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the supervision and regulation of the Department, so that no monopoly can be obtained.

Mr. OLMSTED. Can anybody else except this company build a dock or wharves in any of these bays?

Mr. PARSONS. Yes; anybody who applies can build a dock or wharf in either of these bays; but they will have to build it under regulations established by the Department, and when this wharf is built under this bill anybody can use it.

Mr. OLMSTED. But under this bill nobody else can build it. Mr. PARSONS. No; anyone can build. Your reference is to only one provision, by which the corporation is forced to build one dock. But any other person can go in and build other docks.

Mr. OLMSTED. On their land?

Mr. PARSONS. It is not corporation land; it is land of the United States.

Mr. OLMSTED. But the corporation is to buy it at $2.50 an

acre.

Mr. CUSHMAN. Not within a thousand feet of the water front.

Mr. PARSONS. The land is back of that. There is a reservation to the United States of a thousand-foot strip along the water front, and every acre the corporation can buy must be back of that strip. That strip controls the water front.

Mr. CUSHMAN. And they fill up with what they dredge out of the harbor.

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. WANGER). All time has expired. The question is on suspending the rules and passing the bill.

Mr. ROBINSON. I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.

Mr. PARSONS. I make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York suggests that a quorum is not present. That is evidently the

case.

Mr. HENRY of Texas. A parliamentary inquiry. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Doorkeeper will close the doors, the Sergeant-at-Arms will notify absent Members

Mr. HENRY of Texas. I want to renew my request that during the call of the House the Doorkeeper be instructed to allow the doors to remain open, as they do in the Senate and in every other legislative body. I ask that the rule be suspended on this roll and all other rolls.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The request could only apply to the present roll.

Mr. HENRY of Texas. Well, I will make the request as to the present roll call.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection? [After a pause.] The Chair hears none. The Sergeant-at-Arms will notify absent Members. As many as are in favor of the motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill will, as their names are called, answer "yea," those opposed will answer "nay," those present and not voting will answer "present," and the Clerk will call the roll.

The question was taken, and there were—yeas 141, nays 49, answered "present" 10, not voting 187, as follows:

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Wilson, Pa.

Wolf

Jackson

James, Addison D. Morse James, Ollie M. Mouser

Jenkins

Mudd

Johnson, Ky.

Johnson, S. C.

Murdock Nelson

Favrot
Fitzgerald
The Clerk announced the following additional pairs:
Until further notice:

Mr. DRAPER with Mr. RICHARDSON.
Mr. ALEXANDER of New York with Mr. BYRD.
Mr. VREELAND with Mr. WILSON of Pennsylvania.
Mr. SULLOWAY with Mr. UNDERWOOD.

Mr. STEVENS of Minnesota with Mr. SPARKMAN.
Mr. SLEMP with Mr. SMALL.

Mr. ROBERTS with Mr. SHERLEY.

Mr. PEARRE with Mr. SABATII.

Mr. ÖVERSTREET with Mr. RYAN.

Mr. Moon of Pennsylvania with Mr. RHINOCK.

Mr. Moon of Tennessee with Mr. PUJO.

Mr. MALBY with Mr. Pou.

Mr. MCKINLAY of California with Mr. PATTERSON.
Mr. MANN with Mr. SIMS.

Mr. MCCALL with Mr. PAGE.

Mr. LOUDENSLAGER with Mr. MCLAIN.

Mr. LOUD with Mr. McDERMOTT.

Mr. LORIMER with Mr. HUMPHREYS of Mississippi.

Mr. LITTLEFIELD with Mr. LINDSAY.

Mr. LANING with Mr. LENAHAN.

Mr. LANGLEY with Mr. LEE.

Mr. KÜSTERMANN with Mr. KIPP.

Mr. ADDISON D. JAMES With Mr. KIMBALL.

Mr. HOWELL of New Jersey with Mr. JONES of Virginia.

Mr. ENGLEBRIGHT with Mr. JOHNSON of Kentucky,

Mr. FOULKROD with Mr. OLLIE M. JAMES.

Mr. MURDOCK with Mr. HOWARD.
Mr. HIGGINS with Mr. HOBSON.
Mr. HASKINS with Mr. HITCHCOCK.
Mr. MADDEN with Mr. HARDWICK.
Mr. GOEBEL with Mr. HAY.

Mr. Foss with Mr. HAMMOND.

Mr. FAIRCHILD with Mr. HAMILTON of Iowa.

Mr. EDWARDS of Kentucky with Mr. HAMILL.

Mr. DWIGHT with Mr. Gregg.

Mr. DRISCOLL with Mr. GOLDFOGLE.

Mr. DENBY with Mr. GILL.

