RAILROAD LAWS.

LAW CREATING THE BOARD OF RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS, AND DEFINING THEIR DUTIES.

CHAPTER CXXIV.

An Act concerning Railroads and Other Common Carriers. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:

Section 1. No railroad company shall charge or receive a rate in excess of 3 cents per mile for the transportation of any passenger who is over 12 years of age, upon any railroad in this state, nor in excess of half that sum per mile for the transportation of any passenger of the age of 12 years or under. Each passenger over 12 years of age paying fare shall be entitled to have transported, without any additional charge, baggage not exceeding 100 pounds in weight; and each passenger of 12 years of age or under paying fare shall be entitled to have transported, without additional charge, baggage not exceeding 50 pounds in weight.

Sec. 2. The executive council shall, before the 1st day of April next, elect three competent persons, who shall constitute a board of railroad commissioners, and who shall hold their offices from the date of their respective elections for the term of one, two and three years from the 1st day of April next. The executive council shall, in like manner, before the 1st day of April in each year thereafter, elect a comissioner, to continue in office for the term of three years from said date, and in case any vacancy occurs in said board, by resignation or otherwise, shall in the same manner elect a commissioner to serve for the residue of the term. The executive council may at any time remove such commissioners, or any of them, and elect others to fill the vacancy; and all votes cast by each member of the executive council for the election of any person to the office of railroad commissioner, or removal from the same, shall be recorded in a journal kept by them for that purpose, which journal shall be kept open at all times for public inspection. The said board of commissioners shall have power to appoint a secretary, and remove him at pleasure.

No person owning any bonds, stock or property in any railroad company, or who is in the employment or who is in any way or manner pecuniarily interested in any railroad, shall be eligible to the office of railroad commissioner or secretary of said board. Said railroad commissioners and secretary shall be qualified electors of the state: Provided, That no more than two of the commissioners shall belong to the same political party. Said commissioners and secretary shall be sworn to the due and faithful performance of the duties of their respective offices before entering upon the discharge of the same. Each of said commissioners shall enter into bonds, with security to be approved by the executive council, in the sum of $10,000, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duty.

Sec. 3. Said commissioners shall keep their office in the statehouse, or at some other suitable place in the city of Topeka, and they or either of them may act officially in any part of the state. They shall each receive a salary of $3,000 per annum, and the secretary shall receive a salary of $1,500 per annum, to be paid as the salaries of other state officers are paid; and the said board shall be provided, at the expense of the state, with necessary office furniture and stationery.

(Section 4, which provides for raising a fund for the payment of the salaries and current expenses of the board of railroad commissioners and its secretary by the taxation of the property of railroad companies only, was declared unconstitutional and void by the supreme court of the state of Kansas, being in contravention of paragraph 1 of article 11 of the state constitution, which provides that "the legislature shall provide for a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation." A. T. & S. F. Rld. Co. v. Howe, 32 Kas. 737. See, also, 32 Kas. 761.)

Sec. 5. Said commissioners shall have the general supervision of all railroads in the state operated by steam, and all express companies, sleeping-car companies, and all other persons, companies or corporations doing business as common carriers in this state; and shall inquire into any neglect or violation of the laws of this state by any person, company or corporation engaged in the business of transportation of persons or property therein, or by the officers, agents or employees thereof; and shall also from time to time carefully examine and inspect the condition of each railroad in the state, and its equipment, and the manner of its conduct and management, with reference to the public safety and convenience. Whenever in the judgment of the railroad commissioners it shall appear that any railroad corporation or other transportation company fails, in any respect or particular, to comply with the terms of its charter or the

laws of the state, or whenever in their judgment any repairs are necessary upon its road, or any addition to its rolling stock, or any addition to or changes of its stations or station houses, or any change in its rates for transporting freight, or any change in the mode of operating its road and conducting its business, is reasonable and expedient, in order to promote the security, convenience and accommodation of the public, said commissioners shall inform such corporation of the improvement and changes which they adjudge to be proper, by a notice thereof in writing, to be served by leaving a copy thereof, certified by the commissioners' secretary, with any station agent, clerk, treasurer, or any director of said corporation; and a report of the proceedings shall be included in the annual report of the commissioners to the governor. Nothing in this section shall be construed as relieving any railroad company, or other transportation corporation, from their responsibility or liability for damage to person or property.

