AN ACT CONCERNING RAILROADS AND OTHER COMMON CARRIERS.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
SECTION 1. No railroad company shall charge or receive a rate in excess of
three cents per mile for the transportation of any passenger who is over
twelve years of age, upon any railroad in this State, nor in excess of half
that sum per mile for the transportation of any passenger of the age of twelve
years or under. Each passenger over twelve years of age paying fare shall be
entitled to have transported without any additional charge, baggage not
exceeding one hundred pounds in weight, and each passenger of twelve years of
age and under, paying fare, shall be entitled to have transported without
additional charge, baggage not exceeding fifty pounds in weight.
SEC. 2. The Executive council shall, before the first day of April next,
elect three competent persons, who shall constitute a Board of Railroad
Commissioners, and who shall hold their offices from the dates of their
respective elections for the terms of one, two and three years from the first
day of April next. The Executive Council shall, in like manner, before the
first day of April in each year thereafter elect a Commissioner, to continue
in office for the term of three years from said date; and in case any vacancy
occurs in said Board, by resignation or otherwise, shall in the same manner
elect a Commissioner to serve for the residue of the term. The Executive
Council may, at any time, remove such Commissioners, or any of them, and elect
others to fill the vacancy; and all votes cast by each member of the Executive
Council for the elections of any person to the office of Railroad
Commissioner, or removal from the same, shall be recorded in a journal kept by
them for that purpose, which journal shall be kept open at all times to public
inspection. The said Board of Commissioners shall have authority to appoint a
secretary and remove him at pleasure. No person owning any bonds, stock, or
property in any railroad company, or who is in the employment of, or who is in
any way or manner pecuniarily interested in, any railroad, shall be eligible
to the office of Railroad Commissioner or secretary of said Board. Said
Railroad Commissioners and secretary shall be qualified electors of the State,
provided, that not more than two of the commissioners shall belong to the same
political party. Said Commissioners and secretary shall be sworn to the due
and faithful performance of the duties of their respective offices before
entering upon the discharge of the same. Each of said Commissioners shall
enter into bonds, with security to be approved by the State Treasurer, in the
sum of ten thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance of his
duties.
SEC. 3. Said Commissioners shall keep their office in the State house or at
some other suitable place in the city of Topeka, and they or either of them
may act officially in any part of the State. They shall each receive a salary
of three thousand dollars per annum, and the secretary shall receive a salary
of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, to be paid as the salaries of other Sate
officers are paid, and said Board shall be provided, at the expense of the
State, with necessary office furniture and stationery.
SEC. 4. To provide a fund for the payment of the salaries and current
expenses of the Board of Commissioners and Secretary the Board shall certify
to the Auditor of State on or before the 20th of May, in each year, the amount
necessary to defray the same, which amount shall be divided pro rata
among, the several railroad companies, according to the assessed valuation of
their property in the State, and the Auditor shall thereupon certify to the
County Clerk of each county the amount due from the several railroad
corporations located and operated in said county, and the County Clerk shall
place the same on the tax rolls of his county to be collected the same as
other taxes upon railroad property, and the County Treasurer shall account to
the State for the same the same as provided by law for other State funds,
provided that in unorganized counties the amount so found due from railroad
companies therein shall be included in and levied and collected with such
taxes as are levied and collected by the State from railroad companies located
in said unorganized counties.
SEC. 5. Said Commissioners shall have the general supervision of all
railroads in the State operated by steam, and all express companies, sleeping
car companies, and all other persons, companies or corporations doing business
as common carriers in this State, and shall inquire into any neglect or
violation of the laws of this State by any person, company or corporation
engaged in the business of transportation of persons or property therein, or
by the officers, agents or employes thereof, and shall also from time to time
carefully examine and inspect the condition of each railroad in the State, and
of its equipment and the manner of its conduct and management with reference
to the public safety and convenience. Whenever in the judgment of the
Railroad Commissioners it shall appear that any railroad corporation or other
transportation company fails, in any respect or particular, to comply with the
terms of its charter or the laws of the State, or whenever in their judgment
any repairs are necessary upon its road, or any addition to its rolling stock,
or any addition to or change of its stations or station houses, or any change
in its rates for transporting freight, or any change in the mode of operating
its road, and conducting its business is reasonable and expedient in order to
promote the security, convenience, and accommodation of the public, said
Commissioners shall inform such corporations of the improvement and changes
which they adjudge to be proper, by a notice thereof in writing, to be served
by leaving a copy thereof, certified by the Commissioner's secretary with any
station agent, clerk, treasurer, or any director of said corporation; and a
report of the proceedings shall be included in the annual report of the
Commissioners to the Legislature. Nothing in this section shall be construed
as relieving any railroad company, or other transportation corporation, from
their responsibility or liability for damage to persons or property.