Mr. DAWSON with Mr. FULTON.

Mr. DAVIS of Minnesota with Mr. FAVROT.

Mr. BENNET of New York with Mr. FORNES.

Mr. DAVIDSON with Mr. FITZGERALD.

Mr. CALDER with Mr. DAVENPORT.

Mr. BURTON of Delaware with Mr. CRAWFORD.

Mr. BRADLEY with Mr. CARTER.

Mr. ANTHONY with Mr. CARLIN.

Mr. ANDRUS with Mr. BRANTLEY.

Until the 29th:

Mr. NELSON with Mr. DAVEY of Louisiana.
For the remainder of this day:

Mr. HILL of Connecticut with Mr. GLASS.

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. WANGER). On this question the yeas are 141, nays 49, answered "present" 10. Accordingly the rules are suspended and the bill as amended is passed.

REPORTS AND INVESTIGATIONS OF RAILROAD ACCIDENTS.

Mr. ESCH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass, with the committee amendments, the bill (H. R. 17979) requiring common carriers engaged in interstate and foreign commerce to make full reports of all accidents to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and authorizing investigations thereof by said Commission. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Wisconsin moves to suspend the rules and pass the following bill with Committee amendments. The Clerk will report the bill. The Clerk read as follows:

Be it enacted, etc., That it shall be the duty of the general manager, superintendent, or other proper officer of every common carrier engaged in interstate or foreign commerce by railroad to make to the Interstate Commerce Commission, at its office in Washington, D. C., a monthly report, under oath, of all collisions, derailments, or other accidents resulting in injury to person or property, which report shall state the nature and causes thereof and the circumstances connected therewith: Provided, That hereafter all said carriers shall be relieved from the duty of reporting accidents in their annual financial and operating reports made to the Commission.

SEC. 2. That any common carrier failing to make such report within thirty days after the end of any month shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by a court of competent jurisdiction shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100 for each and every offense and for every day during which it shall fail to make such report after the time herein specified for making the

same.

SEC. 3. That the Interstate Commerce Commission shall have authority to investigate all collisions, derailments, or other accidents resulting in serious injury to person or property occurring on the line of any common carrier engaged in interstate or foreign commerce by railroad. The Commission, or any person thereunto authorized by said Commission, shall have authority to investigate such collisions, derailments, or other accidents aforesaid, and all the attending facts, conditions, and circumstances, and for that purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer caths, take testimony, and require the production of books, papers, orders, memoranda, exhibits, and other evidence, and be provided by said carriers with all reasonable facilities. Said Commission shail make reports of such investigations, stating the cause of accident and the responsibility therefor, together with such recommendations as it deems proper. Such reports shall be made public in such manner as the Commission deems proper.

SEC. 4. That neither said report nor any report of said investigation nor any part thereof shall be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose in any suit or action for damages growing out of any matter mentioned in said report or investigation.

SEC. 5. That the Interstate Commerce Commission is authorized to prescribe for such common carriers a method and form for making the reports herein before provided.

SEC. 6. That the act entitled "An act requiring common carriers engaged in interstate commerce to make full reports of all accidents to the Interstate Commerce Commission," approved March 3, 1901, is hereby repealed.

SEC. 7. That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is a second demanded.
Mr. ADAMSON. I demand a second.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia demands a second. Accordingly, under the rule, a second is ordered. The gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. EscH] is entitled to twenty minutes and the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. ADAMSON] is entitled to twenty minutes.

Mr. ESCH. Mr. Speaker, this bill is largely a codification of existing law, and will result in economy, as our committee firmly believe.

By the act of March 3, 1901, interstate carriers, through their proper officials, are required to report monthly all accidents arising out of collisions or derailments resulting in injury or loss of life to passengers or employees engaged in train operations.

Section 20 of the Hepburn Act requires the same carriers to make annual reports to the Commission, giving all accidents, whether to employees, to passengers, or to other individuals, including trespassers. It will therefore be seen that by requiring these monthly reports as to collisions and derailments, and

also annual reports with reference to accidents of every character, there is a very large duplication of work. Because of such duplication the Commission has repeatedly appealed to Congress to change the law.

Practically this entire bill is a codification of the existing law, and the bill asks for the repeal of the act of March 3, 1901. The other provisions are practically existing law, with such modifications therein as are required by the codification. Mr. WILLIAMS. What was the act of March 3, 1901?

Mr. ESCH. Requiring monthly reports of accidents to be made to the Commission.

Mr. WILLIAMS. So far as accidents are concerned, it is waived that far, but it is not altogether repealed? Mr. ESCH. No.

Mr. WILLIAMS. Just to that extent?

