Chap. 147.—An ACT to put,into effective operation the provisions of the Consti-
tution relating to the creation, appointment and organization of the “State Cor-
poration Commission,” its jurisdiction, powers, functions and duties; the quali-
fication of the members and officers thereof, their appointment and salaries; the
location of its offices, and places and times of its public sessions; its writs,
processes, orders, findings and judgments; appeals from its orders, findings and
judgments, ana its expenses, etc.

Approved April 15, 1903.

Be it enacted bv the general assemblv of Virginia as follows:

1. That as used in this act the term “corporation” or “company” shall
include all corporations chartered by the acts of the general assembly of
Virginia, or under the general incorporation laws of this State, or doing
business therein, and all trusts, associations, and joint-stock companies,
having any powers or privileges not possessed by individuals or unlimited
partnerships, and shall exclude all municipal corporations and public in-
:titutions owned or controlled bv the State; the term “charter” shall be
construed to mean a charter of incorporation by or under which any such
corporation is formed; the term “transportation company” shall include
any company, trustee, or other person owning, leasing, or operating for
hire, a railroad, street railway, canal, steamboat, or steamship lines, also
any freight-car company, car association or car trust, express company,
or company, trustee, or person in any way engaged in business as a com-
mon carrier over a route acquired, in whole or in part, under the right of
eminent domain; the term “transmission company” shall include any
company owning, leasing, or operating for hire, any telegraph or tele-
phone line; the term “public service corporation” shall include all trans-
portation and transmission companies, all gas, electric light, heat, and
power companies, and all persons authorized to exercise the right of emi-
nent domain, or to use or occupy any street, allev, or public highway,
whether along, over, or under the same, in a manner not permitted to the
general public; the term “person” as used in this act shall include indi-
viduals, partnerships, and corporations, in the singular as well as in the
plural number; the term “the commission” shall be construed to mear
the “State Corporation Commission,” and the word “officers,” when us.
in connection with said commission, shall be construed to mean any clerk.
bailiff, assistant, or other appointee of the State Corporation Commissior.

2. That the governor shall, at least fifteen days before the first day o/
February, nineteen hundred and four, and at least fifteen days before the
first day of February in each alternate year thereafter, appoint, subject
to the confirmation of the general assembly, in joint session, a citizen of
this State, possessing the qualifications prescribed by the Constitutior
and by law to be a member of the “State Corporation Commission”
(which shall be composed of three members), and whose term of of—«
shall be that prescribed by the Constitution, and shall begin on the fint
day of February next succeeding his appointment and confirmation, ex-
cept in the case of an appointee to fill a vacancy, or where the general
assembly fails to confirm an appointee to a full term of office before th:
date fixed by law for the commencement of his said term of office; ix
either case the term of office of any such appointee shall begin from the
date of nis qualification, and shall be for the unexpired portion of the
term of office to which he shall be so appointed and confirmed. The men-
bers of the commission first appointed and confirmed, and those hereafter
appointed and confirmed, shall hold office for the respective terms for
which they have been, or may hereafter be, appointed, and until their re
spective successors in office have been appointed, confirmed, and qualified.
unless they shall sooner be removed from office as prescribed by the Con-
stitution or by law. The governor shall commission each of the members
of the commission, and said commission shall be filed by the members in
the office of the clerk of the commission.

8. That no person shall be eligible to serve as a member of the State
Corporation Commission who, on the date of the commencement of hi:
term of office, shall be employed by or hold any office in relation to anr
transportation or transmission company, or is in any way financially in-
terested therein, or is engaged in the practice of law; nor shall any per-
son be eligible to appointment as a member of the commission unless at
the time of his appointment he is a qualified voter under the Constitution
and laws of this State. One of the commissioners shall have the qualii-
cations prescribed for judges of the supreme court of appeals.

_4, That the members of the commission and the officers thereof, for
whose appointment provision is made either by the Constitution or by lat.
before entering upon the discharge of the duties of their respective offices.
shall, in addition to the oath prescribed by section thirty-four of the
Constitution, severally take and subscribe the following oath, to-wit:

“T, , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that at the present time IJ
am not employed by, and do not hold any office in relation to, any trans
portation or transmission company, and have not in any wise any finan-
cial interest in anv such company, and am not engaged in the practice of
law, and that during the term of my office as I will not either.
directly or indirectly, be employed by or hold any office in relation to anv ,
transportation or transmission company, or in any wise be financially in-

terested in any such company, or be engaged in the practice of law, so
help me God.”

But the said additional oath shall be taken and subscribed by the first
members of the commission and by the officers thereof as soon as practi-
cable after the passage of this act.

