public by printing new schedules, or shall immediately be plainly indicated upon the schedules at the time. in force and kept for public inspection. Reductions may notice. Deviation from hibited. And when any such common carrier shall have established and published its rates, fares, and charges in compliance with the provisions schedule rates proof this section, it shall be unlawful for such common carrier to charge, demand, collect, or receive from any person or persons a greater or less compensation for the transportation of passengers or property, or for any services in connection therewith, than is specified in such published schedule of rates, fares, and charges as may at the time be in force. sion. Every common carrier subject to the provisions of this act shall file Copies of schedwith the Commission hereinafter provided for copies of its schedules of ules, etc., to be rates, fares, and charges which have been established and published in filed with Commiscompliance with the requirements of this section, and shall promptly notify said Commission of all changes made in the same. Every such common carrier shall also file with said Commission copies of all contracts, agreements, or arrangements with other common carriers in relation to any traffic affected by the provisions of this act to which it may be a party. And in cases where passengers and freight pass over continuous lines or routes operated by more than one common carrier, and the several common carriers operating such lines or routes establish joint tariffs of rates or fares or charges for such continuous lines or routes, copies of such joint tariffs shall also, in like manner, be filed with said Commission. Such joint rates, fares, and charges on such continuous lines so filed as aforesaid shall be made public by such common carriers when directed by said Commission, in so far as may, in the judgment of the Commission, be deemed practicable; and said Commission shall from time to time prescribe the measure of publicity which shall be given to such rates, fares, and charges, or to such part of them as it may deem it practicable for such common carriers to publish, and the places in which they shall be published; but no common carrier party to any such joint tariff shall be liable for the failure of any other common carrier party thereto to observe and adhere to the rates, fares, or charges thus made and published. If any such common carrier shall neglect or refuse to file or publish its schedules or tariffs of rates, fares, and charges as provided in this section, or any part of the same, such common carrier shall, in addition to other penalties herein prescribed, be subject to a writ of mandamus, Proceedings on failure to file or publish schedules, etc. |