House (H. R. 3461) to establish a board of commissioners of inter-State commerce and to regulate such commerce.

When

Mr. Charles O'Neill raised the question of consideration,

And the same being put, viz:

Will the House now consider the said bill?

It was decided in the affirmative.

So the House decided to consider the said bill, and accordingly proceeded to its consideration.

Mr. Reagan submitted the following amendment in the nature of a substitute; which, together with the said bill, was ordered to be printed, viz :

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the following, viz: That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons engaged alone or associated with others in the transportation of property by railroad from one State or Territory to or through one or more other States or Territories of the United States, or to or from any foreign country, directly or indirectly, to charge to or receive from any person or persons any greater or less rate or amount of freight, compensation, or reward than is charged to or received from any other person or persons for like and contemporaneous service in the carrying, receiving, delivering, storing, or handling of the same. Ali charges for such services shall be reasonable. And all persons engaged as aforesaid shall furnish, without discrimination, the same facilities for the carriage, receiving, delivery, storage, and handling of all property of like character carried by him or them, and shall perform with equal expedition the same kind of services connected with the contemporaneous transportation thereof as aforesaid. No break, stoppage, or interruption, nor any contract, agreement, or understanding shall be made to prevent the carriage of any property from being and being treated as one continuous carriage, in the meaning of this act, from the place of shipment to the place of destination, unless such stoppage, interruption, contract, arrangement, or understanding was made in good faith for some practical and necessary purpose, without any intent to avoid or interrupt such continuous carriage or to evade any of the provisions of this act.

SEC. 2. That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons engaged in the transportation of property as aforesaid directly or indirectly to allow any rebate, drawback, or other advantage, in any form, upon shipments made or services rendered as aforesaid by him or them.

SEC. 3. That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons engaged in the carriage, receiving, storage, or handling of property as mentioned in the first section of this act to enter into any combination, contract, or agreement, by changes of schedule, carriage in different cars, or by any other means, with intent to prevent the carriage of such property from being continuous from the place of shipment to the place of destination, whether carried on one or several railroads. And it shall be unlawful for any person or persons carrying property as aforesaid to enter into any contract, agreement, or combination for the pooling of freights, or to pool the freights, of different and competing railroads, by dividing between them the aggre gate or net proceeds of the earnings of such railroads, or any portion of them.

SEC. 4. That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons engaged in the transportation of property as provided in the first section of this act to charge or receive any greater compensation for a similar amount and kind of property, for carrying, receiving, storing, forwarding, or handling the same, for a shorter than for a longer distance on any one railroad; and the road of a corporation shall include all the road in use by such corporation,

whether owned or operated by it under a contract, agreement, or lease by such corporation.

SEC. 5. That all persons engaged in carrying property as provided in the first section of this act shall adopt and keep posted up schedules which shall plainly state:

First. The different kinds and classes of property to be carried.

Second. The different places between which such property shall be carried. Third. The rates of freight and prices of carriage between such places, and for all services connected with the receiving, delivery, loading, unloading, storing, or handling the same. And the accounts for such service shall show what part of the charges are for transportation, and what part are for loading, unloading, and other terminal facilities.

Such schedules may be changed from time to time as hereinafter provided. Copies of such schedules shall be printed in plain, large type, at least the size of ordinary pica, and shall be kept plainly posted for public inspection in at least two places in every depot where freights are received or delivered; and no such schedule shall be changed in any particular except by the substitution of another schedule containing the specifications above required, which substitute schedule shall plainly state the time when it shall go into effect, and copies of which, printed as aforesaid, shall be posted as above provided at least five days before the same shall go into effect; and the same shall remain in force until another schedule shall as aforesaid be substituted And it shall be unlawful for any person or persons engaged in carrying property on railroads as aforesaid after thirty days after the passage of this act, to charge or receive more or less compensation for the carriage, receiving, delivery, loading, unloading, handling, or storing of any of the property contemplated by the first section of this act than shall be specified in such schedule as may at the time be in force.

SEC. 6. That each and all of the provisions of this act shall apply to all property, and the receiving, delivery, loading, unloading, handling, storing, or carriage of the same, on one actually or substantially continuous carriage, or as part of such continuous carriage, as provided for in the first section of this act, and the compensation therefor, whether such property be carried wholly on one railroad or partly on several railroads, and whether such services are performed or compensation paid or received by or to one person alone or in connection with another or other persons.

