Chapter 772. supplementary to the act of July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, entitled “An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes.” and also o
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CHAP. 772.— An Act supplementary to the act of July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, entitled “An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes.” and also of the act of July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and other acts amendatory of said first-named act.August 7, 1888. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Subsidized railroad companies to maintain telegraph lines.Vol. 12, p. 489.Vol. 13, p. 356.
That all railroad and telegraph companies to which the United States has granted any subsidy in lands or bonds or loan of credit for the construction of either railroad or telegraph lines, which, by the acts incorporating 383 them, or by any act amendatory or supplementary thereto, are required to construct, maintain, or operate telegraph lines, and all companies engaged in operating said railroad or telegraph lines shall forthwith and henceforward, by and through their own respective corporate officers and employees, maintain, and operate, for railroad, Governmental, commercial, and all other purposes, telegraph lines, and exercise by themselves alone all the telegraph franchises conferred upon them and obligations assumed by them under the acts making the grants as aforesaid.
Sec. 2. That whenever any telegraph company which shall haveEqual facilities to be given to connectingR. S., Title LXV. p. 1019. accepted the provisions of title sixty-five of the Revised Statutes shall extend its line to any station or office of a telegraph line belonging to any one of said railroad or telegraph companies, referred to in the first section of this act, said telegraph company so extending its line shall have the right and said railroad or telegraph company shall allow the line of said telegraph company so extending its line to connect with the telegraph line of said railroad or telegraph company to which it is extended at the place where their lines may meet, for the prompt and convenient interchange of telegraph business between said companies; and such railroad and telegraph companies, referred to in the first section of this act, shall so operate their respective telegraph lines as to afford equal facilities to all, without discrimination in favor of or against any person, company, or corporation whatever, and shall receive, deliver, and exchange business with connecting telegraph lines on equal terms, and affording equal facilities, and without discrimination for or against any one of such connecting lines; and such exchange of business shall be on terms just and equitable.
Sec. 3. That if any such railroad or telegraph company referred toInterstate Commerce Commission to compel compliance. in the first section of this act, or company operating such railroad or telegraph line shall refuse or fail, in whole or in part, to maintain. and operate a telegraph line as provided in this act and acts to which this is supplementary, for the use of the Government or the public, for commercial and other purposes, without discrimination, or shall refuse or fail to make or continue such arrangements for the interchange of business with any connecting telegraph company, then any person, company, corporation, or connecting telegraph company may apply tor relief to the Interstate Commerce Commission, whose duty it shall thereupon be, under such rules and regulations as said Commission may prescribe, to ascertain the facts, and determine and order what arrangement is proper to be made in the particular case, and the railroad or telegraph company concerned shall abide by and perform such order: and it shall be the duty of the Interstate Commerce Commission, when such determination and order are made, to notify the parties concerned, and, if necessary, enforce the same by writ of mandamus in the courts of the United States, in the name of the United States, at the relation of either of said Intel state Commerce Commissioners: *Provided*, That the said*Proviso*.Investigations.
Commissioners may institute any inquiry, upon their own motion, in the same manner and to the same effect as though complaint had been made. Sec. 4. That in order to secure and preserve to the United States theAttorney-General to prevent interference with rights of Government. full value and benefit of its liens upon all the telegraph lines required to be constructed by and lawfully belonging to said railroad and telegraph companies referred to in the first section of this act, and to have the same possessed, used, and operated in conformity with the provisions of this act and of the several acts to which this act is supplementary, it is hereby made the duty of the Attorney-General of the United States, by proper proceedings, to prevent any unlawful interference with the rights and equities of the United States under this act. and under the acts herein before mentioned, and under all acts of Congress relating to such railroads and telegraph lines, 384 and to have legally ascertained and finally adjudicated all alleged rights of all persons and corporations whatever claiming in any manner any control or interest of any kind in any telegraph lines or property, or exclusive rights of way upon the lands of said railroad companies, or any of them, and to have all contracts and provisions of contracts set aside and annulled which have been unlawfully and beyond their powers entered into by said railroad or telegraph companies, or any of them, with any other person, company, or corporation.
