maximum rates which, under present conditions, are clearly very much above what any railway company would think of charging, and prevents any statutory reduction as long as the net returns do not exceed fifteen per cent. Copies of rate schedules must be filed with the commission, and no changes are permitted except on ten days' notice for an advance and three days' notice for a reduction. It will be noticed that reductions cannot be made without giving previous notice. This is important. All other states not mentioned thus far have analogous laws on the subject of rates. Some of them do not provide as liberally as many of those which have been quoted, but all of them, in one way or another, cover the subject.

Access to Books.-In about one-half of the states legal provisions governing access to books of railway companies are not very stringent, and frequently do not go beyond the general statement that such books shall be open to officers, directors, and stockholders, or a certain number of them. Railway commissions or other state officers have no direct control over the records of companies.1

To illustrate the nature of legal provisions in the other group of states brief statements of laws governing access to books in them may here be

1 States falling into this group are Arizona Territory, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

introduced. In Alabama the commission shall examine books and records of a railway company on application of one director or representatives of one-fiftieth of the capital stock or of one-fiftieth of the total indebtedness. The results of this examination may or may not be published, discretionary power lying with the commission. A committee of the general assembly may investigate the books of Connecticut companies. In Massachusetts the commission shall examine books and papers on request of one director or the holders of one-fiftieth of the stock and bonds of the company. The commission of South Carolina may at any time examine the books, or on written. application of one director or of the holders of onefiftieth of the stock, bonds, etc., the commission shall make such examinations. In Texas the commission, a committee of the legislature, and three stockholders, and "any officer or agent of the state may examine books of railway companies." In states other than those mentioned commissions have access to books and records by law. These are Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, North Dakota, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Vermont.

Reference to the

Annual and Other Reports. sections on charters, as well as early general laws, will recall the fact that annual reports were frequently called for under the private as well as

public laws, and that such reports vary in their comprehensiveness not only among different states, but also among charters granted by the legislature of the same state. In some charters and laws such reports include only a half dozen or dozen items relating to mileage, capital stock, and bonds. In others, a hundred or more items were carefully prescribed and penalties imposed for noncompliance with the provisions of the charter or of the laws. The reports which are called for under existing statutes differ quite as widely as those made pursuant to early legislation. Typical provisions existing at the present time in the laws of those states which provide in a legal way for these needs can be illustrated by reference to the laws of the states here given. In Maine the commission prescribes the form for the annual report of railway companies which shall "be designed to produce uniformity" in the annual returns of all the railroads in New England. Similarly, in Massachusetts, an act of 1899 aims to bring the returns of railway companies into harmony with those of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Reports must be uniform, as prescribed by the commission, and quarterly financial statements shall be made. In New York railway companies make annual reports in forms prescribed by the commission, and the commission in turn makes its annual report. In Pennsylvania officers of railway companies are required to report annually to stockholders and at such other times as the legislature

may require. The law of 1897 orders the secretary of internal affairs to supply blanks for reports of railway companies, copies of which shall be sent to the government and members of the legislature. The bureau of railroads also keeps these reports on file. In Illinois railway directors are required to report annually to the auditor in the manner prescribed by law; also to the commission in a form embracing forty-one items. The commission is required to file and tabulate the reports of railways. The law of Iowa is similar to that of Illinois except that the annual report, as prescribed by the commission, contains only eleven items, and, instead of reporting to the auditor, "a detailed exhibit" of receipts, etc., shall be presented to the government.1

Twenty states have statutory provisions less definite and comprehensive in their scope, calling for reports to stockholders by boards of directors, or reports of railway officers to some state officer or officers, or to the legislature, or to two or more of all these.2

1 Other states calling for annual reports, more or less comprehensive, either to the commission or to some executive or administrative state officer, in forms prescribed by the commission, are Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

2 These states are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Issues of Stocks and Bonds. Many controversies have been waged over the question of the capital stock of our railways. A conservative student of the question has placed the capitalized value of the railways of the country at $60,000 per mile, and this he does not consider excessive nor appreciably above the real value of the plants as they exist at the present time. So far as state laws are concerned, it would be difficult to determine the truth of this matter on the basis of information railway companies have been obliged to furnish under the statutes. In Massachusetts an increase in capital stock or signs of indebtedness may be made only on authority of the commission before which such questions are determined on hearing. Ohio railways shall report to the commission the cost of the road, the amount of capital stock, indebtedness, etc. The aggregate indebtedness shall not exceed the capital stock. In Pennsylvania railway stock is limited to $150,000 per mile, bonds to the same amount, and the total of the stock, bonds, and other paper to $300,000 per mile. In Arkansas consolidated companies shall not cause the aggregate of their stocks and bonds to exceed the sum represented by constituent companies. By a majority vote of the stockholders the company may borrow, at seven per cent, an amount not greater than the total capital stock. In Colorado all stock shall represent labor, services, money, and property; the same shall be increased only under general law and by a majority vote of the stock