Mr. ESCH. Yes. The new matter in this legislation is contained in the first sentence in section 3:

That the Interstate Commerce Commission shall have authority to investigate all collisions, derailments, or other accidents resulting in serious injury to person or property occurring on the line of any common carrier engaged in interstate or foreign commerce by railroad.

The necessity for this legislation arises because of the incompleteness of the reports now made by the railroad companies to the Commission with reference to accidents. It has been shown to our committee that during the last fiscal year no less than seventy-eight railroad accident reports were filed with the Commission which were by the Commission considered as defective and wholly incomplete. These seventy-eight accidents resulted in the loss of life of 407 people and the injury of 1,614. I have here a copy of the quarterly accident bulletin for the months of January, February, and March, 1907, and in order to illustrate the incompleteness of the reports as now made I wish to cite these illustrations.

Here is a case of a derailment in which nineteen were killed and 149 injured, with a property loss of $2,600, and it comes to the Commission "unexplained." Here is another derailment where one person was injured and there was a property loss of $17,655, also unexplained. Here is another where three people were killed and 35 were injured, and the property loss was $18,700.

These three illustrations are in one single quarterly report, and many others might be stated.

Now, then, if we have an unbiased tribunal to investigate these wrecks which result in serious loss to life and property, the Government can acquire a fund of information upon which to base proper recommendations to Congress for remedial legislation. It is on that account that this legislation is presented to the Congress.

I desire to print as part of my remarks the report filed by me in support of this bill.

Mr. Escн, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following report, to accompany II. R. 17979:

The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 17979) requiring common carriers engaged in interstate and foreign commerce to make full reports of all accidents to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and authorizing investigations thereof by said Commission, having considered the same, report thereon with amendment, and as so amended recommend that it pass. Amend the bill as follows:

Strike out, in line 9, section 1, the word "serious."

The bill as amended is a reenactment in substance of the act entitled "An act requiring common carriers engaged in interstate commerce to make full reports of all accidents to the Interstate Commerce Commission," approved March 3, 1901, with section 3 added as new matter. In order to avoid a duplication of reports, upon recommendation of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the proviso has been added to section 1 of the bill, the idea being that if all accidents were included in the monthly reports there would be no necessity of the common carriers making annual reports of "accidents to passengers, employees, and other persons, and the causes thereof," as required by section 20 of the Hepburn Act.

Section 1 of the act approved March 3, 1901, requires monthly reports of all collisions of trains or where any train of part of a train accidentally leaves the track, and of all accidents which may occur to its passengers, or employees while in the service of such common carrier and actually on duty." The monthly report, as shown in section 1 of the bill, requires reports "of all collisions, derailments, or other accidents resulting in injury to person or property." The latter provision therefore broadens the scope of these reports, because it embraces injuries to employees, passengers, and all other persons, thus including trespassers.

Section 3 of the bill gives authority to the Interstate Commerce Commission "to investigate all collisions, derailments, or other accidents resulting in serious injury to person or property occurring on the line of any common carrier engaged in interstate or foreign commerce by railroad" and provides how such investigations shall be made

and what the reports of such investigations shall contain and in what

manner they shall be made public.

The Interstate Commerce Commission in its annual reports has repeatedly recommended the granting to it of such authority by Congress. In response to the request of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce for such suggestions as it desired to make with reference to the merits of H. R. 4804, being a bill which practically contained the provisions now set forth in section 3 of the bill herewith reported, the Commission, through its chairman, Mr. Knapp, declared as follows "This measure is cordially approved by the entire Commission. responds to the recommendation which the Commission has repeatedly

It

made upon this subject in its annual reports to the Congress and is believed to be adequate in scope and form for the purpose intended." Chairman Knapp further reports:

"We respectfully call your attention to the fact that the proper and efficient administration of such a law will involve an expenditure which the Commission can not make from its present appropriation. To a great extent, if not for the most part, the Commission would be obliged to make the required investigations through agents and representatives appointed to perform that duty, and this implies the selection of men of high character and unquestioned capacity, who must be correspondingly paid, to say nothing of such subordinates as stenographers, typewriters, clerks, etc. It will be necessary, therefore, to materially increase the general appropriation, which would otherwise be sufficient, or to provide a special fund which the Commission could use for this particular purpose.

