The Board of Suspension deals with matters relating to the special investigation and suspension docket, which was established in 1912, to give special expedition to the handling of cases involving suspension of the operation of tariffs filed but not yet in operation. In the year ending October 31, 1921, 207 proceedings were instituted on this "investigation and suspension " docket, of which 157 proceedings were disposed of.

The Fourth Section Board, established in 1911, following the resuscitation of the "long-and-short-haul" clause under the Mann-Elkins Act of June 8, 1910, files and digests the applications received from the carriers for relief from the operation of this clause and "aggregate of intermediates" clause and presents to the commission a brief statement of the situation involved in each application. The board is composed of examiners who have authority to take testimony on the applications pending. The commission reports that renewal of active competition between individual carriers following resumption of private control has brought an increase in the number of applications for relief from the provisions of Section 4 of the act.

Section 20 of the Interstate Commerce Act authorizes the commission to establish and maintain rates for carriers dependent on the value declared in writing by the shipper or agreed upon by him as the released value of the property. To handle applications from carriers for authority to maintain such rates, the Released Rate Board has been established. In the year ending October 31, 1921, 210 such applications were received relating particularly to ores and smelter products.

Bureau of Inquiry. The Bureau of Inquiry deals with apparent violations of the Interstate Commerce Act or the supplementary laws, which come to the commission's attention. Most of the matters investigated by this bureau are disposed of without recourse to the courts, mainly through correspondence or conference with carriers or shippers concerned. In this work a staff of special agents is continuously employed in field work, while a staff of attorneys not only analyzes the evidence thus obtained, and in appropriate cases recommends prosecution, but also takes part in the correspondence and conferences. Where the commission approves a recommendation for prosecution, the attorneys prepare

cases for presentation before grand juries and assist the United States attorneys in the court proceedings.

Bureau of Law. The Bureau of Law represents the commission in injunction and other proceedings brought by carriers in the United States courts against orders of the commission and in such civil actions as the commission approves to enforce statutory forfeitures resulting from failure to comply with its orders and, in general represents the commission in all court proceedings in which the commission is a party. It also functions as a service bureau in preparing briefs and memoranda on questions of law whenever required in the general work of the commission and acts as a supervisory and coördinating body for the work of the attorneys engaged in the various other bureaus of the commission. When directed by the commission, it participates in special inquiries prosecuted by the commission of its own motion or at congressional requests.

Bureau of Safety. This bureau has jurisdiction over the activities of the commission relating to the safety of passengers, employees, and property except the work of locomotive inspection, which is conducted by the Bureau of Locomotive Inspection, and the regulation of transportation of explosives and other dangerous articles, which is under the Bureau of Service. This bureau has four sections: Hours of Service, Safety Appliances, Accident Investigation, and Signals and Automatic Train Control devices. For enforcement of the safety appliance laws, the country is divided into twenty sections, to each of which two inspectors are assigned, while for administration of the Hours-of-Service Act, a geographic division into nine sections has been made, to each of which one inspector or special agent has been assigned. Aid in enforcement of these laws is given by the attorneys of the bureau, who hold commissions as assistant United States. attorneys. All cases of violation of the safety-appliance laws and the Hours-of-Service Act reported by the Bureau of Safety are transmitted by the commission to the United States attorneys for prosecution.' Plans of safety devices which are submitted to the

7 In the year ending June 30, 1921, 345 cases were transmitted of violations of the safety appliance laws and sixty-seven violations of the Hours-of-Service Act.

bureau are examined by engineers of the Signal and Automatic Train Control Section, and reports thereon are rendered to the proprietors. The personnel of the above sections are utilized, as occasion demands, in the work of investigation and preparation of detailed reports and analyses of train accidents by the Accident Investigation Section. The more important reports are published directly after the investigations are completed, and all reports are condensed and published in quarterly bulletins. The net results of the investigations during the course of the year are summarized in the annual report of the Chief of the Bureau of Safety.

To this bureau is also assigned the handling of detail involved in the administration of Section 26 of the Interstate Commerce Act, added February 28, 1920, which authorizes the commission to order any carrier subject to the act, upon two years' notice, to install automatic train-stop or other safety devices.

