office, to be framed by the Governor, and shall not, jointly or severally, or in any way, be the holders of any railroad stock or bonds, or be the agent or employee of any railroad company, or have any interest in any way in any railroad, and shall so continue during the term of office; and in case any Commissioner becomes disqualified in any way, he shall at once remove the disqualification or resign, and on failure so to do, he must be suspended from office by the Governor, and dealt with as hereinafter provided. In any case of suspension the Governor may fill the vacancy until the suspended Commissioner is restored or removed.

SEC. II. That said Commissioners shall be furnished with an office, necessary furniture, and stationery, and may employ a secretary or clerk, at a salary of twelve hundred dollars, at the expense of the State. The office of said Commissioners shall be kept in Atlanta, and all sums of money authorized to be paid by this Act out of the State Treasury shall be paid only on the order of the Governor: Provided, that the total sum to be expended by said Commissioners for office rent, furniture, and stationery shall, in no case, exceed the sum of five hundred dollars ($500.00,) or so much thereof as may be necessary, per annum.

SEC. III. That from and after the passage of this Act, if any railroad corporation, organized or doing business in this State, under any Act of incorporation or general law of this State now in force, or which may hereafter be enacted, or any railroad corporation organized, or which may hereafter be organized, under the laws of any other State, and doing business in this State, shall charge, collect, demand, or receive more than a fair and reasonable rate of toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freight of any description, or for the use and transportation of any railroad-car upon its track, or any of its branches thereof, or upon any railroad within this State which it has the right, license, or permission to use, operate, or control, the same shall be deemed guilty of extortion,

and, upon conviction thereof, shall be dealt with as hereinafter provided.

SEC. IV. That if any railroad corporation as aforesaid shall make any unjust discrimination in its rates or charges of toll or compensation for the transportation of passengers or freights of any description, or for the use and transportation of any railroad-car upon its said road, or upon any of the branches thereof, or upon any railroads connected therewith, which it has the right, license, or permission to operate, control or use, within this State, the same shall be deemed guilty of having violated the provisions of this Act, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be dealt with as hereinafter provided.

SEC. V. That the Commissioners appointed as hereinbefore provided, shall, as provided in the next section of this Act, make reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs, to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State on the railroads thereof; shall make reasonable and just rules and regulations, to be observed by all railroad companies doing business in this State, as to charges at any and all points, for the necessary handling and delivering of freights; shall make such just and reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary for preventing unjust discriminations in the transportation of freight and passengers on the railroads in this State; shall make reasonable and just rates of charges for use of railroad-cars carrying any and all kinds of freight and passengers on said railroads, no matter by whom owned or carried; and shall make just and reasonable rules and regulations, to be observed by said railroad companies on said railroads, to prevent the giving or paying of any rebate or bonus, directly or indirectly, and from misleading or deceiving the public in any manner as to the real rates charged for freight and passengers: Provided, that nothing in this Act contained shall be taken as in any manner abridging or controlling the rates for freight charged by any railroad company in this State for carrying freight which comes from or goes beyond the boundaries of the State, and on

which freight less than local rates on any railroad carrying the same are charged by such railroad, but said railroad companies shall possess the same power and right to charge such rates for carrying such freights as they possessed before the passage of this Act; and said Commissioners shall have full power by rules and regulations to designate and fix the difference in rates of freight and passenger transportation, to be allowed for longer and shorter distances on the same or different railroads, and to ascertain what shall be the limits of longer and shorter distances.

SEC. VI. That the said Railroad Commissioners are hereby authorized and required to make for each of the railroad corporations doing business in this State, as soon as practicable, a schedule of just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars on each of said railroads; and said schedule shall, in suits brought against any such railroad corporations wherein is involved the charges of any such railroad corporation for the transportation of any passenger or freight or cars, or unjust discrimination in relation thereto, be deemed and taken in all courts of this State as sufficient evidence that the rates therein fixed are just and reasonable rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and freights and cars upon the railroads; and said Commissioners shall, from time to time, and as often as circumstances may require, change and revise said schedules. When any schedule shall have been made or revised, as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of said Commissioners to cause publication thereof to be made for four successive weeks in some public newspapers published in the cities of Atlanta, Augusta, Albany, Savannah, Macon, Rome, and Columbus, in this State; and after the same shall be so published, it shall be the duty of all such railroad companies to post, at all their respective stations, in a conspicuous place, a copy of said schedule for the protection of the people: Provided, that the schedules thus prepared shall not be taken as evidence, as herein provided, until schedules

shall have been prepared and published as aforesaid, for all the railroad companies now organized under the laws of this State, or that may be organized at the time of said publication. All such schedules purporting to be printed and published as aforesaid, shall be received and held in all such suits, as prima facie the schedules of said Commissioners, without further proof than the production of the schedules desired to be used as evidence, with a certificate of the Railroad Commission that the same is a true copy of the schedule prepared by them for the railroad company or corporation therein named, and that the same has been duly published as required by law, stating the name of the paper in which the same was published, together with the date and place of said publication.

SEC. VII. That it shall be the duty of said Commissioners to investigate the books and papers of all the railroad companies doing business in this State, to ascertain if the rules and regulations aforesaid have been complied with, and to make personal visitation of railroad offices, stations and other places of business for the purpose of examination, and to make rules and regulations concerning such examinations, which rules and regulations shall be observed and obeyed as other rules and regulations aforesaid; said Commissioners shall also have full power and authority to examine all agents and employees of said railroad companies and other persons, under oath or otherwise, in order to procure the necessary information, to make just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs, and to ascertain if such rules and regulations are observed or violated, and to make necessary and proper rules and regulations concerning such examination, and which rules and regulations herein provided for shall be obeyed and enforced as all other rules and regulations provided for in this Act.

SEC. VIII. That all contracts and agreements between railroad companies doing business in this State, as to rates of freight and passenger tariffs, shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and correction, that it may be seen

whether or not they are a violation of law or of the provisions of the Constitution, or of this Act, or of the rules and regulations of said Commissioners; and all arrangements and agreements whatever as to the division of earnings of any kind by competing railroad companies doing business in this State, shall be submitted to said Commissioners for inspection and approval, in so far as they affect rules and regulations made by said Commissioners, to secure to all persons doing business with said companies just and reasonable rates of freight and passenger tariffs; and said Commissioners may make such rules and regulations as to such contracts and agreements as may be then deemed necessary and proper, and any such agreements not approved by such Commissioners, or by virtue of which rates shall be charged exceeding the rates fixed for freight and passengers, shall be deemed, held, and taken to be, violations of article 4, section 1, paragraph 4 of the Constitution, and shall be illegal and void.

SEC. IX. That if any railroad company doing business in this State, by its agents or employees shall be guilty of a violation of the rules and regulations provided and prescribed by said Commissioners; and if, after due notice of such violation given to the principal officer thereof, ample and full recompense for the wrong or injury done thereby to any person or corporation, as may be directed by said Commissioners, shall not be made within thirty days from the time of such notice, such company shall incur a penalty for each offense of not less than one thousand dollars, nor more than five thousand dollars, to be fixed by the presiding Judge. An action for the recovery of such penalty shall lie in any county in the State where such violation has occurred, or wrong has been perpetrated, and shall be in the name of the State of Georgia. The Commissioners shall institute such action through the Attorney-General or Solicitor-General, whose fees shall be the same as now provided by law.

SEC. X.-That if any railroad company doing business in this