In this connection we call your attention to a kindred recommendation upon which we request favorable action. Under existing law carriers are required to make monthly reports to the Commission of accidents caused by collision or derailment, or resulting in injury to passengers or employees on duty; and the Commission is authorized to require annual reports of all 'accidents however caused, and this results in much duplication. We greatly desire that the statutory obligation to furnish monthly reports be extended by amendment to cover all accidents, and thus permit the omission of accidents from the annual reports required by section 20 of the amended law. To this end we propose the following:

That in addition to the reports now required, the Commission, beginning with the 1st day of July, 1908, shall require, and all carriers subject to this act shall furnish, on forms provided by the Commission, full reports of all accidents occurring on their respective lines resulting in death or injury, whether to passengers, employees, or other persons; the intent of this section being to make the monthly accident reports complete and to relieve the carriers from the duty of reporting accidents to persons in their annual financial and operating reports made to the Commission.'

"All of which is respectfully submitted.

"MARTIN A. KNAPP, Chairman."

This suggestion has been carried out by adding the proviso to section 1, already alluded to. In view of the fact that under the provisions of said act, approved March 3, 1901, railroad companies through their proper officials were required to make reports of accidents and give the causes thereof, it was found that such reports were oftentimes delayed beyond the limit of time allowed by law and were often reported imperfectly, requiring delay in securing complete reports, and, further, in view of the fact that it was but natural that railroad companies, as a rule, in reporting causes of accidents occurring on their lines, would not magnify their own carelessness, if indeed they would in all instances admit their share of responsibility, and because in many cases reports were received wherein no cause of accident was given and the report entered and published as "unexplained," the conclusion became irresistible that there should be authority given to the Commission to investigate for itself the causes of accidents resulting in serious inquiry to person or property. Section 3 of this bill gives such authority and limits its exercise to such instances where, the injury being serious, investigation

seems necessary.

To show a few instances of the insufficiency of present reports as now made the committee herewith insert a statement furnished by the Interstate Commerce Commission, showing that for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1907, there were 78 accidents involving the loss of 407 lives and the injury of 1,614 persons, which should have been investigated:

For

The reports shown in accident bulletins indicate that circumstances connected with certain of these accidents were not sufficiently cleared up by the companies' reports and might be affected by bad practice or other conditions requiring correction which could only be disclosed by an impartial investigation conducted by a Government body. instance, accident No. 15, reported in Bulletin 21, in which two persons were killed and five injured, is reported as due to a mistake in order; the receiving operator omitted two words and the dispatcher failed to check the error in the repetition. Investigation should be made to determine the practice of the railroad company with regard to the handling of train orders and to the experience of the men who are charged with responsibility for this accident.

"Accident No. 30, from the same bulletin, in which two persons were killed and four injured, is said to be due to a misinterpretation of orders. Conductor and enginemen had been on duty eighteen hours. indicates bad practice, and should be investigated.

This

"Collision No. 16, in Bulletin 22, in which 1 person was killed and 49 injured, is said to have been caused by an error in the engineman's watch. This is a cause which would indicate the need of considerable investigation to determine the method of handling such matters on that particular road.

"Many of the accidents noted are reported as due to false clearsignal indications and other derangements of the block system, but the cause of such derangements is in no case made clear." Whether these are due to the employment of inexperienced and immature persons or to the use of improper apparatus or material are matters which can only be determined by rigid investigation."

In Accident Bulletin No. 23, covering the months of January, February, and March, 1907, three derailment accidents are reported in which a total of 22 persons were killed and 185 injured, for which derailments no causes were assigned and no explanations given. An examination of subsequent bulletins shows even a larger number of unexplained causes of accidents.

Your committee believes that if this bill passes and the authority provided in section 3 is given to the Commission thorough and careful investigations will be made, and as by section 4 of the bill neither the report made by the company nor the report of the investigation made by the Commission are to be admitted as evidence or for any purpose in any suit or action for damages, it will be possible to secure full and complete testimony of all the facts connected with any given accident. As the reports of these investigations increase and the causes of accidents are established and made known it will be possible for the Commission to make recommendations to Congress with a view to the enactment of remedial legislation. The ascertainment by a disinterested commission of the causes of railroad accidents and the publicity given to the findings of such commission will have a beneficial effect throughout the country and lead to the correction by the common carriers of such faults in management or defects in road construction or equipment as may have been found to have been defective. It is in

this particular that the legislation provided in section 3 is expected to be peculiarly valuable.

Section 5 of the bill is the same as section 4 of the act approved March 3, 1901.

Section 6 repeals the above-mentioned act.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ADAMSON. Mr. Speaker, the statement made by the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. EscH] is a fair one, and substantially sets out the position of our Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce which reported the bill. I did not demand a second for the purpose of antagonizing the bill, nor with the intention of consuming the time allowed to me on that account. The bill is an excellent one, and should pass unanimously. If any gentleman is opposed to the bill I will be glad to yield him time. If no other applies for time now, I yield to the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. WILLIAMS] such time as he desires to use, and reserve to myself what he does not consume.

Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, this is a bill, in my opinion, eminently proper, and is in line with legislation that I think public attention ought to have been more directed to. I have never thought that in meeting the great railroad problems with which we are confronted we have attached a sufficient degree of importance to the preservation of human life and the safety of travel. We have had our attention directed entirely too much in comparison to the cheapness of transportation and the celerity of transportation. I would rather save one human life than save a great many dollars. The real sore spot about the transportation system of the United States is the reckless disregard of human life and limb with which it is carried on. I shall not bore the House with giving them statistics. I shall not repeat what I said yesterday when speaking upon another bill as to the comparison, unfavorable to us, of the number of people killed and crippled who are the employees of railroads and travelers upon railroads in this and other countries.

I think it would be better if we so directed our legislative efforts as to force the railroads to put more of their earnings into the betterment of the rolling stock and tracks, so as to prevent railroads from doing a two-track business on a onetrack basis and to force them to resort to every possible device that saves human life and limb. It is always ungracious to compare unfavorably anything in one's own country with the same thing in another country, but one who has traveled anywhere else, outside perhaps of South America and some semicivilized countries, must know the greater regard which governments and transportation companies, forced to it by the governments, have for human life.

I now want to read part of a letter which I received this morning. One part of it contains a compliment to myself, which I shall omit, but the balance of it I want to read. It is signed by Mr. Edward A. Moseley, the Secretary of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and it is as follows:

INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION,
Washington, May 27, 1908.

DEAR MR. WILLIAMS: In an entirely personal way I am intensely interested in the bill which Mr. Escn was authorized to report from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce-House bill No. 17979. This bill authorizes the Interstate Commerce Commission to investigate serious accidents, and is a measure which the Commission have in their reports to Congress urgently urged, attention being particularly drawn to this matter by the horrible wreck at Takoma Park, right under the shadow of the Capitol, and which the Commission undertook to investigate, and were met with the objection that they had no authority to do so, which undoubtedly is true. What was done was under the color of the block-signal resolution. This is a measure in which one can have no other interest than the interest of seeing the public and railroad employees properly protected-a matter which you are aware I have given almost my entire life to.

It is only by investigating accidents that we can find the reasons and bring about measures to stop these holocausts.

I am, with great regard and respect,

EDW. A. MOSELEY.

Mr. ESCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield three minutes to the gentleman from Kansas, Mr. Campbell.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Speaker, I am particularly glad to see this bill reported by the committee and to now see it called up for passage. Some three years ago I introduced a bill along this line, upon which I asked for and had a hearing before the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. The questions asked me on that occasion led me to believe that there was an impression in the committee that there was already sufficient legislation upon this subject to secure all needed information as to railway accidents. The one thing, however, that I pressed then, and that I am now glad to note is covered in this bill, is that the railroad companies should be required to state not that there was a derailment, not that there was a head-on collision, but to give the cause of the derailment, to give the cause of the collision-in fact, to give the cause of the accident, whatever it might be. The gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. WILLIAMS] states that one who has traveled elsewhere than in this

country is impressed with the care with which railway trains are conducted in other countries as compared with the manner in which they are conducted here.

There is a conservatism about the management of a railway train in England and in Scotland, indeed in every country in Europe, that is distinct as compared with the conduct of our trains here. The manner in which you are required to get to and on a train; the care with which you are required to get off and away from it, all show a proper regard for human life and limb. Every precaution human ingenuity can take is taken for the purpose of avoiding accidents that result in injury or death to the passenger or employee. There is more regard in the older countries for life and limb than for a determination to get to the point of destination at the earliest moment possible, at all hazards. I have feared that our roadbeds and rolling stock were not in proper proportion to each other to secure the greatest safety in their use. I hope the bill will pass. [Applause.]

Mr. ESCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to the gentleman from Kansas [Mr. SCOTT]. Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I introduced a bill, too late in the session, I am sorry to say, to have it given consideration this year, giving to the Interstate Commerce Commission jurisdiction over the physical condition of railroads. This bill was introduced at the request of the National Railway Trackmen's Association and is intended to reach a condition which certainly deserves the attention of the nation through the Interstate Commerce Commission. There was filed, in support of the bill which I introduced, photographs showing the condition of tracks on various railroads which must cause those who look at them to wonder how it is possible that any train can pass over such a track in safety. Upon many railroad sections of the country there is evidence filed to show that only one trackman is employed, and the wages paid to those men are so low in many cases as to give no hope of very efficient service. The bill which we are now considering will, I trust, go far to show the necessity for the passage of the measure which I have introduced, providing as it does that railway accidents shall be reported and the causes of them shown. I believe it will be made evident that in most cases the cause of railroad accidents is the poor condition of the tracks, owing to the employment of an insufficient number of employees to keep them in proper condition. I am glad, indeed, to have the opportunity to vote for this bill. [Applause.]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired. Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, there have been some complaints at times in respect to the inactivity of this session of Congress, but it certainly will always be remembered that this Congress has endeavored to do and has done much in the way of doing away with railroad accidents. In the sundry civil bill there is carried a legislative provision authorizing the Interstate Commerce Commission to make investigation and experiments with all the safety appliances of any character whatever intending to make more safe travel upon railroads. Yesterday the House passed a bill in reference to ash pans which will in the future, I trust, secure to the railroad employees immunity from going under locomotives when the necessary cleaning is resorted to. Now we propose to pass another bill requiring railroads to report all accidents upon their roads either to persons or property.