Bureau of Locomotive Inspection. The Bureau of Locomotive Inspection is charged with the administration of the act of February 17, 1911 (36 Stat. L., 913), as amended by the act of March 4, 1915 (38 Stat. L., 1912). The following table shows the increase in the work of locomotive inspection from 1917 through 1921:

This bureau is under a Chief Inspector and two Assistant Chief Inspectors who, under the law, must be appointed by the President with the concurrence of the Senate. The country is divided into fifty inspection districts, each of which is policed by a field officer, called the district inspector. The offices of these inspectors are located in a manner to permit of most convenient access to the railroad offices, and a stenographer is assigned to each office. The administrative office in Washington, under the Chief Inspector and his two assistants, consists of a section which deals with

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Thus, for example, three inspectors are located in Chicago, two in St. Paul, two in Boston, etc. Such an arrangement, of course, makes possible the conservation of office space and travel expenditure.

the monthly and annual reports of the inspectors; a section, which is concerned with the technical details involved in the preparation of standards of design and construction for locomotives, and a section through which is handled the office routine involved in the work of accident investigation, general enforcement, and interpretation of orders.

Bureau of Service. The Bureau of Service was organized in April, 1920, to execute the duties imposed upon the commission by paragraphs 10 and 17 of Section 1 of the Interstate Commerce Act, which enlarged its powers with respect to car service to include control over the use, supply, movement, distribution, exchange, interchange, and return of locomotives, cars, and other vehicles used in the transportation of property, including special types of equipment, and the supply of trains.

The bureau through its Director and his assistants keeps in constant and close touch with operating and transportation conditions and with the transportation requirements of shippers throughout the country. Close contact is also maintained with the Car Service Division of the American Railway Association, acting on behalf of the carriers, and with the carriers themselves. Reports of the carriers to the commission and reports of the Car Service Division are utilized to provide information regarding the several phases of car service and operation necessary to conduct the work of the bureau.

Particular attention is given to the proper distribution of empty cars (a) as between individual shippers, (b) as between railroads, and (c) as between producing districts. Special emphasis is placed upon the need of increased operating efficiency and the improvement of service. The bureau supervises the operation of emergency and priority orders of the commission with respect to car service. In addition to the administrative office in Washington, service agents are stationed at important points to conduct investigations on the ground and to keep the Director informed.

This bureau also has jurisdiction over matters relating to the transportation of explosives and other dangerous articles, regulation of which is entrusted to the commission by the acts of March 4, 1909 (35 Stat. L., 1134), and March 4, 1921 (41 Stat. L., 1444).

Bureau of Finance. The Bureau of Finance was created in 1920 to aid the commission in the administration of those provisions of the law which relate to issuance of certificates of public convenience and necessity, authorization of issuance of securities, recovery of excess net railway operating income, etc. This bureau, the chief of which is designated Director, has eight sections, as follows: Administrative, Securities, Loans, Convenience and Necessity, Interlocking Directorates, Accounting and Statistics, Engineering, and Law.

The Administrative Section deals with the administrative details for all sections of the bureau.

The Section of Securities is concerned with all matters relating to the issuance of securities or assumption of obligations by carriers.

The Section of Loans deals with matters relating to loans to carriers during the transition period immediately following government operation.

The Section of Convenience and Necessity is concerned with the issuance of certificates of public convenience and necessity for abandonment, acquisition, or construction of line; the retention of excess earnings from newly constructed line; and with the authorization of acquisition of control by one carrier of another carrier. and the consolidation of telephone companies.

The Section of Interlocking Directorates deals with matters apparent from its title.

The Accounting and Statistics Section has jurisdiction over matters relating to the reimbursement to certain carriers of deficits incurred during government operation and the six month's guaranty after termination of that period; also recovery of excess net railway operating income and establishment of general railroad contingent fund.

The Engineering and Law Sections are in the nature of service agencies to the other sections.

The last three sections mentioned, Accounting and Statistics, Engineering, and Law, as well as the Administrative Section, are under assistant directors, while the other four sections are under section chiefs.