The oaths prescribed by the Constitution and this act may be taken and
subscribed before any officer authorized by the laws of this State to ad-
minister oaths, and shall be certified by such officer and recorded on the
minutes of the proceedings of the commission, and then returned by its
clerk as required by law as to the oaths of other State officers.

5. That the offices of the commission shall be located, and its public
sessions held, in the city of Richmond, and all notices, writs, and pro-
cesses issued by the commission shall be made returnable to, and con»
mand the corporation or person against whom directed to appear before
the commission and answer on a certain day to be named therein: pro-
vided, however, the commission may, in its discretion, if public necessity
or the convenience of the parties require, hold public sessions elsewhere
in the State, and may order any notice, writ, or process to be made re-
turnable to the place of any such session; and for the holding of any
such session the commission may occupy the court-room of the court-
house of the city or county wherein such session may be held if said court-
room shall not at the time be in use for the sessions of the court of any
such city or county.

6. That the rooms in the State library building now occupied as offices
by the railroad commissioner shall be the offices of the commission, its
clerk, bailiff, assistants, and: subordinates until otherwise provided by
law, and the register of the land office is hereby directed to have the said
rooms fitted up in a suitable manner for the use and occupation of the
commission and its officers. And the sum of five hundred dollars, or so
much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated for that pur-

e out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

%. That the commission shall have a clerk, a first assistant clerk, a
bailiff, and a stenographer (who shal] also be a typewriter), each of whom
shall have the qualifications for office, be clothed with the power, discharge
the functions and perform all the duties hereinafter prescribed, and such
other dutics as may be prescribed or required by the commission, and all
of whom shall be appointed by the commission, and whose respective
terms of office shall be as prescribed by the commission, and they shall be
subject to removal by the commission as hereinafter in this act provided.
The officers so appointed shall hold office until their successors have
been appointed, qualified, and given bond as required by law, unless they
shall sooner be removed from office, as hereinafter provided.

8. That the officers of the commission shall at the time of their appoint-
ment be actual residents of this State, and qualified voters therein, under
the Constitution and laws thereof.

9.. That the persons appointed, confirmed, and commissioned to be the
first members of the commission under the provisions of section one hun-
dred and fifty-five of the Constitution shall, as soon as practicable, meet
in the office now used by the railroad commissioner and organize by taking
and subscribing the oaths of office prescribed by the Constitution and by
this act, and elect one of their number as chairman of the commission,
appoint a clerk, a first assistant clerk, a bailiff, and: a stenographer; and
when organized fhe commission shall have all the powers, discharge all the
functions, and perform all the duties prescribed by the Constitution and
by law.

10. That if any person heretofore or hereafter appointed and con-
firmed to be a member of the commission, or if any person appointed an
oflicer of the commission, shall fail to qualify as required by the Consti-
tution or by law, or to give any bond required by law of any such officer
within thirty days after the date fixed by the Constitution or by law, as the
commencement of the term of office to which he shall be appointed, then
such office shall because of such failure to qualify, or to give any required
bond within the time aforesaid, become vacant, and such vacancy shall, in
the case of members of the commission, be filled as prescribed by section
one hundred and fifty-five of the Constitution, and in the case of officers
and appointees of the commission, be filled by appointment of the com-
mission.

11. That the clerk of the commission shall keep a minute book in
which shall be recorded all the proceedings, orders, findings, and judg-
ments of the public sessions of the commission, and the minutes of the
proceedings of each day’s public session shall be read and approved by the
commission and signed by its chairman, or acting chairman; he shall,
subject to the supervision and control of the commission, have custody of
and preserve all of the records, documents, papers, and: files of the com-
mission, or which may be filed before it in any complaint, proceeding, con-
test or controversy, and said records, documents, papers, and files shall be
open to public examination in the office of said clerk to the same extent
as the records and files of the courts of this Commonwealth; he shall,
when requested, make and certify copies from any record, document,
paper, or file in his office, and if required, affix the seal of the commission
thereto, and except when made at the instance of the commission or on
behalf of the Commonwealth, he shall charge and collect the same fees as
are fixed by law for like services rendered by the clerks of the courts of this
Commonwealth, and any such copy, so certified, shall have the same faith,
credit, and legal effect as copies made and certified by the clerks of the
courts of this Commonwealth from the records and files thereof; he shall
certify all allowances made by the commission to be paid out of the public
treasury for witness fees, service of process, or other expenses; issue all
notices, writs, processes or orders awarded by the commission, or author-
ized by law, or by the rules of the commission; he shall receive all fines
and penalties imposed by the commission, all moneys collected on judg-
ments, all registration fees required by law to be paid by corporations, all
fees collected by any officer of the commission, and the tax on the seal of
the commission, and shall keep an accurate account of the same and what
disposition has been made thereof, together with all fees collected by him
for services rendered, either by him or his assistants, and shall, at least
once in every thirty davs during his term of office, render a statement of
all such receipts and collections to the auditor of public accounts, and pay
the same into the treasury of the Commonwealth, and shall keep all such
other accounts of such collections and disbursements, and shall make all
such other reports thereof as may be required by law or by the regulations
prescribed by the auditor of public accounts; and generally shall have the
powers, discharge the functions, and perform the duties of a clerk of a
court of record in all matters within the jurisdiction of the commission.
12. That the first assistant clerk of the commission shall have the pow-
ers, discharge the functions, and perform the dutics in all matters within
the jurisdiction of the commission of a deputy clerk of a court of record,
and shall perform as well the duties of the clerk of the commission
during the absence of said clerk, and in case of the death, resignation, in-
capacity, or removal from office of the clerk, he shall be the acting clerk
of the commission until the vacancy in the office of clerk shall be filled.