ing, I believe I will tell you a little about railroads myself. [Laughter and applause.] Especially is that proper, in view of the fact that this bill is in such good hands on this side of the House, and is such a good bill that its passage may not consume as much time as you may apprehend. I am entirely loyal to the beneficent filibuster which has gotten after the other side and forced them to work at this session, just as putting fire on the back of a lazy terrapin makes him crawl. But this bill accords so completely with the Democratic demands that, with the concurrence of the leader of the minority, I shall permit it to pass without a roll call. [Applause.] Now, I am not especially antagonistic to railroads. I love them. We need them. I want good railroads, so managed as to serve the purposes of their creation by serving the convenience of the people, while safeguarding life and limb. I wish to remind you right here now that whatever difficulties have been encountered in connection with operating and regulating railroads have not been on account of anything vicious essentially in the iron, nor in the cross-ties, nor in the charters, but in the human nature of the men who ran those railroads, and who operated them financially and physically. The trouble we had with them when we began to regulate them was that those same humans, looking to their own interests above all things, just as some other people do who are not railroad men, taking as their rule of action what the traffic would bear," resented our efforts to regulate them. What we wanted was something like essential equality and fairness in their treatment of men and localities. They resisted so hard the assertion of the authority of the Government to govern them and their property, like other men and other property, that they have made trouble in the country. They have sought to dissatisfy the people with legislation. They have made everything as inconvenient and troublesome as possible, charging that it resulted from the legislation, and kindled a fire, which they themselves are unable to extinguish, by sensless threats and prophecies of famine and appeals to an outraged people to call off "the politicians" and submit to robbery. [Applause on the Democratic side.] If they would recognize, as all other men do, that railroad men and railroad property are subject to rule and regulation by law, just as everything else in this country is, and show a little consideration, courtesy, and fairness to the different persons and communities whom it is their duty to serve, there would be no trouble on earth between the people and the railroads. Prompt connections at junction points, convenient schedules, and abstinence from discrimination would make them popular and rich. But when they have in their power a locality where there is no competition, they hit hard and do not try to conceal the fact that they do it because they can. They accord better treatment to people who, because of other facilities, do not need their favors. The result is resentment on the part of the people discriminated against, and the suffering people, who feel that they are ruthlessly and uselessly imposed upon and robbed, are expected, being human themselves, to retaliate in any way they can, and reprisal is not surprising at every opportunity. When a railroad head sticks up they hit the head, and sometimes hit harder than they intended and regardless of whether or not their wrongs are thereby remedied.

Now, we set out simply to effect one amendment in the "law to regulate commerce," and that was to provide that when the Commerce Commission announced the correction of a rate it could be enforced. That was resisted, and resisted, and resisted, and other legislation was resorted to until, in my opinion, the resistance of the railroads to regulation, and their own talk about calamity and ruin and all that sort of thing, and their efforts to make regulation unpopular with the people, and talk

Of course the report of accidents is not of itself so important, but it gives to Congress all the information for future legis lation and calls to the attention of the superior officers of the railroads the accidents which do occur and makes known to the public the circumstances surrounding them, and in my judging about panics and trouble, have brought on the very diffiment this bill, coming from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, will accomplish a great deal in rendering in the future railway travel more safe and in rendering to the employees of the railroads, who are in the greatest danger themselves, a further degree of immunity from accident. We kill an army every year upon the railroads. We injure more than an army upon the railroads, and at this session I think we have done as well as we could to prevent railway accidents and railway injuries in the future. [Applause.]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired. [Cries of "Vote!"] Mr. ADAMSON. Mr. Speaker, I venture to assert that each of the gentlemen who are now crying "vote" has done more talking than I have in this Congress, and I can prove by each one of them that I have done a great deal more voting than speaking. I offered to yield time to any gentleman who wanted to speak on this bill, but inasmuch as no gentleman desired to speak, and inasmuch as if this bill is voted on, you would go ahead with something else, and somebody else would be talk

culty they talked about. [Applause on the Democratic side.] And I am sorry to say that some of the reforms, while good in morals, good in criminal law, good to prevent frauds, have not been practically productive of beneficial results in the localities with which I am acquainted.

