Said forfeitures shall be recovered in the manner provided for the recovery of forfeitures under the provisions of this Act.

The oath required by this section may be taken before any person authorized to administer an oath by the laws of the State in which the same is taken.

The Commission may, in its discretion, prescribe the forms of any and all accounts, records, and memoranda to be kept by carriers subject to the provisions of this Act, including the accounts, records, and memoranda of the movement of traffic as well as the receipts and expenditures of moneys. The Commission shall at all times have access to all accounts, records, and memoranda kept by carriers subject to this Act, and it shall be unlawful for such carriers to keep any other accounts, records, or memoranda than those prescribed or approved by the Commission, and it may employ special agents or examiners, who shall have authority under the order of the Commission to inspect and examine any and all accounts, records, and memoranda kept by such carriers. This provision shall apply to receivers of carriers and operating trustees.

In case of failure or refusal on the part of any such carrier, receiver, or trustee to keep such accounts, records, and memoranda on the books and in the manner prescribed by the Commission, or to submit such accounts, records, and memoranda as are kept to the inspection of the Commission or any of its authorized agents or examiners, such carrier, receiver, or trustee shall forfeit to the United States the sum of five hundred dollars for each such offense and for each and every day of the continuance of such offense, such forfeitures to be recoverable in the same manner as other forfeitures provided for in this Act.

Any person who shall wilfully make any false entry in the accounts of any book of accounts or in any record or memoranda kept by a carrier, or who shall willfully destroy, mutilate, alter, or by any other means or device falsify the record of any such account, record, or memoranda, or who shall will

fully neglect or fail to make full, true, and correct entries in such accounts, records, or memoranda of all facts and transactions appertaining to the carrier's business, or shall keep any other accounts, records, or memoranda than those prescribed or approved by the Commission, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject, upon conviction in any court of the United States of competent jurisdiction, to a fine of not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, or imprisonment for a term not less than one year nor more than three years, or both such fine and imprisonment.

Any examiner who divulges any fact or information which may come to his knowledge during the course of such examination, except in so far as he may be directed by the Commission or by a court or judge thereof, shall be subject, upon conviction in any court of the United States of competent jurisdiction, to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.

That the circuit and district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction, upon the application of the Attorney-General of the United States at the request of the Commission, alleging a failure to comply with or a violation of any of the provisions of said Act to regulate commerce or of any Act supplementary thereto or amendatory thereof by any common carrier, to issue a writ or writs of mandamus commanding such common carrier to comply with the provisions of said Acts, or any of them.

And to carry out and give effect to the provisions of said Acts, or any of them, the Commission is hereby authorized to employ special agents or examiners who shall have power to administer oaths, examine witnesses, and receive evidence. [Interstate Commerce Act, section 20, as amended by Act of June 29, 1906, section 7.]

Enlargement of the Commission.-That a new section be added to said Act at the end thereof, to be numbered as section twenty-four, as follows:

"SEC. 24. That the Interstate Commerce Commission is hereby enlarged so as to consist of seven members with terms of seven years, and each shall receive ten thousand dollars compensation annually. The qualifications of the commissioners and the manner of the payment of their salaries shall be as already provided by law. Such enlargement of the Commission shall be accomplished through appointment by the President, by and with the advice. and consent of the Senate, of two additional Interstate Commerce Commissioners; one for a term expiring December thirtyfirst, nineteen hundred and eleven, one for a term expiring December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and twelve. The terms of the present commissioners, or of any successor appointed to fill a vacancy caused by the death or resignation of any of the present commissioners, shall expire as heretofore provided by law. Their successors and the successors of the additional commissioners herein provided for shall be appointed for the full term of seven years, except that any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of the commissioner whom he shall succeed. Not more than four commissioners shall be appointed from the same political party." [Act of June 29, 1906, section 8.]

1032. Amendments of 1906.

Sections 12 and 19 of the original act are unchanged by the new legislation. Sections 11 and 18 are amended by an increase of the Commission from five to seven, and an increase of salary from seven thousand five hundred dollars to ten thousand dollars a year. This change is effected by new section 24.

The new form of section 20 gives the Commission additional power with regard to reports from all common carriers, subject to the law, and to prescribe the manner in which such reports shall be made and the subjectmatter of the report, and provides a penalty for failure to obey such requirements. It also gives the Commission power, in its discretion, to prescribe the form of accounts, records, and memoranda to be kept by carriers, and that the Commission shall at all times have access to such records and books and other accounts to be kept. It provides penalties for the wrongful making of accounts or records or for destroying records or books

of accounts. It authorizes examinations to be made by experts appointed by the Commission, and imposes a penalty of fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment of not more than two years upon any examiner who divulges any knowledge that may come to him in the performance of his duties.

TOPIC A-ADMINISTRATIVE NATURE OF THE COMMISSION.

[See Chapter XLII.]

§ 1033. Nature of the Commission.