13. That the bailiff of the commission shall, in all matters within the
jurisdiction of the commission, have the powers, discharge the functions,
and perform the duties of a sheriff or sergeant under the law; he shall
preserve order during the public sessions of the commission, and may make
arrests and serve and make return on any writ or process awarded by the
commission, and execute any writ, order, or process of execution awarded
upon the findings or judgments of the commission in any matter within
its Jurisdiction.

14, The stenographer and other assistants and subordinates of the
commission shall perform the duties required of them by law or by the
commission, under its rules, regulations, and requirements.

15. The commission shall require its clerk, first assistant clerk, and
bailiff, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of their respective
offices, each to enter into bond, with surety to be approved by the com-
mission, in such penalty as the commission may deem sufficient (not in
any case less than five thousand dollars), conditioned for the faithful
performance of the duties of their respective offices, and for the prompt
and full accounting for and payment into the treasury of all moneys
received by them, respectively, as officers of the commission. The said
bonds shall be made payable to the Commonwealth, and may be pro-
ceeded on and enforced in any circuit or corporation court in like man-
ner as the official bonds of other officers of this Commonwealth, or of its
courts. Said bonds shall be recorded in the record of the proceedings of
the commission, and the original bonds transmitted by its clerk to the
auditor of public accounts, who shall file and preserve the same in his
office.

16. The commission shall have power and authority to require, by its
rules, regulations, and requirements, all corporations chartered under the
laws of this State, and all foreign corporations, doing business in this
State, to perform and discharge any public duty or requirement imposed
upon such corporations by the Constitution, or by law, and may require
all such corporations to furnish such reports to the commission as may
be provided by the Constitution, or by law, and the commission may
enforce against any such corporation, by its judgments and processes,
any fine or other penalty imposed by law for the failure of any such cor-
poration to perform any public duty required of it, or to comply with
any requirement of law, or any lawful regulation of the commission in
reference to the same. The commission may require the establishment by
transportation companies of separate waiting rooms at all stations.
wharves, or landings for the white and colored races.

17. It shall be the duty of the commission to make inquiry and exami-

nation from time to time into the acts and proceedings of railroad, canal.
steamboat, steamship, or other transportation companies, and other char.
tered common carriers and transmission companies, doing business in
this State, their officers and agents, for the purpose of ascertaining
whether anything has been done or omitted in violation or contravention
of their charters, or of the law.

18. The commission shall examine all the railroads and the works and
equipment thereof, and the works and equipment of all other transporta-
tion companies, and keep itself informed as to their physical condition
and the manner in which they are operating with reference to the secu-
rity and accommodation of the public, and the compliance of the several]
companies with the provisions of their charters and the laws of the Com-
monwealth. And the provisions of this section shall apply to all rail-
roads and other transportation companies, and to the corporations, trus-
tees, receivers, or other person owning or operating the same.

19. Whenever, in the judgment of the commission, it shall appear that
any transportation or transmission company has violated any law of this
State, or has neglected in any respect or particular to comply with the
terms of its charter, or with the provision of any of the laws of the Com-
monwealth, it shall give notice thereof in writing to such company or the
person operating the same; and if the violation or neglect be continued
after such notice, the commission shall take such proceedings and im-
pose such fines or penalties within its jurisdiction as shall be necessary to
compel such transportation or transmission company to comply with the
terms of its charter and the provisions of the laws of the Commonwealth.

