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.

Issues of Stocks and Bonds. Many controversies have been waged over the question of the capital stock of our railways. A conservative student of the question has placed the capitalized value of the railways of the country at $60,000 per mile, and this he does not consider excessive nor appreciably above the real value of the plants as they exist at the present time. So far as state laws are concerned, it would be difficult to determine the truth of this matter on the basis of information railway companies have been obliged to furnish under the statutes. In Massachusetts an increase in capital stock or signs of indebtedness may be made only on authority of the commission before which such questions are determined on hearing. Ohio railways shall report to the commission the cost of the road, the amount of capital stock, indebtedness, etc. The aggregate indebtedness shall not exceed the capital stock. In Pennsylvania railway stock is limited to $150,000 per mile, bonds to the same amount, and the total of the stock, bonds, and other paper to $300,000 per mile. In Arkansas consolidated companies shall not cause the aggregate of their stocks and bonds to exceed the sum represented by constituent companies. By a majority vote of the stockholders the company may borrow, at seven per cent, an amount not greater than the total capital stock. In Colorado all stock shall represent labor, services, money, and property; the same shall be increased only under general law and by a majority vote of the stock

holders. Kentucky companies can increase capital stock only on recommendation of the commission. The amount of indebtedness shall never exceed the total cash paid in. In Indiana boards of directors may not increase capital stock; capital stock may not be increased to exceed $15,000 per mile, and a certificate stating the amount of such increase shall be filed with the secretary of state. The New York commission may regulate stock issues and pass upon an increase or a reduction in the same. Other states having similar provisions are Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

This leaves a group of more than one-half of the states which do not attempt directly to regulate the issuance of stock by law. In some of them it is provided that a certificate of increase shall be filed with the secretary of state or some other state officer, and that a two-thirds vote of the stockholders is necessary before directors may authorize an increase in capital stock or the issuance of bonds.1

State Railway Commissions. The railway commission laws sometimes embody all the railway

1 These states are Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

legislation in existence in the state. This was true in Oregon; and when, in 1898, the commission law of that state was repealed, Oregon was left practically without any legislation on the subject of railways. In addition to Oregon, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Arizona Territory are the only states which have failed to legislate on railways to any considerable extent. In states where the commission laws embrace only regulative features, questions of organization and management are treated in the general corporation laws or in subtitles under these. The general statement, however, holds true that the regulative features of railway legislation of the different states of the Union are embodied in our commission laws in all states in which commissions exist. The railway commissions represent the only active administrative agent which our laws have provided, and the adequacy or inadequacy of state administration depends upon the authority vested in this agent.

In their composition our commissions represent the same degrees of variety that exist in legislative provisions on most other railway topics. In the number of members they vary from one to five; in the number of years during which they hold office, from two to six. In the manner of their appointment we find popular suffrage, appointive power of a governor, and the advisory power of a branch of the legislature. Their salaries vary from $1000 to perhaps more than five times that amount, being entirely independent of the duties performed by