SEC. 7. That each and every act, matter, or thing in this act declared to be unlawful is hereby prohibited; and in case any person or persons as defined in this act, engaged as aforesaid, shall do, suffer, or permit to be done any act, matter, or thing in this act prohibited or forbidden, or shall omit to do any act, matter, or thing in this act required to be done, or shall be guilty of any violation of the provisions of this act, such person or persons shall forfeit and pay to the person or persons who may sustain damage thereby a sum equal to three times the amount of the damages so sustained, to be recovered by the person or persons so damaged by suit in any State or United States court of competent jurisdiction where the person or persons causing such damage can be found or may have an agent, office, or place of business; and if the court before which any such action is tried shall be of opinion that the violation of the law was willful, it shall make an allowance, by way of additional costs, to the party injured sufficient to cover all his counsel and attorney fees. Any action to be brought as aforesaid may be considered, and if so brought shall be regarded, as a subject of equity jurisdiction and discovery, and affirmative relief may be sought and obtained therein. In any such action so brought as a case of equitable cognizance as aforesaid, any director, officer, receiver, or trustee of any corporation or company aforesaid, or any receiver, trustee, or person

aforesaid, or any agent of any such corporation or company, receiver, trustee, or person aforesaid, or of any of them, alone or with any other person or persons, party or parties, may and shall be compelled to attend, appear, and testify and give evidence; and no claim that any such testimony or evidence might or might not tend to criminate the person testifying or giving evidence shall be of any avail, but such evidence or testimony shall not be used as against such person on the trial of any indictment against him. The attendance and appearance of any of the persons who as aforesaid may be compelled to appear or testify, and the giving of the testimony or evidence by the same, respectively, and the production of books and papers thereby, may and shall be compelled the same as in the case of any other witness; and in case any deposition or evidence, or the production of any books or papers, may be desired or required for the purpose of applying for or sustaining any such action, the same, and the production of books and papers, may and shall be had, taken, and compelled by or before any United States commissioner, or in any manner provided or to be provided for as to the taking of other depositions or evidence, or the attendance of witnesses, or the production of other books or papers, in or by chapter 17 of title 13 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. No action aforesaid shall be sustained unless brought within one year after the cause of action shall accrue, or within one year after the party complaining shall have come to a knowl edge of his right of action. And as many causes of action as may accrue within the year may be joined in the same suit or complaint.

SEC. 8. That any director or officer of any corporation or company acting or engaged as aforesaid, or any receiver or trustee, lessee, or person acting or engaged as aforesaid, or any agent of any such corporation or company, receiver, trustee, or person aforesaid, or of one of them alone, or with any other corporation, company, person, or party, who shall willfully do, or cause or willingly suffer or permit to be done, any act, matter, or thing in this act prohibited or forbidden, or who shall aid or abet therein, or shall willfully omit or fail to do any act, matter, or thing in this act required to be done, or cause or willingly suffer or permit any act, matter, or thing so directed or required by this act to be done not to be so done, or shall aid or abet any such omission or failure, or shall be guilty of any infraction of this act, or aid or abet therein, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars.

SEC. 9. That nothing in this act shall apply to the carriage, receiving, storage, handling, or forwarding of property wholly within one State, and not shipped from or destined to some foreign country or other State or Territory; nor shall it apply to property carried for the United States at lower rates of freight and charges than for the general public, or to the transportation of articles free or at reduced rates of freight for charitable purposes, or to or from public fairs and expositions for exhibition.

SEC. 10. That the words "person or persons" as used in this act, except where otherwise provided, shall be construed and held to mean person or persons, officer or officers, corporation or corporations, company or companies, receiver or receivers, trustee or trustees, lessee or lessees, agent or agents, or other person or persons acting or engaged in any of the matters and things mentioned in this act.

After debate,

A message from the Senate, by Mr. McCook, their Secretary:

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a bill of the following title, in which I am directed to request the concurrence of the House of Representatives, viz:

S. 1031. An act for the relief of W. C. Marsh.

The Speaker, by unanimous consent, laid before the House a report

of expenditures by the Clerk of the House of Representatives; which was ordered to be printed and referred to the Committee on Accounts. The Speaker also, by unanimous consent, laid before the House a report of the Visitors on the part of the House to the Military Academy upon the discipline, instruction, police, administration, and fiscal and other affairs of the Military Academy at West Point, with accompanying reports thereon of the several committees appointed to consider the same; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and ordered to be printed.

The Speaker also, by unanimous consent, laid before the House a letter from the Postmaster-General, transmitting a draft of a bill regulating the method of letting mail contracts, and recommending the same as a substitute for House bill 640, now on the Calendar; which was referred to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads.