When I complain of a railroad on which my people depend, and have a right to depend for service, suspending connections and failing to afford schedules and trying to destroy the importance of my town and nullify its natural advantages by discriminating against it in favor of a competitor, it does not satisfy me nor answer my complaint for you to talk to me about how much stock and how many bonds have been issued by that railroad, owned away off by some other fellow who is past the issue of victuals and clothes, not concerned about sustaining life or sustaining his family, but reaching out and thrashing around for speculation, and whether he loses or wins it does not hurt anybody in the world. It does not make any difference at all. He is speculating.

For the purpose of levying just taxation and sometimes to

consider in making rates, it is valuable, and even necessary, to know the true value of the property. Moreover, in the interest of morality and general honesty, there ought to be such laws as would adorn the jails and penitentiaries with some of the gorgeous personages who wreck and ruin corporations and rob the people of their facilities for service, as well as of their money. Our primary concern is with actual service. We have a right to enjoy the use of the tracks and rolling stock which the law has authorized the corporations to operate among us. They are public functionaries, and should acknowledge by their conduct that they are amendable to control if they do not voluntarily do their duty. Having physical possession of the property itself, it is our duty to provide by law that the property is operated fairly and justly to men and communities. [Applause.]

The cases I refer to are not affected by water competition. The localities are in the interior, and are arbitrarily benefited or bottled up at the caprice or cupidity of allied railroads, which establish pretended competitive points when they wish and destroy others at their will. I admit the people discriminated against are negligent and unduly submissive. They rely too much on the Government to protect them and fail to invoke the law in the proper manner. If, like the railroads, they would engage the best lawyers in the land and show fight, I believe they could free themselves of much of the injustice which is inflicted, because the corporations believe the people will not resist. Fighting in the court-house is necessary to make law valuable. [Prolonged applause.]

Mr. Speaker, how much time have I remaining?
The SPEAKER. Three minutes.

any accident involving loss of life, and then it is made the duty of the Interstate Commerce Commission to proceed as soon as possible to cause a public investigation of such accident to be made and a public report concerning the same filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission. It heavily penalizes the railroad for failing to make said report, and distinctly makes it the duty of the United States district attorney to prosecute a violation of the act; it then goes on to provide the machinery for investigating accidents.

It creates a commissioner of railroad accidents in each judicial district of the United States and furnishes him with the necessary stenographer and process to secure witnesses and to make a full investigation ex parte of the accident and return the testimony to the Interstate Commerce Commission. It provides for the expense and fees for such commissioner and for records to be kept by the Interstate Commerce Commission, properly | digested, of all such reports, and, finally, it makes an appropriation for carrying on the work. It will be seen that this bill, while it somewhat limits the scope of the accidents to be investigated, actually provides in a practical way for such investigation and a public report concerning the causes of the accident and the probable means for its prevention. I sincerely hope that the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce will at some future time further consider this matter. Meanwhile, not because I believe the present measure to be what it ought to be, but simply because I believe it to be, as I have said, a step in the right direction, I sincerely hope it will have the favorable consideration of the House.

For the further information of the House, I shall take the liberty of adding to my remarks the bill introduced by me on

Mr. ADAMSON. If no other gentleman desires to speak, I the 2d of December, to which I have referred. It is as follows: reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. DOUGLAS. Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to have an opportunity of voting for a bill of this nature. My only regret is that the bill reported by the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce and now under consideration is not a more thorough-going measure. It seems to me that, while a step perhaps in the right direction, this bill casts too mush additional work upon the Interstate Commerce Commission; and, second, it does not define how the investigations provided for shall be conducted.

In the short time allotted to me by the gentleman in charge of the bill I can not dwell upon the glaring necessity for some such measure as the present. The number of passengers and employees killed annually by the railroads in America is not only appalling, but it comes very nearly to being a national disgrace. The intense competition between our routes of travel, the consequent demand for excessive speed, the demand for net earnings to meet enormous fixed charges and dividends upon excessive capitalization, have all tended toward a recklessness in the operation of our railroads which contrasts most unfavorably with the care and the devices used abroad. That this result comes from closer, more impartial and intelligent government supervision I do not believe that anyone who has ever traveled abroad or studied the subject can doubt.

There has been consequently a growing and ever more imperative demand on the part of the American public for disinterested and thorough investigations of railroad accidents resulting in loss of life. It is obvious that the railroads them selves can not be depended upon to make this careful investigation; and it is obvious that they can not be depended upon to give the results of such investigation the widest publicity so that the true lesson of each accident may be learned.

