Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-04-19
LOCAL..
IMPORTANT TO SHIPPERS.

SAA@-A - -~AS~s
THE OBLIGATIONS OF RAIL ROAD AGENTS
AND SHIPPERS UNDER THE INTER
STATE COMMERCE. LAW.
A. Pope, General Freight Agent of the
Norfolk and Western Railroad Company.
has issued circular-letter concerning the
duties alike of railroad agents as well as of
shippers, under the Interstate commerce
law, as amended and in effect March 2nd,
1889, and as Interpreted by the rulings OF
the Interstate commerce commission. AS
the Commission s regulations apply alike to
all roads-the circular is important to
agents and shippers everywhere.
THE DUTIES OF THE RAILROAD AGENTS.
MI. Pope defines the duties of the Agents
concerning the publicity of rates as follows:
''There will be furnished you desk, with
a rack attached, which will be securely fast
ened to the wall at proper place in your
freight station, where the public are presum-
ed to transact business with you. In this rack
will be placed two invoice file books. In each
one to be kept the rates that are sent to you for
posting in conformity with the law, it being
required, as per section 6, that all freight
rates ''shall be posted in two public and con-
spicuous places in every depot, station OF Office
of carrier where passengers OF freight, respec-
lively, are received for transportation in such
form that they shall be accessible to the pub
lie and can be conveniently Inspected
Wherever these rates are an advance upon
tariffs already in effect they will be furnish
ed to you for said posting ten Q0) days in adj
vance of becoming of effect, and they are to
be Immediately placed in said books, and the
rates that they supersede are to be Withdrawn
and returned to this Office. Wherever the
rates furnished are reductions upon tariffs in
effect, they will be furnished to you three 60
DAYS in advance of said reductions becoming
of effect, and you will likewise withdraw the
superseded rates, placing the new ones in said
books in lieu thereof, and returningto me the
superseded tariffs.
The duty of properly posting, filing and pre-
serving these rates is made obligatory upon
all common carriers, and upon their servants,
and the failure upon the part of any agent,
charged with the use of freight rates, to pro-
perly perform this duty, made an indictable
offense.
1t is likewise provided in Section 10 of said
Law sthat any agent OF person acting for OF
employed by common carrier, who shall
willfully do OF permit to be done, any act,
matter OF thing in the act prohibited OF declar-
ed to he unlawful, shall, upon being found
guilty. be sentenced to a fine not exceeding
fvethousand dollars (S5,OOO) for each offense, .
and, if the offense is unlawful discrimination
in rates OF charges for the transportation OF
property, such person shall, in addition to the
fine already provided for, ''be liable to i'm
prisonment in the penitentiary for term of
not exceeding two years.
It is likewise provided in the same section
s'that any railway, OF officer, OF agent thereof,
who, by means of false billing, false classiti-
cation, false weighing, OF false report Of
weight, OF by any other device OF means, shall
knowingly and willingly assist OF permit any
person, OF persons, to obtain transportation
for property at less than the regular rates at
the time established and in force on the line OF
transportation of said common carrier, shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor," and the
same penalty as previously recited shall APP
ply In reference to the
OBLIGATIONS OF SHIPPERS TOWARDS RAIL
WAYS IN THESE MATTERS
tits clearly set forth in the same section OF
the act thatany person, OF any officer, OF agent
of any corporation or company, who shall de
liver property for transportation to any COM
mon carrier, or any person for whom, as con
signor OF consignee, any common carrier shall
transport property. who shall knowingly, by
false billing, false classification, false weigh
ing false representation of the contents OF the
packages, false report of weight, or by any
other device or means, either with OF without
the consent OF connivance of the railway, OF it,
agents. shall obtain transportation for sucl
property at less than the regular rates estab-
lished and in force at the time on the line of
Transportation shall be deemed guilty Of
fraud, and shall, upon conviction, likewise
suffer the penalties already described. If any
person OF officer OF agent of any such corpora
ton OF company shall. by payment OF money
or other thing of value, or otherwise, induce
any common carrier, OF its agents, to discrim
fnate uniustly in his OF its favor in any man
ner whatever, as against any other consignol
OF consignee to the end of reducing established
rates, on conviction thereof the penalties al
ready recited shall apply.
These references to the law as it now stand:
clearly define your duties as well as the dutie
of shippers towards you. The issue Of tariff,
and the instructions concerning their use viii
De made SO plain to you as to enable you t(
clearly understand and use the same, and
whenever occasion requires, you will call the
attention of shippers to the provisions OF the