Commission might be conducted. This work, which is now practically completed, has been very exacting and has required much painstaking investigation. The life history of five thousand and twenty-six (5,026) corporations chartered from time to time by the Commonwealth has been thoroughly traced, with the result that one thousand four hundred and forty of them have been found to be still in existence and exercising powers which bring them within the scope of the Commission's authority.

Complaints and Inquiries:

The Commission has received during its brief career a large number, and great variety of complaints against carriers. These complaints have been lodged against railroad, street railway, telephone, telegraph and express companies, and have ranged from those respecting the sanitary condition of cars, claims for overcharge in freight and for property lost in transit to demands for increased passenger service, additional train stops, station facilities, and charges of discrimination in rates and shipping facilities. It is only necessary to say that, while many of the cases brought before the Commission for settlement have been seemingly unimportant as to the amount of money involved, yet the principles by which they are to be tested are of far reaching importance, and the causes considered touch most of the commercial and industrial interests of the State. (See complaints and proceedings thereon in Appendix "A.”)

Many of the cases presented have been disposed of satisfactorily by correspondence, and it has been possible to secure the adjustment of a number of them by the parties concerned with the advice and co-operation of the Commission. But, whenever either party has thought desirable or the Commission has regarded it advisable, a hearing of the parties in person or by counsel has been held.

In general, the cases have been concluded by a simple recommendation of the Commission but, where necessary in order to give a fair understanding of the case, that recommendation has been accompanied by a brief statement of the facts and findings, and in exceptional cases, by a formal opinion.

The recommendations made have met with quite prompt acquiescence and, in numerous cases, hearty commendation has been expressed to the Commission for its labors and conclusions. These marks of appreciation and the disposition to comply with our requests for information and the conforming to our rules of procedure have greatly encouraged and assisted us in our work.

The business conditions existing throughout the country during the past year have undoubtedly kept down the number of demands for the intervention of the Commission. All those classes of difficulties to which shippers and carriers are subjected in times of great business activity have been practically eliminated from the situa

tion, and the work of the Commission has been thereby benefited in that it was possible to devote much of its attention to organization. This state of business has been particularly evidenced by the entire absence of any complaints regarding car distribution. In preparing to meet this class of complaints the Commission has designated one of its members to serve on a Committee, consisting of a member of the Inter-state Commerce Commission and one representative of each State Railway or Public Service Commission, for the purpose of framing, if possible, a harmonious system of car-service rules to be applied to both state and interstate business. It is felt by the Commission that, while recent court decisions and rulings of the Interstate Commerce Commission have brought about considerable improvement in systems of car service throughout the country, a uniform system of reasonable regulations, simple enough to be easily understood by all shippers, is much to be desired.

A number of inquiries have been received by the Commission respecting the law on a variety of matters affecting common carriers and their patrons, and the method of procedure in order to obtain redress for alleged invasion of private rights, as well as for acts detrimental to the public welfare. These inquiries have been uniformly disposed of by giving the inquirer the information sought either in person or by means of correspondence.

Accounts and Reports: The Commission has been in frequent correspondence with the Interstate Commerce Commission with regard to forms of accounts and reports for all those carriers which are subject to the jurisdiction of both that Commission and this one, and is co-operating with that body in an endeavor to secure the adoption of forms which can be readily adapted to the needs of both Commissions.

It is our belief that the adoption of a system of accounting for the common carriers of this State which shall be uniform with that required by the Federal authorities and with that which is required by the Railroad Commissions of other States from their common carriers will carry with it great benefit to the public, whose money is invested in the securities of these corporations. It is confidently expected that the scheme of accounts and reports now in process of preparation, and shortly to be adopted by the Interstate Commerce Commission, can be used by this Commission without substantial change and with only such modifications as may be found necessary to confine the reports to the actual mileage and operations of common carriers in this State.

Street Railways: The street railway situation in the two largest cities of the Commonwealth has demanded and received considerable attention and the efforts of the Commission are now being directed

toward an examination and, if possible, an improvement of present conditions.

Pursuant to a resolution of the common council of the city of Pittsburgh and the request of the Mayor, a preliminary survey of the operating conditions on the street railways of that city has been made by a member of the Commission and, as a consequence thereof, a thorough examination of the situation there is now being prosecuted by experts employed by us. The street railway authorities have expressed and have thus far evidenced a willingness to aid the Commission in this investigation to the extent of their ability and to offer every facility at their command to expedite the work, and it is hoped that substantial benefit to the public service in Pittsburg may be the result.

The over-crowding of cars during rush hours and the consequent discomfort, inconvenience and delay of patrons is the burden of the Pittsburg complaint; and the physical limitations of the present layout are offered in defense by the Company.