Sec. 5. That any officer or agent of said railroad or telegraphPunishment for refusing to obey law, etc. companies, or of any company operating the railroads and telegraph lines of said companies, who shall refuse or fail to operate the telegraph lines of said railroad or telegraph companies under his control, or which he is engaged in operating, in the manner directed in this act and by the acts to which it is supplementary, or who shall refuse or fail, in such operation and use. to afford and secure to the Government and the public equal facilities, or to secure to each of said connecting telegraph lines equal advantages and facilities in the interchange of business, as herein provided for. without any discrimination whatever for or adverse to the telegraph line of any or either of said connecting companies, or shall refuse to abide by. or perform and carry out within a reasonable time the order or orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission, shall in every such case of refusal or failure be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof. shall in every such case be fined in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, and may be imprisoned not less than six months: and in every. such case of refusal or failure the party aggrieved may not only cause the Actions for damages.officer or agent guilty thereof to be prosecuted under the provisions of this section, but may also bring an action for the damages sustained thereby against the company whose officer or agent may be guilty thereof, in the circuit or district court of the United States in any State or Territory in which any portion of the road or telegraph line of said company may be situated; and in case of suit processProcess.Contracts, etc., to be filed with Interstate Commerce Commission. may be served upon any agent of the company found in such State or Territory, and such service shall be held by the court good and sufficient.
Sec. 6. That it shall be the duty of each and every one of the aforesaid railroad and telegraph companies, within sixty days from and after 1 he passage of this act, to tile with the Interstate Commerce Commission copies of all contracts and agreements of every description existing between it and every other person or corporation whatsoever in reference to the ownership, possession, maintenance, control, use. or operation of any telegraph lines, or property over or upon its rights of way. and also a report describing with sufficient certainty the telegraph lines and property belonging to it, and the manner in which the same are being then used and operated by it. and the telegraph lines and property upon its right of way in which any other person or corporation claims to have a title or interest, and setting forth the grounds of such claim, and the manner in which the same are being then used and operated: and it shall be the duty of each and every one of said railroad and telegraph companies annually hereafter to report to Reports.the Interstate Commerce Commission, with reasonable fullness and certainty, the nature, extent, value, and condition of the telegraph lines and property then belonging to it, the gross earnings, and all expenses of maintenance, use. and operation thereof, and its relation and business with all connecting telegraph companies during the preceding year, at such time and in such manner as may be required by a system of reports which said commission shall prescribe; and if any of said railroad or telegraph companies shall Penalty for failure.refuse or fail to make such reports or any report as may be called for by said Commission, or refuse to submit its books and records for 385 inspection, such neglect or refusal shall operate as a forfeiture, in each ease of such neglect or refusal, of a sum not less than one thousand dollars nor more than live thousand dollars, to be recovered by the Attorney-General of the United States, in the name and for the use and benefit of the United States; and it shall be the duty of the Interstate Commerce Commission to inform the Attorney-General of all such cases of neglect or refusal, whose duty it shall be to proceed at once to judicially enforce the forfeitures hereinbefore provided.
Sec. 7. That nothing in this act shall be construed to affect orAmendment, etc. impair the right of Congress, at any time hereafter, to alter, amend, or repeal the said acts hereinbefore mentioned; and this act shall be subject to alteration, amendment, or repeal as, in the opinion of Congress, justice or the public welfare may require; and nothing herein contained shall be held to deny, exclude, or impair any right or remedy in the premises now existing in the United States, or any authority that the Postmaster-General now has under title sixty-fiveR.
S. Title LXV. p. 1010. of the Revised Statutes to fix rates, or, of the Government, to purchase lines as provided under said title, or to have its messages given precedence in transmission. Approved, August 7, 1888.