The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-01-27
ANTI-RAILR0AD
BILL APPEARS
Stringent Measure Is introduced
in the House.
WILSON is THE SPONSOR
COMMISSIONER Is CREATED TO
FIX RATES.

By way of welcome to the two trans
continental roads being built into Utah.
one of the most stringent railroad bills
ever framed was introduced in the
house yesterday afternoon The spon-
scr for the measure is Representative
J. B. Wilson of Midway, Wasatch /
county.
The most important feature of the /
measure is the creation of a railroad /
commissioner. who IS to be the die /
tator of all rates on railroads and street
car lines within the state Nloiators |
of the mandates are rendered liable /
to criminal prosecution. the penalty be- |
ing fine and Imprisonment. The MAXI |
mum rates are fixed at the published
tariffs Of Jan. l. 1908
The BILL officially designated house
! bill No. 81 is approximately 5000 words
| long. and would take up over page
/ in The Herald if set solid in the or
/ binary type. 1t was compiled by Mr..
| Wilson from the Michigan and Iowa
statutes-the two strictest in existence
with some feature of the interstate
| commerce law and some interpretations
of the Trainer. Ex-senator Arthur
Brown passed upon its legality before
| its was introduced.
Office of Commissioner.
The first section creates the Office of
! railroad commissioner, appointed for
| two years by the governor, with a sal
/ airy of 81, 500 a year. He has power
/ to appoint a secretary at $1,000 year
| and a deputy at the same salary Inc
/ commissioner must give a bond for
10000. His duty is to fix rates, rails
| ing or lowering them by and with the
| consent of the governor and attorney
general; inspect the railroads and
street railroads, their equipment,
bridges and other property, and to
| compel compliance with the law. He
has authority to condemn bridges and
other property that he may deem I'M
safe, and if a railroad refuses to obey
his orders it becomes criminally La
BILE, as we'll as all employees or agents
which are in any way instrumental in
its act. His jurisdiction includes rail-
roads. street car lines, express COM
panies, car companies, sleeping car
companies, and all other common car
riers. He is compelled TO make an
annual report to the governor
Whenever a complaint of discrimi-
nation or other violation of the law
is made to him, he must order a hear
ing and pass upon the complaint. If
he decides that the defendant company
is discriminating, the attorney general
must bring an action against the COM
pany in the district court. If the court
sustains the contention, an order must
issue against the company to cease its
| discrimination.
Failure to obey this order constitutes
contempt of court, punishable by a
| fine of $500 or 81 600, or Imprisonment
of any railroad employee or agent i'm
plicated in the violation until purged
Of contempt. Cases of this kind are
to have precedence over all others ex-
cept criminal matters Upon finding
! against the defendant the court must
issue a perpetual injunction against the
offense. The defendants must pay all
against them
Fixing of Rates.
Rates are fixed only within the state.
as interstate traffic is beyond the juris-
dietion of the legislature. Rates for
long hauls and short hauls must be in
proportion although for certain short
hauls a terminal charge is permitted
Discrimination of any kind. by means
of rebates or other subterfuges is for
hidden The carload rate must be the
same. no matter how many cars MY
: be shipped The rate per 100 pounds
for less than carload lots must be the
same for the same classification di-
rection and distance. Emergency rates
may be put into effect with consent
r of the commissioner. Freight must be
forwarded in the order in which it is
received. undue preference in time be
ing forbidden except in the case of
lAANCSNONh anu DCAASudD 1C SOONo-
The schedules of all freight and
passenger tariffs must be printed and
kept open to public inspection in every
freight office and passenger station. A
Z printed notice must be posted in a
) public place in each freight office and
passenger station telling where the
schedules may be seen.
How Rates May Be Cut
Rates may be cut at any time by the
=
1 only with the consent of the commits
sioner. governor and attorney general.
r Before any increase can be put into
effect. notice of such intention must
be published for two weeks in a Salt
e Lake newspaper of general circulation.
, the last publication being at least ten
days before the new rate is to go into
t | effect. The commissioner must hear
e any protest against the change, and
< decide after a fun hearing whether he
! will give his consent. In the. case of
3 rate wars, therefore, the railroads
i must gain his consent before restoring
= rates to their former figure
If freight is held back out of its
regular order, the railroad company IS
liable to the owner for three times the
: amount Of the actual damages sus-
: tanned and is declared guilty of a mis-
: demeanor, the penalty being a fine OF
d $500 to $1,000.
: The results of all examinations into
# conditions on the railroads are to be
h made public. The courts must enforce
S orders of the commissioner. COMPETE
e tive points must not be favored il
rates One line must receive cars
from another without extra charge
Where there Is a transfer, the railroads
n must bear the expense.
y Penalties Prescribed.
There are three sections at different
= intervals prescribing penalties. The
= first is for discrimination in rates
= The second is for discrimination in
time. and the third is for "extortion, .
= which means charging more than the
maximum rate prescribed by the law
or by the commissioner. The penalty
d for ''extortion" is $500 to $1,000 for the
q first offence and $500 to $4,000 for each
y subsequent offence.
It Free transportation of freight is for
bidder except for public property and
material or exhibits for fairs. Free
transportation of persons is declared
J. Illegal except to state or national
1 81