SEC. 6. Said Commissioners shall, on or before the first Monday in December
in each year, make a report to the Governor of their doings for the preceding
year, containing such facts, statements and explanations as will disclose the
workings of the system of railroad transportation in this State, and its
relation to the general business and prosperity of the citizens of the State,
and such suggestions and recommendations in respect thereto as may to them
seem appropriate. Said report shall also contain as to every railroad
corporation doing business in this State.
First - The amount of its capital stock.
Second - The amount of its preferred stock, if any, and the condition
of its preferment.
Third - The amount of its funded debt, and the rate of interest.
Fourth - The amount of its floating debt.
Fifth - The cost and actual present cash value of its road and
equipment, including permanent way buildings and rolling stock, all real
estate used exclusively in operating the road, and all fixtures and
conveniences for transacting its business.
Sixth - The estimated value of all other property owned by such
corporation, with a schedule of the same, not including lands granted in aid
to its construction.
Seventh - The number of acres originally granted in aid of construction
of its road by the United State, or by this State.
Eighth - Number of acres of such land remaining unsold.
Ninth - A list of all its officers and directors, with their respective
places of residence.
Tenth - Such statistics of the road and of its business for the year,
as may, in the judgment of the Commissioners, be necessary and proper, for the
information of the Legislature, or as may be required by the Governor. Such
report shall exhibit and refer to the condition of such corporation on the
first day of July of each year, and the details of its transportation business
transacted during the year ending June 30.
Eleventh - The average amount of tonnage that can be carried over each
road in the State with an engine of given power.
SEC. 7. To enable said Commissioners to make such a report, the President or
managing officer of each railroad or transportation company doing business in
this State, shall annually make to the said Commissioners, on the 15th day of
September, each year, such returns, in the form which they may prescribe, as
will afford the information required for their said official report; such
returns shall be verified by the oath of the officer making them; and any
corporation herein named whose return shall not be made as herein prescribed,
by the 15th day of September, shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred
dollars for each and every day after the 16th day of September that such
return shall be wilfully delayed or refused.
SEC. 8. The said Commissioners shall have power, in the discharge of the
duties of their office, to examine any of the books, papers, or documents of
any such corporation, or to examine under oath or otherwise any officer,
director, agent or employe thereof, of any such corporation, or any other
person. The Commissioners or either of them are empowered to issue subpoenas
and administer oaths in the same manner and with the same power to enforce
obedience thereto in the performance of their said duties as belong and
pertain to Courts of Record in this State, and any person who may wilfully
obstruct said Commissioners in the performance of their duties, or who may
refuse to give any information within his possession that may be required by
said Commissioners within the line of their duty shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and shall be liable on conviction thereof, to a fine not
exceeding one thousand dollars, in the discretion of the court; the cost of
such subpoenas and investigation to be first paid by the State, on the
certificate of said Commissioners.
SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of any railroad company when within their power
to do so, and upon reasonable notice, to furnish suitable cars to any and all
persons who may apply therefor for the transportation of any and all kinds of
freight, and to receive and transport such freight with all reasonable
dispatch, and to provide and keep suitable facilities for the receiving and
handling of the same at any depot on the line of its road; and also, to
receive and transport in like manner, the empty or loaded cars furnished by
any connecting road, to be delivered at any station or stations on the line of
its road, to be loaded or discharged, or reloaded and returned to the road so
connecting; and for compensation it shall not demand or receive any greater sum
than is accepted by it from any other connecting railroad for a similar service.
SEC. 10. No railroad company shall charge, demand, or receive from any
person, company or corporation, for the transportation of any property or for
any other service, a greater sum than it shall at the same time charge,
demand, or receive from any other person, company or corporation, for a like
service from the same place, or upon like condition and under similar
circumstances, and all concessions of rates, drawbacks, and contracts for
special rates shall be open to and allowed all persons, companies and
corporations alike; nor shall it charge more for transporting freight from any
point on its line than a fair and just proportion of the price it charges for
the same kind of freight transported from any other point.
SEC. 11. No railroad company shall charge, demand, or receive from any
person, company, or corporation, an unreasonable price for the transportation
of persons or property, or for the hauling or storing of freight, or for the
use of its cars, or for any privilege or service afforded by it in the
transaction of its business as a railroad company. And upon complaint in
writing made to the Board of Railroad Commissioners that an unreasonable price
has been charged, such Board shall investigate said complaint, and if
sustained shall make a certificate, under their seal, setting forth what is a
reasonable charge for the service rendered, which shall be prima facie
evidence of the matters therein stated.
