pliance with the law prohibiting the practice of using hand brakes to control the speed of trains had not yet been secured.

By the act of March 4, 1907 (34 Stat. L., 1415), as amended by the act of May 4, 1916 (39 Stat. L., 61), " An Act To promote the safety of employees and travelers upon railroads by limiting the hours of service of employees thereon," it was made unlawful (except in case of casualty, unavoidable accidents, etc.) for common carriers subject to the act to require or permit train service employees to be or remain on duty for a longer period than sixteen consecutive hours. A rest period of at least ten consecutive hours is required after continuous service for sixteen hours. No employee who has been on duty sixteen hours in the aggregate in any twenty-four hour period may be required to go on duty without having had at least eight consecutive hours off duty. The commission is directed to lodge with the proper district attorney information of any such violations as may come to its knowledge and to execute and enforce the provisions of the act.

An exception is made in the case of train dispatchers or operators, who may be employed nine hours in any twenty-four-hour period in offices operated night and day continuously, and thirteen hours in offices operated only during the daytime, except in case of emergency when an additional four hours service may be permitted in a twenty-four-hour period or not exceeding three days in any week.

As already explained, the method of administration adopted by the commission in the execution of this law, is the requirement that carriers make monthly reports of violations and causes thereof under oath. The law, however, is still subject to judicial examination and interpretation, and the commission has recommended an amendment to clarify the so-called "release" situation. By this amendment the law would require all service of employees subject to the act to be construed as continuous service, except that if an employee should be given a release from duty for a definite period of not less than three hours and under such circumstances that proper facilities and opportunities were afforded for securing rest during that period, the continuity of service would be considered broken.

During the fiscal year 1921 sixty-seven cases of violation of the Hours-of-Service Act, involving 739 counts, were transmitted to

tions for the conduct of the office and f district inspectors be approved by the In mission before they take effect, and it is inspectors shall be appointed by the cor of the Civil Service Commission govern The Chief Inspector is required to make commission. The law authorizes the com hearing, the rules and instructions of inspection of its locomotives and to mak may deem proper. Thereafter those rule obligatory upon the carriers. In the eve to file this information, the Chief Inspe up such rules and instructions, which commission before becoming obligatory changes from the rules first approved approved by the commission. The comm of appeal from the decisions of the dist quently the Chief Inspector, in regard to tives on the ground of their defective of their use till repaired. In the event poor condition of a locomotive resulting death of one or more persons, the com call upon the Chief Inspector for a repo

may issue a report stating cause of the accident and making recommendations.

The commission, under the above law, publishes annually the report of the Chief Inspector, showing the number of locomotives inspected, the number found defective, the percentage of inspected found defective, the number ordered out of service, the number of accidents reported and investigated covering failures of all parts and appurtenances of the entire locomotive and tender, and the numbers killed and injured thereby, etc.

At the present time the commission reports difficulty in performing the work of locomotive inspection as required by the amendment of March 4, 1915, with a force meant originally to deal with the inspection of boilers only.

Administration of Medals-of-Honor Act. In an attempt to promote the security of travel upon railroads engaged in interstate commerce, Congress authorized the President to bestow medals and insignia for life-saving upon railroads by the act of February 23, 1905 (33 Stat. L., 743). Under the regulations of the President of March 29, 1905 and April 22, 1913, the commission is named as the agency for the receipt of applications for the medals, and it is directed to cause designs to be prepared of the medals, rosettes, and ribbon provided for in the act, to be submitted to the President for his approval.

A committee, consisting of the Secretary of the Commission, the Chief Inspector of Safety Appliances, and the Assistant Chief Inspector, is established for consideration of applications for the medals and for making recommendation to be submitted to the President. Upon approval of the committee's recommendation by the President, the commission is directed to take such measures to carry the recommendation into effect as the President may direct.

"By-Product" Activities. Several activities have been assigned to the commission which do not regularly pertain to its functions but represent in the main a by-product utilization of the commission's accumulated fund of information on the railroad problem. At present these activities are conducted pursuant mainly to certain provisions of the Clayton Antitrust Act, the railway mail service pay and parcel post provisions of the Post Office appropria

tion acts, the Standard Time Act, and the Merchant Marine Act, 1920.

The Clayton Act. Section 10 of the act of October 15, 1914 (38 Stat. L., 730), provides

After two years from the approval of this act no common carrier engaged in commerce shall have any dealings in securities, supplies, or other articles of commerce, or shall make or have any contracts for construction or maintenance of any kind to the amount of more than $50,000 in the aggregate in any one year with another corporation, firm, partnership, or association, when the said common carrier shall have upon its board of directors or as its president, manager, or as its purchasing or selling officers, or agent in the particular transaction, any person who is at the same time a director, manager, or purchasing or selling officer of, or who has any substantial interest in, such other corporation, firm, partnership, or association, unless and except such purchases shall be made from, or such dealings shall be with, the bidder whose bid is the most favorable to such common carrier, to be ascertained by competitive bidding under regulations to be prescribed by rule or otherwise by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

The act further provides that "whenever the commission after investigation or hearing has reason to believe that the law has been violated in such transactions it shall transmit all papers and documents and its own views or findings regarding the transaction to the Attorney General." Authority to enforce compliance with Sections 2, 3, 7, and 8 of the act is vested in the Interstate Commerce Commission in cases in which the law is applicable to common carriers. By various joint resolutions (39 Stat. L., 674, 1201; 40 Stat. L., 431) Congress deferred the effective date until January 1, 1919, and by Section 501 of the Transportation Act further extended the effective date to January 1, 1921, but these extensions do not apply to corporations organized after January 12, 1918. The commission has already prepared the regulations after making investigations and holding hearings, and has served them upon the carriers subject to the Interstate Commerce Act and the Clayton Act.

In this connection may be noted also the provision in Paragraph 12 of Section 20a of the act relating to interlocking directorates.

After December 31, 1921, it is made unlawful for any person to hold the position of officer or director of more than one carrier, unless authorized by order of the commission, after due showing, in form and manner prescribed by it, that neither public nor private interests will be thereby adversely affected.'

Railway Mail Pay. The Post Office Department appropriation acts of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat. L., 558), and July 28, 1916 (39 Stat. L., 412), require the commission's approval, after thorough investigation, and independent consideration, of any proposal of the Postmaster General to change the weight limit, rates of postage, or zoning system of the parcel post in order to promote the service to the public or insure the receipt of revenue from the service sufficient to pay its cost.

By the last named act the commission is authorized to approve the classifications and tariffs for conveyance of mails under special arrangement in freight trains and to determine postal carload or less-than-carload rates for transportation of mail matter of the fourth class and periodicals. This act also empowers and directs the commission

to fix and determine from time to time the fair and reasonable rates and compensation for the transportation of such mail matter by railway common carriers and the service connected therewith, prescribing the method or methods by weight, or space, or both, or otherwise, for ascertaining such rate or compensation, and to publish the same, and orders so made and published shall continue in force until changed by the Commission after due notice and hearing.

In fixing and determining the fair and reasonable rates for such service the commission shall consider the relation existing between the railroads as public service corporations and the government, and the nature of such service as distinguished, if there be a distinction, from the ordinary transportation business of the railroads.

In order to secure the information upon which to determine the cost of the mail service performed by the railroads, a comprehensive statistical inquiry was conducted in the period March

"Certain powers of the Commission under the Panama Canal Act to prevent restraint of competition between rail and water carriers, should also be considered in this connection.