Sec. 6. Said commissioners shall, on or before the first Monday in December in each year, make a report to the governor of their doings for the preceding year, containing such facts, statements and explanations as will disclose the working of the system of railroad transportation in this state, and its relation to the general business and prosperity of the citizens of the state, and such suggestions and recommendations in respect thereto as may seem appropriate. Said report shall also contain, as to every railroad corporation doing business in this state, (1) The amount of its capital stock. (2) The amount of its preferred stock, if any, and the condition of its preferment. (3) The amount of its funded debt, and the rate of interest. (4) The amount of its floating debt. (5) The cost and actual present cash value of its road and equipment, including permanent way, buildings and rolling stock, all real estate used exclusively in operating the road, and all fixtures and conveniences for transacting its business. (6) The estimated value of all other property owned by such corporation, with a schedule of the same, not including lands granted in aid of its construction. (7) The number of acres originally granted in aid of the construction of its road, by the United States or by this state. (8) Number of acres of such land remaining unsold. (9) A list of all its officers and directors, with their respective places of residence. (10) Such statistics of the road and of its business for the year as may in the judgment of the commissioners be necessary and proper for the information of the legislature, or as may be required by the governor. Such report shall exhibit and refer to the condition of such corporation on the 1st day of July of each year, and the details of its business transacted during the year ending

June 30. (11) The average amount of tonage that can be carried over each road in the state with an engine of given power.

Sec. 7. To enable said commissioners to make such report, the president or managing officer of each railroad or transportation company doing business in this state shall annually make to the said commissioners, on the 15th day of September of each year, such returns, in the form which they may prescribe, as will afford the information required for their said official report. Such returns shall be verified by the oath of the officer making them; and any corporation herein named, whose returns shall not be made as herein prescribed, by the 15th day of September, shall be liable to a penalty of $100 for each and every day after the 16th day of September that such returns shall be willfully delayed or refused.

Sec. 8. The said commissioners shall have power, in the discharge of the duties of their office, to examine any of the books, papers or documents of any such company or corporation, or to examine under oath or otherwise any officer, director, agent or employee thereof, or any other person. The commissioners, or either of them, are empowered to issue subpenas and administer oaths in the same manner and with the same power to enforce obedience thereto, in the performance of their said duties, as belong and pertain to courts of record in this state; and any person who may willfully obstruct said commissioners in the performance of their duties, or who may refuse to give any information within their posession that may be required by said commissioners within the line of their duty, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable, on conviction thereof, to a fine of not exceeding $1,000, in the discretion of the court; the costs of such subpenas and investigation to be first paid by the state, on the certificate of said commissioners.

Sec. 9. It shall be the duty of any railroad company, when within its power so to do, and upon reasonable notice, to furnish suitable cars to any and all persons who may apply therefor for the transportation of any and all kinds of freight, and to receive and transport such freight with all reasonable dispatch, and to provide and keep suitable facilities for the receiving and handling of the same at any depot on the line of its road; and also to receive and transport in like manner the empty or loaded cars furnished by any connecting road, to be delivered at any station or stations on the line of its road, to be loaded or discharged, or reloaded and returned to the road so connecting; and for compensation it shall not demand or receive any greater sum than is accepted by it from any other connecting railroad for a similar service.

Sec. 10. No railroad company shall charge, demand or receive from any person, company or corporation, for the transportation of any property or for any other service, a greater sum than it shall at the same time charge, demand or receive from any other person, company or corporation, for a like service from the same place, or upon like condition and under similar circumstances; and all concessions of rates, drawbacks, and contracts for special rates shall be open to and allowed all persons, companies and corporations alike; nor shall it charge more for transporting freight from any point on its line than a fair and just proportion of the price it charges for the same kind of freight transported from any other point.

Sec. 11. No railroad company shall charge, demand or receive from any person, company or corporation, an unreasonable price for the transportation of persons or property, or for the hauling or storing of freight, or for the use of its cars, or for any privilege or service afforded by it in the transaction of its business as a railroad company. And upon complaint in writing, made to the board of railroad commissioners, that an unreasonable price has been charged, such board shall investigate said complaint, and if sustained shall make a certificate under their seal, setting forth what is a reasonable charge for the service rendered, which shall be prima facie evidence of the matters therein stated.

Sec. 12. It shall be unlawful for any railroad company to make any contract or enter into any stipulation with any other railroad company running in the same general direction, by which either company shall directly or indirectly agree to divide, in any manner or proportion, the joint earnings upon the whole or any part of the freight transported over such roads; and any violation of this provision shall render the railroad company violating the same liable to a penalty of $5,000 for each month for which such earnings are divided, to be recovered for the use of the common-school fund, in the name of the state.

Sec. 13. No railroad company shall be permitted, except as otherwise provided by regulation or order of the board, to change or limit its common-law liability as a common carrier. All railroad companies shall, on demand, issue duplicate freight receipts to shippers, in which shall be stated the class or classes of freight shipped, the freight charges over the road giving the receipt, and, so far as practicable, shall state the freight charges over other roads that carry such freight. When the consignee presents the railroad receipt to the agent of the railroad that delivers such freight, such agent shall deliver the article shipped on payment of the rate charged for the class of freights mentioned in the receipt.