Now, the bill under consideration is doubtless a step in the right direction, but I greatly regret that it is not a more radical step. It simply provides that the common carrier shall make a report to the Interstate Commerce Commission of all accidents resulting in injury to persons or property," and then provides that the Interstate Commerce Commission shall have authority to investigate all such accidents. If the Interstate Commerce Commission proceeds vigorously and thoroughly to exercise the authority given in this bill, it will be fairly overwhelmed with work. I think the description of the accidents to be reported and investigated is too broad. It covers any accident "resulting in injury to persons or property." I submit it ought to be limited to accidents involving loss of life. Even then it will be essential that the Interstate Commerce Commission be provided, either by law or by its own regulation, with the proper machinery for carrying on these investigations.

I trust that without egotism I may refer to the bill introduced by myself on the first day of the present session and referred to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Briefly epitomized, it provides that every railroad shall report

A bill (II. R. 507) for public investigation of railroad accidents on interstate roads.

Be it enacted, etc., That whenever there occurs, upon any railroad engaged in interstate commerce, any accident which causes to any person employed upon such railroad, or a passenger upon such railroad, loss of life, it shall be, and is hereby made, the duty of the Interstate Commerce Commission to proceed as soon as possible, by one or more of the commissioners hereinafter named, to cause a public investigation of such accident to be made and to have a report made concerning the same to it, the said The Interstate Commerce Commission.

SEC. 2. That whenever there occurs, upon any railroad engaged in interstate commerce, any accident which causes to any person employed upon such railroad, or a passenger upon such railroad, loss of life, it shall be, and is hereby made, the duty of such railroad and its officers to forthwith, and in no case later than forty-eight hours after the occurrence of such accident, to report the same to the Interstate Commerce Commission, setting forth when and at what, or between what, stations upon said road and at what hour and to what train or trains, or otherwise, such accident occurred, with the names, if known, or if not known, some adequate description, of the person or persons losing their life or lives in said accident.

SEC. 3. That any railroad violating the provisions of the above section, by failing to make said report within the time above limited, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined any sum exceeding $1,000 and not exceeding $10,000 for every violation of this act; and it is hereby made the duty of the United States district attorney within whose district such accident shall occur to prosecute any violation of section 2 of this

act.

SEC. 4. That in order to enable the Interstate Commerce Commission to comply with the duty imposed upon it by section 1 of this act, it is hereby directed to appoint not less than one nor more than two persons in each judicial district of the United States, whose duty it shall be, when any such accident occurs, and upon receiving notice thereof from the Interstate Commerce Commission, to immediately attend at where said accident occurred, and proceed forthwith to a public hearthe most convenient place for the purpose in the vicinity of the place ing and investigation of the same; and for this purpose he shall have the right to subpoena and enforce the attendance of witnesses, send for by the marshal of such judicial district. books and papers, and all writs issued by him shall be forthwith served

SEC. 5. That such officer shall be known as a Commissioner of Railroad Accidents. He shall be under the direction of said The Interstate Commerce Commission. He shall, if necessary, employ a competent stenographer. He shall examine witnesses, reduce their testimony to writing, and as soon as may be possible upon the conclusion of his Commission aforesaid, which report shall be open at all times to public investigation make a report in writing to the Interstate Commerce inspection. The investigation and hearing shall be ex parte. The witnesses shall be examined by such Commissioner and their testimony reduced to writing in his presence. A transcript of the testimony, including papers and documents put in evidence, shall be forwarded by the Commissioner, with his report, to the Interstate Commerce Commission. The counsel of the railroad company, or counsel for any other person interested, may attend, and may, within the discretion of the Commissioner, cross-examine any witness examined by him; and by such means as he may see fit to adopt, and within his discretion, the Commissioner shall endeavor to ascertain the true cause of the accident. His report shall set forth his opinion as to the cause of the

accident, and how the same might have been prevented.

SEC. 6. That each Commissioner, appointed as above, shall receive for his services, first, $100 per annum; second, his traveling expenses and other personal expenses to and from his home to the place where investigation, including adequate compensation to a stenographer, and such investigation is held, his personal expenses while engaged in such such other incidental expenses as may be approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission; and third, $25 a day during the time that he is actually engaged in such investigation and hearing and in preparing his report, but in computing such per diem not more than two days shall be allowed for the preparation of such report.

SEC. 7. That in addition to the powers and jurisdiction hereinbefore given to such Commissioner of Railroad Accidents he shall further have such summary jurisdiction to punish contempts, to maintain order, and

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