notice. Maximum rates are prescribed for both main and branch lines, charges being "evened up" by nickels. The Pennsylvania bureau of railways shall see to it that no more is charged than what is permitted by special charters or general laws under which the railway companies do business. Maximum rates have been commonly prescribed in charters and statutes of the state. A recent law of South Carolina compels railway companies to post schedules of rates. The latter shall be reasonable and just, and may be made by the commission. On complaint, the commission may also revise and fix rates on milk. The railway corporations of Tennessee are required to file schedules with the commission and to secure a certificate of privilege, with which the same shall be published. If railway companies fail to file such schedules, the commission may fix rates. In establishing rates the commission is required by law to take into consideration water competition. The Texas commission may make classifications, establish rates, and provide railway companies with schedules. These cannot go into effect except on twenty days' notice. Carriers may bring direct action to test the reasonableness of such rates. In Vermont railway companies may fix rates, subject to revision by the courts on petition of three or more freeholders. Railways more than fifty miles in length, wholly or partly in the state, shall sell 1000-mile books at not over two cents per mile, on penalty of from $500 to $1000. The laws of Virginia prescribe

maximum rates which, under present conditions, are clearly very much above what any railway company would think of charging, and prevents any statutory reduction as long as the net returns do not exceed fifteen per cent. Copies of rate schedcommission, and no

ules must be filed with the changes are permitted except on ten days' notice for an advance and three days' notice for a reduction. It will be noticed that reductions cannot be made without giving previous notice. This is important. All other states not mentioned thus far have analogous laws on the subject of rates. Some of them do not provide as liberally as many of those which have been quoted, but all of them, in one way or another, cover the subject.

Access to Books.-In about one-half of the states legal provisions governing access to books of railway companies are not very stringent, and frequently do not go beyond the general statement that such books shall be open to officers, directors, and stockholders, or a certain number of them. Railway commissions or other state officers have no direct control over the records of companies.1

To illustrate the nature of legal provisions in the other group of states brief statements of laws governing access to books in them may here be

1 States falling into this group are Arizona Territory, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

introduced. In Alabama the commission shall examine books and records of a railway company on application of one director or representatives of one-fiftieth of the capital stock or of one-fiftieth of the total indebtedness. The results of this examination may or may not be published, discretionary power lying with the commission. A committee of the general assembly may investigate the books of Connecticut companies. In Massachusetts the commission shall examine books and papers on request of one director or the holders of one-fiftieth of the stock and bonds of the company. The commission of South Carolina may at any time examine the books, or on written application of one director or of the holders of onefiftieth of the stock, bonds, etc., the commission shall make such examinations. In Texas the commission, a committee of the legislature, and three stockholders, and "any officer or agent of the state may examine books of railway companies." In states other than those mentioned commissions have access to books and records by law. These are Arkansas, California, Colorado, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, North Dakota, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Vermont.

Annual and Other Reports. Reference to the sections on charters, as well as early general laws, will recall the fact that annual reports were frequently called for under the private as well as

public laws, and that such reports vary in their comprehensiveness not only among different states, but also among charters granted by the legislature of the same state. In some charters and laws such reports include only a half dozen or dozen items relating to mileage, capital stock, and bonds. In others, a hundred or more items were carefully prescribed and penalties imposed for noncompliance with the provisions of the charter or of the laws. The reports which are called for under existing statutes differ quite as widely as those made pursuant to early legislation. Typical provisions existing at the present time in the laws of those states which provide in a legal way for these needs can be illustrated by reference to the laws of the states here given. In Maine the commission prescribes the form for the annual report of railway companies which shall "be designed to produce uniformity" in the annual returns of all the railroads in New England. Similarly, in Massachusetts, an act of 1899 aims to bring the returns of railway companies into harmony with those of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Reports must be uniform, as prescribed by the commission, and quarterly financial statements shall be made. In New York railway companies make annual reports in forms prescribed by the commission, and the commission in turn makes its annual report. In Pennsylvania officers of railway companies are required to report annually to stockholders and at such other times as the legislature

may require. The law of 1897 orders the secretary of internal affairs to supply blanks for reports of railway companies, copies of which shall be sent to the government and members of the legislature. The bureau of railroads also keeps these reports on file. In Illinois railway directors are required to report annually to the auditor in the manner prescribed by law; also to the commission in a form embracing forty-one items. The commission is required to file and tabulate the reports of railways. The law of Iowa is similar to that of Illinois except that the annual report, as prescribed by the commission, contains only eleven items, and, instead of reporting to the auditor, "a detailed exhibit" of receipts, etc., shall be presented to the government.1

Twenty states have statutory provisions less definite and comprehensive in their scope, calling for reports to stockholders by boards of directors, or reports of railway officers to some state officer or officers, or to the legislature, or to two or more of all these.2

1 Other states calling for annual reports, more or less comprehensive, either to the commission or to some executive or administrative state officer, in forms prescribed by the commission, are Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

2 These states are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.