The Speaker also, by unanimous consent, laid before the House a letter from the Comptroller of the Currency, transmitting the twentysecond annual report of that officer, as required by section 333 of the Revised Statutes; which was referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency and ordered to be printed.

By unanimous consent, leave of absence was granted as follows, viz: To Mr. Jacob M. Campbell, for three days;

To Mr. Finerty, indefinitely;

To Mr. John S. Wise, for the remainder of this week; and
To Mr. Wood, for one week.

On motion of Mr. Abram S. Hewitt, by unanimous consent, Ordered, That report No. 1848, to accompany the bill of the House (H. R. 7366) to carry into effect a convention between the United States of America and the United States of Mexico, signed on the 20th day of January, 1883, be reprinted.

And then,

On motion of Mr. Reagan, at 4 o'clock and 15 minutes p. m., the House adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1884.

The following petitions and papers were laid on the Clerk's desk, under the rule, and referred as follows, viz:

By Mr. John J. Adams: Memorial of Church E. Gates, E. Christian Körner, and others, citizens of New York, asking Congress to authorize the Secretary of War to contract with Charles Stoughton and his associates for the entire work of improving the Harlem River, New York, &c.; to the Committee on Rivers and Harbors.

By Mr. Boutelle: Petition of Hannibal Hamlin and others, for the relief of Chaplain C. M. Blake; to the Committee on Military Affairs. By Mr. Cutcheon: Petition of citizens of Allegan, Michigan, praying for a branch of the National Soldiers' Home in the State of Michigan; to the same committee.

By Mr. Dibrell: A bill making an appropriation to complete the improvement in the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals; to the Committee on Rivers and Harbors.

By Mr. Abram S. Hewitt: Petition of the board of commissioners of the police of New York, for a resurvey of the harbor of New York; to the same committee.

Also, the petition of citizens of New York, for election of President and Vice-President by the people and limiting the term of office to six years; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

By Mr. Hitt: Memorial of the survivors of the Fifty-fifth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, for the passage of an act authorizing the honorable discharge or muster-out of Captain Francis H. Shaw, Company C, Fifty-fifth Illinois; to the Committee on Military Affairs.

By Mr. Matson: Petition of William Allen for a pension; to the Committee on Pensions.

By Mr. Charles O'Neill: Petition of Mary E. Fillebrown, widow of Thomas Scott Fillebrown, for a pension; to the Committee on Invalid Pensions.

By Mr. William F. Rogers: Memorial of Wilson & Adams, Manchester & Philbric, and others, citizens of New York, asking Congress to authorize the Secretary of War to contract with Charles Stoughton and bis associates for the entire work of improving the Harlem River, New York, &c; to the Committee on Rivers and Harbors.

Also, the petition of George E. Fell, M. D., to establish the metric system of weights and measures; to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures.

By Mr. Rockwell: Papers relating to the claim of Lester Noble; to the Committee on War Claims.

By Mr. Young: Petition relating to the claim of C. B. Bryan & Co.; to the Committee on Claims.

The following named members appeared, viz:

Mr. Bingham, Mr. Clay, Mr. Curtin, Mr. Deuster, Mr. Green, Mr. Guenther, Mr. Henley, Mr. Neece, Mr. Russell, Mr. Shelley, and Mr. Young.

Mr. Holman, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Accounts, viz:

Resolved, That William S. Howard, authorized to be employed as a page during the first session of this Congress and assigned to duty at the subcommittee room of the Committee on Appropriations, be continued in such employment during the present session, and that he be paid out of the contingent fund of the House the same compensation as other pages of the House from December 1, 1884.

On motion of Mr. Hart, by unanimous consent, the bill of the House (H. R. 7428) to authorize the Hillsborough National Bank to change its name to that of the First National Bank of Hillsborough, Ohio, reported from the Committee on Banking and Currency without amendment and referred to the House Calendar, was taken therefrom, engrossed, read the third time, and passed.

Mr. Holman moved to reconsider the vote last taken, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to.

Ordered, That the Clerk request the concurrence of the Senate in the said bill.

Mr. Samuel S. Cox, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz:

Resolved, That the Clerk be authorized to employ Harry Blair Smith as a page at the Clerk's desk in the Hall, and pay him at the rate of $2 per day out of the contingent fund of the House until further ordered. Mr. Cox moved to reconsider the vote last taken, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to.

Mr. Townshend, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill and joint resolution of the following titles; which were severally read twice, ordered to be printed, and referred as follows, viz:

A bill (H. R. 7511) granting a pension to Lieutenant James M. Blades; to the Committee on Invalid Pensions; and

3 HOUSE