SEC. 12. It shall be unlawful for any railroad company to make any contract
or enter into any stipulation with any other railroad company running in the
same general direction by which either company shall directly or indirectly
agree to divide in any manner, or proportion, the joint earnings upon the
whole, or any part of the freight transported over such roads, and any
violation of this provisions shall render the railway company violating the
same, liable to a penalty of $5,000 for each month for which such earnings are
divided, to be recovered for the use of the common school fund in the name of
the State.
SEC. 13. No railroad company shall be permitted, except as otherwise provided
by regulation or order of the Board to change or limit its common law
liability as a common carrier. All railroad companies shall, on demand, issue
duplicate freight receipts to shippers, in which shall be stated the class, or
classes of freight shipped, the freight charges over the road, giving the
receipt, and so far as practicable shall state the freight charges over other
roads that carry such freight. When the consignee presents the railroad
receipt to the agent of the railroad that delivers such freight, such agent
shall deliver the articles shipped on payment of the rate charged for the
class of freight mentioned in the receipt.
SEC. 14. In all cases where complaint shall be made in accordance with the
provisions of Section 18, hereinafter provided, that an unreasonable charge is
made or that the rates charged for freight are unjust, unreasonable or
extortionate, and the Board shall find such complaint to be true, they shall
require a modified charge, for the service rendered, such as they shall deem
to be reasonable, and shall certify their finding to the managing officer of
the road, against which such complaint is made, and the rates so determined by
the Board to be reasonable shall be by the railroad company accepted thereby,
and posted up in a conspicuous place in each depot on the line of its road
that may be designated by said Board; and such rates so found, shall, in all
actions arising in any court in this State, be taken to be reasonable
compensation for the services for which they are provided, until the contrary
is proven, and all compensation demanded or received by any such railway
company in excess of the rates so determined by the Board, shall in any such
action be taken to be unjust, unreasonable and extortionate until the contrary
is proved. All cases of a failure to comply with the recommendation of the
Board of Commissioners shall be embodied in the report of the Board of
Commissioners to the Governor, and the same shall apply to any unjust
discrimination, extortion or over-charge by said company, or any other
violation of this act by such company.
SEC. 15. Any person, partnership or corporation, engaged in business, other
than that of a common carrier, may own or lease railroad cars, and may load
and bill the same to any railroad point, and all railroad companies and
connecting lines to whom any such car is delivered, shall receive and
transport the same, with all reasonable dispatch, toward its destination:
Provided, That such cars shall be constructed in conformity to the
rules and regulations of the company to which such application is made, and
for such compensation as may be fixed by the commissioners; and having arrived
at its destination it shall be unloaded and shall be, unless otherwise ordered
by such shipper, returned to its starting point with like dispatch, and shall
not be deviated from its route, and shall be in all respects handled the same
as a car belongs to any railroad company: Provided, That it may be by
said railroad company reasonably loaded upon its return trip, and the owner be
allowed a reasonable sum for its use; and such owner shall be responsible for
all necessary repairs.
SEC. 16. Neither said Board of Railroad Commissioners nor any railroad
company shall raise the charge for transportation of freight on any railroad
without first giving sixty days public notice of such change in such manner as
the commissioners may determine.
SEC. 17. Any person, upon written permission, given by the Board, may
exercise in the same manner and to the same extent as is now enjoyed by
railroad companies, the right of condemning and appropriating land, and laying
out and constructing any spur, switch or railroad track there over
(sic) and connecting the same with any railroad already constructed;
and the right to use such spur, switch or track shall be public at rates and
on terms and conditions such as the Board shall prescribe, if the parties
interested cannot agree.
SEC. 18. It shall be the duty of said commissioners, upon the complaint and
application of the Mayor and council of any city, or the Trustee of any
township, to make an examination of the rate of the freight tariff charged by
any such company, and of the condition or operation of any railroad, any part
of whose location lies within the limits of such city or township; and if
twenty-five or more legal voters in any city or township shall, by petition in
writing, request the Mayor and council of such city, or the Trustee of such
township, to make the said complaint and application, and the Mayor and
council or the Trustee, refuse non-compliance in writing upon the petition,
and return the same to the petitioners, and the petitioners may thereupon,
within ten days from the date of such refusal and return present such petition
to said commissioners, and said commissioners shall, if upon due inquiry and
hearing of the petitioners they think that the public good demands the
examination, proceed to make it in the same manner as if called upon by the
Mayor and council of any city or the Trustee of any township. Before
proceeding to make such examination in accordance with such application or
petition, said commissioners shall give to the petitioners and railroad
company reasonable notice in writing of the time and place of entering upon
the same. If upon such an examination it shall appear to said commissioners
that the complaint alleged by the applicants or petitioners be well founded,
they shall so adjudge, and they shall then and there decide what is a
reasonable charge for such freights and shall inform the corporations
operating such railroad company, of their adjudication, and such adjudication
shall be prima facie evidence of what is a reasonable charge in all actions
for such service.
