The news & observer., 1904-08-28

panies are filed in this office. These
are all to be revised and examined as
they come in to see if they are in line
with the tariff as approved by the
Commission They are kept in such
manner that the office is at any time
able to give the freight rate to and
from all points within the State and
many of the interstate rates. There
are 10000 of these filed.
There are about seventy-five or
eighty railroads in the State. Each
one of them is required to make an
nuaI reports in book form of eighty
six pages. This is to contain the
financial report and all the statistical
information necessary for the knowl-
edge of the financial condition and
the operation of each road. All of
this matter is to be compiled, con-
densed and tabulated for our annual
report. This work is all Greek to a
man that is not familiar with railroad
accounts and statistics.
I'm addition to this, each railroad
is required to make a quarterly report
of it's earnings and operating ex-
penses in detail. A report of every
accident is required to be reported
Cn the forms prescribed by the Com
mission.
The Commission is a board or
appraisers ana dSSeSSOIS 1oi eNi' NAAO
railroads and other corporations
mentioned above The valuation OF
each railroad is found and this Valua-
ton is apportioned to each county
and town through which such rall-
road runs in the proportion that tIle
mileage in each county and town
bears to the whole mileage.
1.-The Commission is also Stale
Tax commission, having and eXercis-
Gil
Listers and assessing officers OIL the
state. Reports are required from
state. county and municipal officers
to the end that the Commission may
have complete and statistical lnfor-
nation as to amount of taxes levied,
collected, returned delinquent, in
debtedness, etc.
There are one hundred and eighty
banks in the State over which the
Commission has supervision. These
banks make five reports a year, all
of which have to be critically ex-
amined. The bank examiner, who is
appointed by the Commission, makes
report of each bank in the State once
a year.
"Thirty-nine building and loan as
sociatlons report to the Commission.
Nov, from all of these reports and
the work of the Commission, two re-
The Corporation Commission Report,
proper, contains about 500 pages and
the Tax Commission Report about 800
pages
Mr. Brown then exhibited the file
system of the office. A regular court
docket of. cases is kept, which is pro-
perly indexed SO that any matter that
has been before the Commission
since it's organization can be referred
A x.,-1 .NG IN1-D-
ceedings is kept. A large six-hundred
page book for each of the three large
systems of railroads is kept, in which
is shown reference to the various
tariffs filed. which are filed by num-
ber, and shippers of freight can be
informed as to the freight rates on
all classes of freight at any moment.
Copying presses are not used but
carbon copies of every letter written
and subject. BY these means, the
correspondence, say with any road or
Individual, or on any subject, for the
past ten years can be found altogether.
The copy of first letter filed and an
swer thereto placed on top and so on
to date.
There are various and sundry files
for the filing of the various and COM
plicated blanks used for the reports
of the various corporations. and all
in all it was seen why everybody in
the Corporation Commission office is
kept busy.