Such reports shall also contain such information in relation to rates or regulations concerning fares or freights, or agreements, arrangements, or contracts with other common carriers, as the Commission may require;

And the said Commission may, within its discretion, for the purpose of enabling it the better to carry out the purposes of this act, prescribe (if in the opinion of the Commission it is practicable to prescribe such uniformity and methods of keeping accounts) a period of time within which all common carriers subject to the provisions of this act shall have, as near as may be, a uniform system of accounts, and the manner in which such accounts shall be kept.

§ 20 Supplemented - Act of March 3, 1901 - Monthly Reports of Accidents. The provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act with respect to annual reports required to be made by carriers annually has been supplemented by an Act of Congress (chap. 866), approved March 3, 1901, requiring monthly reports of railroad accidents. The Act is entitled "An Act requiring common carriers engaged in interstate commerce to make full reports of all accidents to the Interstate Commerce Commission." The provisions of this supplementary Act are as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, It shall be the duty of the general manager, superintendent, or other proper officer of every common carrier engaged in interstate commerce by railroad to make to the Interstate Commerce Commission, at its office in Washington, District of Columbia, [Monthly Reports of Accidents] a monthly report, under oath, of all collisions of trains or where any train or part of a train accidentally leaves the track,

and of all accidents which may occur to its passengers or employees while in the service of such common carrier and actually on duty, which report shall state the nature and causes thereof, and the circumstances connected therewith.

§ 2. Penalty, Misdemeanor.- That any common carrier failing to make such report within thirty days after the end of any month shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof by a court of competent jurisdiction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars for each and every offense and for every day during which it shall fail to make such report after the time herein specified for making the same.

That neither

§ 3. Reports not to be Used in Evidence. said report nor any part thereof shall be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose against such railroad so making such report in any suit or action for damages growing out of any matter mentioned in said report.

§ 4. Forms of Reports. That the Interstate Commerce Commission is authorized to prescribe for such common carriers a method and form for making the reports in the foregoing section provided.

Object and Scope of Section 20.- The provisions of this section are extremely important. It furnishes the basis of data, ard information as to the mode in which the commerce of the country is conducted, and gives the Commission power to compel all interstate carriers to make reports to it from time to time. These reports will, if properly prepared, reveal the financial condition of the corporation. The financial operations of the carrier must be furnished annually. Agreements or contracts

REPORTS

DOMESTIC COMMERCE.

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among carriers may also be required to be produced for the inspection of the Commission. A uniform system of accounts by carrying corporations may also be required under this section. Similar powers to those conferred by section 20 are now conferred upon the Commissioner of Corporations under the control of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor as to all corporations doing interstate business, except common carriers. In other words, the powers of section 20 of the Interstate Commerce Act, which relates exclusively to carriers, has been extended to the Commissioner of Corporations, with respect to all other corporations, joint-stock companies, or industrial combinations engaged in interstate commerce. For the provisions of law governing the power of the Commissioner of Corporations, see chapter III, post.

Report, when not Compulsory-Domestic Commerce. The Commission, under section 20, can require reports only from carriers engaged in interstate commerce. A railroad wholly within one State which ships freight destined to other States upon local bills of lading only, under a special contract of carriage limited to its own line, which does no business on through rates, nor divide through charges with connecting carriers, nor assume any obligation to or from them, is not engaged in interstate commerce, and a mandamus will not lie to compel it to file any report with the Interstate Commerce Commission under section 20 of the act. United States ex rel. Interstate Com. Co. v. Chicago Railroad, 81 Fed. Rep. 783 (June, 1897, Cir. Ct. West. Dist. Mich. S. D.).

§ 21. Commission to Make Annual Reports to Congress.That the Commission shall, on or before the first day of December in each year, make a report, which shall be transmitted to Congress, and copies of which shall be distributed as are the other reports transmitted to Congress. This report shall contain such information and data collected by the Commission as may be considered of value in the determination of questions connected with the regulation of commerce, together with such recommendations as to additional legislation re

lating thereto as the Commission may deem necessary; and the names and compensation of the persons employed by said Commission. (As amended March 2, 1889.)

§ 22. Free or Reduced Rates - Excursions - Mileage — Commutation Rates - Remedies Cumulative. That nothing in this act shall prevent the carriage, storage, or handling of property free or at reduced rates for the United States, State, or municipal governments, or for charitable purposes, or to or from fairs and expositions for exhibition thereat, or the free carriage of destitute and homeless persons transported by charitable societies, and the necessary agents employed in such transportation, or the issuance of mileage, excursion, or commutation passenger tickets; nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit any common carrier from giving reduced rates to ministers of religion, or to municipal governments for the transportation of indigent persons, or to inmates of the National Homes or State Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and of Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Homes, including those about to enter and those returning home after discharge, under arrangements with the boards of managers of said homes.

Nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent railroads from giving free carriage to their own officers and employees, or to prevent the principal officers of any railroad company or companies from exchanging passes or tickets with other railroad companies for their officers and employees; and nothing in this act contained shall in any way abridge or alter the remedies. now existing at common law or by statute, but the

provisions of this act are in addition to such remedies: Provided, That no pending litigation shall in any way be affected by this act. (As amended March 2, 1889.)

Provided further, That nothing in this act shall prevent the issuance of joint interchangeable [5,000 Mile Tickets] five-thousand mile tickets, with special privileges as to the amount of free baggage that may be carried under mileage tickets of one thousand or more miles.

But before any common carrier, subject to the provisions of this act, shall issue any such joint interchangeable mileage tickets with special privileges, as aforesaid, it shall file with the Interstate Commerce Commission copies of the joint tariffs of rates, fares, or charges on which such joint interchangeable mileage tickets are to be based, together with specifications of the amount of free baggage permitted to be carried under such tickets, in the same manner as common carriers are required to do with regard to other joint rates by section six of this act; and all the provisions of said section six relating to joint rates, fares, and charges shall be observed by said common carriers and enforced by the Interstate Commerce Commission as fully with regard to such joint interchangeable mileage tickets as with regard to other joint rates, fares, and charges referred to in said section six. It shall be unlawful for any common carrier that has issued or authorized to be issued any such joint interchangeable mileage tickets to demand, collect, or receive from any person or persons a greater or less compensation for transportation of persons or baggage under such joint inter