Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-01-09
INTERSTATE COMMERCE.
Text Of the Bill as Passed by the House
OF Representatives Thursday.
WAsHISGrnN Ian

The following is the text of the interstate
commerce bill as it passed the House today
Be 1t enacted, etc., that il shall be unlaw-
ful for any person or persons engaged alone OF
associated with others in the transportation
of property by railroad or by pipe line, or to
lines from one State or Territory, to OF
through one or more other States or Terri.
tories of the United States, or to or from any
foreign country, directly or indirectly, to
charge or receive from any person or per.
sons any greater or less rate or amount OF
freight. compensation or rewards than is
received from any other person or persons
for like and contemporaneous storing or
handling of the same. All charges shall be
reasonable, and any person or persons having
purchased ticket for passage from one State
TO another. or paid the required fare. shall
receive the same treatment and be afforded
the same facilities as furnished all other per-
sons holding tickets of the same class, with
out discrimination; but nothing in this act
shall be construed to deny to railroads the
right to provide separate accommodations for
passengers as they may deem best for public
comfort or safety, or to relate TO transporta-
ton to points wholly within the limits of one
State, provided no discrimination is made on
account of race or color, and that furnishing
separate accommodations with equal facilities
and equal comforts at the same charges shall
not be considered discrimination, nor shall
any railroad company or its officers charge to
or receive from any person who is TO be con-
veyed from one State or Territory TO another
sum exceeding three cents per mile for the
distance to be travelled by such person, and
all persons engaged as aforesaid shall furnish
without discrimination the same facilities tor
the carriage, receiving, delivery, storage and
handling of all property of a like character
carried by him or them, and shall perform
with equal expedition the same kind of SER
vices connected with the contemporaneously
transportation thereof as aforesaid.
No break, stoppage or interruption nor any
contract, agreement or understanding shall
be made to prevent the carriage of any prop
erty 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, inter-
ruption, contract, arrangement or under
standing. was made in good faith, for some
practical and necessary purpose, without any
intent to avoid or interrupt such continuous
carriage, or evade any provisions of this act.
Section 2.-That it shall be unlawful for
any person or persons engaged in the trans
portation of property as aforesaid, directly
or indirectly, to allow any rebate, drawback
or other advantage, in any form on shipments
made, or services rendered, as aforesaid, by
him or them.
Section 3-That it shall be unlawful for
any person or persons engaged in carriage,
receiving, stoasge or handling of property,
as mentioned in the first section of this act,
to enter into anv combination contract or
agreement by changes of the schedule of car
rage in different cars, or by any other means,
with the intent to prevent the carriage of
such property from being continuous, from
the place of shipment to the place of destina-
ton. whether carried on one or several rail-
roads; and it shall be unlawful for anv per-
son or person, carving property as afore-
said, to enter into anv contract. agreement or
combination for pooling of freights or to
pool freights of different and competing rail-
roads. or to divide between them the aggre-
gate or net proceeds of the earnings of such
railroads or any portion of them.
Section 4.-That it shall be unlawful to
charge or receive any greater compensation
for a similar amount.or kind of property, for
carving. receiving. storing, forwarding or
handling the came for shorter than for longer
distances, which includes shorter on any one
railroad or nine line. and the road of the cor
poration shall include all road or nine lines
in use by such CORPORATION, whether owned
or operated by it under contract, agreement
or lease by such corporation.
Section : REQUIRES that all persons engaged
in carrying property az provided in the first
section of this act shall adopt and keep
posted up schedules, which shall plainly
state the different kinds and classes of prop
erty to be carried the different places be-
tween which such property shall be carried,
and that such schedule shall be printed in
type as large as ordinary plea and posted IN
at least two places where freight is received
or handled and that such schedule shall be
filed with the clerk of the circuit court of the
United States in such judicial circuit through
which such railroad or pipe line NAV pass
1t i. provided that any person or person who
shall be guilty of any violation of the provis-
ions of this act shall forfeit and paw to the
person or persons who shall sustain damage
thereby sums equal to three times the amount
of the damage so sustained, to be recovered
by the person or persons so damaged by
suit in any State or United States court of
competent jurisdiction, and if the court be of
the opinion that the violation of the law was
wilful it shall make allowance for all costs of
said suit, to be paid BY the defendants. Anv
and all officer. of the corporation NAV be
summoned as witnesses, and the books of the
corporation NAV also be called for. A plea
by the corporations officers that their evi-
dence NAV criminate themselve. will not be
entertained but such evidence cannot be
used in a trial of any indictment against such
witnesses.
Any United States circuit or district