In Philadelphia the same matters are complained of, and in addition thereto the re-arrangement of car schedules since the installation of service in the subway. Complaints have also been made against the recent alteration in transfer and exchange privileges in that city.

Complaints have also been received relative to the sanitary condition of street railway cars, especially those used in inter-urban service, and the number and variety of these complaints have induced the Commission to propose joint consideration and action by it with the State Department of Health, and this will shortly be undertaken. The rapid development of this class of common carriers in this State and the increased powers and privileges granted to them by recent legislation have introduced into the transportation facilities of the State new problems and in view thereof the operation and control of these suburban and inter-urban lines in a manner to best serve the territory in which they are located will doubtless be attended with some difficulty.

Such orders and recommendations as the Commission has already made affecting the operation of the Street Railways have been promptly complied with, and have seemed to meet the approval of the public.

Industrial Railroads: In the research prosecuted for the purpose of obtaining a list of all the common carriers subject to our jurisdiction, it has developed that there exist in the State-principally in and about industrial manufacturing and mining centers— many railroads, organized under our general railroad laws for the incorporation of railroads for public transportation of freight and

passengers, which, in reality, are nothing more than private switching lines, and which do and can do no general transportation business. Although in name common carriers and, as such, under obligtaion to do a general railroad business, they are, in the exercise of their franchises, nothing of the kind. Their organization under the general railroad laws was probably induced by the fact that connection of private lines with common carrier lines is prohibited by Section 7 of the Act of April 15th, 1851, and by the undesirable provisions of and restricted rights granted under the law relating to lateral railroads of May 5th, 1832. In some few instances the desire to exercise the right of eminent domain may also have dictated the course pursued in the incorporation; but in the majority of cases, these roads are constructed entirely upon ground belonging to the plants which they serve.

Excepting for the purpose of acquiring the right of connection with common carriers and the desire to exercise the right of eminent domain, no necessity whatever seems to exist for their incorporation; and it is an anomaly to incorporate roads for private use, having all the rights of common carriers, without the responsibility which public service demands.

It is thought by the Commission that the removal of the restric tion upon the right of private roads to connect with other railroads and the denial to all such roads of the right of eminent domain would either prevent their incorporation entirely or limit their rights to their proper purposes. As the matter now stands, these roads would be obliged and could be required to conduct a general railroad business, in case any demand for such service from them should arise, and their present and intended private use would thus be greatly interfered with, or practically destroyed.

Furthermore, in order to incorporate under the general railroad laws, with all the privileges those laws confer, all applications for charters should be required to contain a sworn statement that the road is, in good faith, intended to be constructed and operated for the public service and for the general transportation of passengers and freight.

Accidents: It was not until about the first of May, 1908, that the work of preparing forms and instructions for accident reports to be issued to and used by the various common carriers of the State was completed, but the Commission collected reports from all common carriers from January 1st, 1908, to that date, in addition to securing the current reports.

These reports are received daily, and when the injuries have proved fatal the information is telegraphed to the Commission in order to permit, if desired, a prompt investigation.

A summary of the accident reports received to December 31st, 1908, together with some interesting deductions therefrom, appears in Appendix "B."

It shows that 14,383 persons were injured on the lines or property of common carriers within the State of Pennsylvania during the year, and of this total 1,273 were fatally injured.

It was found that all accidents occurring within the State on the property of parlor and sleeping car companies were reported by the railroads over which such cars traveled. For this reason no attempt was made to secure reports direct from companies engaged in these operations.

Since the beginning of the taking of these reports a number of changes and improvements in the methods adopted by the Commission have suggested themselves and these will be put in force during the year beginning January 1st, 1909. With the purpose of collecting these reports with a minimum of expense and inconvenience to the reporting companies, and with the further purpose of securing uniformity all blanks for reports are furnished by the State.

One of the regulations adopted by the Commission in this connection was to exclude reports of accidents occurring in repair shops, construction shops, round-houses, car-barns and at other points not accessible to the public and not used in direct connection with the movement of passengers or freight.

All steam railroad accidents are tabulated under sixteen different classifications and the character of the persons injured is set forth separately under each, In tabulating accidents occurring on the lines of electric railways a slightly different classification is used. The results of these tabulations showing the number of persons killed and injured under each of the sixteen separate classes of accidents on each of the various steam and electric roads of the State will be found in Appendices "C" and "D."

In Appendix "E" will be found a list of the railroad and street railway companies in the State which have reported no accidents during the past year.

In taking reports of accidents the Commission has made a uniform practice of requiring the exact date and location of the accidents to be furnished, and such a description of the cause, attendant circumstances and nature of the accident as will enable the Commission to determine whether a more searching investigation is necessary.

During the year the Commission has made a special investigation of fourteen accidents; in eight of these cases a representative of the Commission has been sent to the scene of the accident for the purpose of making a thorough investigation of the circumstances and