SEC. 19. Any railroad company which shall violate any of the provisions of
this act, shall forfeit for every such offense to the person, company or
corporation aggrieved thereby, three times the actual damage sustained by the
said party aggrieved thereby together with the cost of suit, and a reasonable
attorney's fee to be fixed by the court; and if any appeal be taken from the
judgment or any part thereof, it shall be the duty of the Appellate Court to
include in the judgment an additional reasonable attorney's fee for services
in Appellate Court or courts.
SEC. 20. Any railroad company or individual wilfully violating or evading any
of the provisions of this act, not otherwise herein provided for, shall for
each offense forfeit and pay a penalty of not less than $100 nor more than
$5,000. All penalties provided for in this act shall be recovered by a civil
action, to be instituted and prosecuted in the name of the State, by the
county attorney of the county in which the offense has been committed, upon
the direction of the Board of Railroad Commissioners. If upon the trial of
such action the jury shall find for the plaintiff they shall assess and return
with their verdict the amount of the fine to be imposed upon the defendant,
and the court shall render judgment accordingly. All such penalties so
recovered shall be paid into the school fund of the county in which such
offense has been committed, and the Board of Railroad Commissioners may
require the Attorney General to assist such county attorney in the prosecution
of any such action. No bond for costs shall be required of the State in any
such action.
SEC. 21. In any action against any railroad company for violations of the
provisions of this act the plaintiff may join in the same petition as many
different causes of action as he may have against such company arising under
this act.
SEC. 22. Any person who shall willfully and corruptly swear, testify or
affirm falsely to any material matter, upon any oath or affirmation or
declaration legally administered in any cause, matter or proceeding before
said Board, or any member thereof, or in any return, answer or report required
by this act to be made, shall be deemed guilty of willful and corrupt perjury,
and shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary at hard labor for a
term not exceeding seven years.
SEC. 23. Said board of Commissioners shall keep an accurate record of all its
official acts, and shall also provide a seal, on which shall be the
impression"Board of Railroad Commissioners, State of Kansas Seal." All
process or certificates issued or given by the Board shall be attested by said
seal. Copies of the record of the Board, certified by the Secretary and
attested with the seal of the Board, shall be received in evidence with the
like effect as copies of other public records.
SEC. 24. Any member of said Board while acting in the performance of his
duties as such, together with such clerk accountant or expert or other agent,
whose services he deems to be important in the discharge of said duties, shall
have the right of passing at all times over all railroads and on all railroad
trains on any part thereof in this State, free of charge.
SEC. 25. Nothing in this act shall be construed to estop or hinder any persons
or corporations from bringing suit against any such railroad company for any
violations of any of the laws of this State for the government of railroads.
SEC. 26. In construing this act, unless such meaning be repugnant to the
context or to the manifest intention of the Legislature, the term railroad
company shall include and be construed to mean any incorporated railroad
company, or any express or transportation company, or any railroad bridge
company; or any persons or persons, lessee, assignee, trustee, receiver,
partnership, joint stock company, or corporation, engaged wholly, partially,
jointly, or severally in laying out, constructing, owning, operating, using or
maintaining any railroad operated by steam, or any portion or part of such
railroad line. The word "person" shall include persons, partnerships, joint
stock companies and corporations.
SEC. 27. Sections 56, 57, 58 and 59, of Chapter 23, of the general statues,
are hereby repealed.
SEC. 28. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the official State paper.
On March 31, the Executive Council made choice of the following named persons
for Commissioners: Henry Hopkins, of Lansing, for three years; James Humphrey,
of Junction City, for two years; L. L. Turner, of Sedan, for one year.
A. B. Campbell, President, Topeka; L. R. Elliott, Vice President, Manhattan;
James A. Troutman, Secretary, Topeka; George M. Stearns, Treasurer, Topeka.
The following resolutions submitted by C. E. Wheeler, and offered by ex-Gov.
St. John was adopted:
The following additional plank, offered by Gov. St. John, was adopted:
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