Powers of Commission First To inquire into management of busi- ness, etc. Third: Right of Commission to obtain full Fourth Power to require attendance of wit- Rules of, and practice before, Commission First How Commission is to conduct pro- Second Majority to constitute quorum PAGE First Any person, etc., complaining of any Reparation or satisfaction by carrier When complaint not to be dismissed . Form of report of Commission . Petition to Circuit Court presented by Dis- trict Attorney, etc. Comments upon sections creating Commission, tion examined.. amendment to Constitution of U. S. (d) Question of costs considered (e) No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to PAGE INTRODUCTION. PERCE ERHAPS no measure that ever passed Congress equals in importance the law which has now become famous under the name of the Inter-State Commerce Act. It is the first attempt on the part of the National Government to regulate, if not to control, a private commercial business; for, although the transportation of passengers and property is regarded as one in which the public has an interest, it is, in its main features, not different from any other private commercial occupation. The capital invested in such enterprises is generally furnished by individuals, and the business, in its financial features, is conducted purely for private gain. For the past few years, however, public attention has been steadily concentrating around the subject of the government of railroad corporations, and, step by step, the Legislatures of the different States have encroached upon the prerogatives of these bodies, and |