Under the Interstate Commerce clause of the Constitution Congress has the power to create a commission for the purpose of supervising, investigating, and reporting upon matters or complaints connected with or growing out of interstate commerce. Kentucky & I. Bridge Co. v. Louisville & N. R. R., 37 Fed. 567, 2 L. R. A. 289, 2 Int. Com. Rep. 351 (1889). By the acts of Congress creating the Commission, providing that it shall have an official seal and making it lawful for it to apply by petition for the enforcement of its orders, the Interstate Commerce Commission is made a body corporate with legal capacity to be a party plaintiff or defendant in the Federal courts. Texas & P. Ry. v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 162 U. S. 197, 40 L. Ed. 940, 16 Sup. Ct. 666, 5 Int. Com. Rep. 405 (1896). The Interstate Commerce Commission is a special tribunal whose duties, though largely administrative, are sometimes semi-judicial; but it is not a court empowered to render judgments and enter decrees. Kentucky & I. Bridge Co. v. Louisville & N. R. R., supra; Toledo Produce Exchange v. Lake Shore & M. S. R. R., 3 Int. Com. Rep. 830 (1891).

1034. Powers of Commission.

The Commission derives all its powers from the act, and it can exercise no powers not granted by the act. Thus it has no authority to administer the anti-trust law, or even to determine whether it has been violated. Sprigg v. Baltimore & O. R. R., 8 Int. Com. Rep. 443 (1900). Nor to enforce the provisions of a State Constitution. Railroad Commission of Kentucky v. Louisville & N. R. R., 10 Int. Com. Rep. 173 (1904). Or to investigate any action of a carrier committed prior to the time when the act went into effect. Holbrook v. St. Paul, M. & M. Ry., 1 Int. Com. Rep. 323 (1887); White v. Michigan Cent. R. R., 2 Int. Com. Rep. 641 (1889).

Thus the Commission has no power to enforce contracts, nor has it any general power to manage business of carriers. Traders & Travelers Union v. Phila. & R. R. R., 1 Int. Com. Rep. 371 (1887). So it has no authority to control commissioners of immigration, and cannot do so indirectly by inhibiting railroad companies from carrying out arrangements made by them with the commissioners. Savery v. New York C. & H. R. R., 2

cars.

Int. Com. Rep. 210 (1888). It has no power to grant redress for the failure of a carrier to comply with its common-law duty to furnish refrigerator Re Transportation of Fruit, 10 Int. Com. Rep. 360 (1904). Or any particular equipment of cars, or in fact any cars at all. Scofield v. Lake Shore & M. S. R. R., 2 Int. Com. Rep. 67 (1888); Rice v. Cincinnati, W. & B. R. R., 3 Int. Com. Rep. 841 (1891). So the act noes not confer upon the Commission authority to make an order affirmatively requiring a railway carrier to deliver carloads of interstate freight to a connecting carrier. Railroad Commission of Kentucky v. Louisville & N. R. R., 10 Int. Com. Rep. 173 (1904). Or to determine the right of milling in transit. Diamond Mills v. Boston & M. R. R., 9 Int. Com. Rep. 311 (1902). The Interstate Commerce Commission cannot inquire whether railroad companies act wisely or unwisely, fairly or unfairly, between themselves in making rates, forming lines, and establishing differentials; but its inquiry is limited to the question whether the situation created by the companies violates the Act to Regulate Commerce. New York Produce Exch. v. Baltimore & O. R. R., 7 Int. Com. Rep. 612 (1898).

TOPIC B- POWER TO INVESTIGATE AND MAKE ORDER.

[See Chapter XLI.]

1035. Investigation by Commission.

On the other hand, the Commission may investigate any supposed violation of the act, even on its own motion. Re Atlanta & W. P. R. R.. 2 Int. Com. Rep. 461 (1889); Re Grand Trunk Ry., 2 Int. Com. Rep. 496 (1889). It has authority to inquire into the management of the business of common carriers, and to require the attendance and testimony of witnesses, the production of books and papers, tariffs and contracts, relating to any matter under investigation; and to enforce its authority in this respect the Commission may invoke the aid of a court of the United States. Re Rates & Charges on Food Products, 3 Int. Com. Rep. 151 (1890). It may inquire as to division of alleged unlawful joint rate. Warren-Ehret Co. v. Central Ry. of New Jersey, 8 Int. Com. Rep. 598 (1900). Its jurisdiction extends to a case of alleged unlawful prejudice and disadvantage to shippers of outbound package freight through enforcement by carriers of a regulation providing for the earlier closing of depots used for the reception of such freight. Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and Merchants' Exchange v. Baltimore & O. S. W. Ry., 10 Int. Com. Rep. 378 (1904).

The Act to Regulate Commerce applies to the transportation of export and import traffic, and the jurisdiction of the Commission over such traffic is not denied, but is distinctly affirmed and rather enlarged by the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Texas & P. R. Co. v. Interstate