20. Whenever in the judgment of the commission it shall appear that
repairs are necessary upon any railroad, or that any addition to its roll-
ing stock, or addition or improvement in the equipment of any other
transportation line, or any enlargement of or improvement in the sta-
tions or station houses, waiting rooms, wharves or landings, or any
change in the mode of operating the road, or other transportation line,
and conducting its business, is reasonable and expedient in order to pro-
mote the security and accommodation of the public, it shall give ten days’
notice in writing to the company or person operating the road, or other
transportation line, of the improvements and changes which it adjudges
to be proper, designating when and where the contemplated action in the
premises will be considered and disposed of, and such company or person
shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to introduce witnesses and to be
heard thereon, and any such company or person failing or refusing to
obey any valid order or requirement of the commission in the premises
within such reasonable time, not less than ten days, as shall be fixed in
the order of the commission, it may impose upon any such company or
person the fines and penalties prescribed by the Constitution and by law
for its or his failure to obev the orders and requirements of the commis-
sion and the requirements of the law, and enforce the payment and col-
lection thereof by its judgments and processes.

21. Upon the complaint and application of the mayor or council of any
city or town, or the board of supervisors of any county within which any
part of any transportation or transmission line is located, it shall be the
duty of the commission to make an examination of the physical condi-
tion and operation thereof. Before proceeding to make such examina-
tion in accordance with such application, the commission shall give to the
applicants and the corporation or person operating any such line reason-
able notice in writing, of the time and place of entering upon the same.
If upon such examination it shall appear to the commission that the com-
plaint alleged by the applicant is well founded, it shall so adjudge and
shall notify such corporation or person of its adjudication; and if such
corporation or person fail for sixty days after such notification to remove
the cause of complaint, the commission shall impose the fines and penal-
ties provided by the Constitution and by law for its failure to obey the
orders and requirements of the commission, and enforce the collection
thereof by its judgments and processes.

22. That in all complaints, proceedings, contests, or controversies by
or before the commission, whether instituted by the Commonwealth or by
the commission of its own motion, the Commonwealth shall be complain-
ant, and the party against whom the complaint is preferred, or the pro-
ceeding instituted, shall be the defendant. Any party complainant or
defendant in any complaint, proceeding, contest or controversy shall be
entitled to process, to convene parties, compel the attendance of witnesses,
or the production of books and papers, in any proceeding or hearing be-
fore the commission.

23. That the commission, on hearing of all complaints, proceedings,
contests, or controversies, in which it shall be called upon to decide or
render judgment in its capacity as a court of record, shall observe and
administer the common and statute law rules of evidence as observed and
administered by the courts of this Commonwealth, in like manner as com-

lainants and defendants in the courts of this Commonwealth.

24. That any person who shall wilfully swear falsely touching any
material fact or matter in any complaint, proceeding, investigation, con-
test or controversy instituted or pending before the commission shall be
deemed guilty of perjury.

25. That the commission shall cause its rules of order and procedure
to be entered upon the records of its proceedings and to be printed, as
well as all amendments and additions to the same, and shall furnish
copies thereof to county and city clerks and to any citizen of this State
upon application therefor.

26. That the commission, before entering any judgment for any fine
or penalty imposed by law shall summon or rule the party upon whom
such fine or penalty is sought to be imposed to appear before the com-
mission at some public session to be designated in the process, to show
cause against such fine or penalty, and why the same should not be im-
posed and judgment rendered therefor: provided, that the provisions of
this section shall not apply to contempts committed in the presence of the
commission while in public session; and before the commission shall
make any order, rule, regulation, or requirement directed against any one
or more companies by name, the company or companies to be affected by
such order, rule, regulation, or requirement shall first be given by the
comniission at least ten davs’ notice of the time and place when and where
the contemplated action of the commission in the premises will be con-
sidered and disposed of, and shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity
to introduce evidence and to be heard thereon, to the end that justice may
be done; and before the commission shall make or prescribe any general
order, rule, regulation, or requirement, not directed against any specific
company or companies by name, the contemplated general order, rule,
regulation, or requirement shall first be published in substance, not less
than once a week for four consecutive w ceks, In one or more newspapers
of general circulation published in the city of Richmond, Virginia, to-
gether with notice of the time and place when and where the commission
will hear any objections which may be urged by any person interested,
against the proposed order, rule, regulation, or requirement; and every
such general order, rule, regulation, or requirement made by the com-
mission shall be published at length for the time and in the manner
above specified before it shall go into effect, and shall also, as long as it
remains in effect, be published j in each subsequent report of the commis-
sion. Any corporation failing or refusing to obey any valid order or re-
quirement of the commission within such reasonable time, not less than
ten days, as shall be fixed in the order, may be fined by the commission
such sum, not execeding five hundred dollars, as the commission may deem
proper, or in such sum in excess of five hundred dollars as may be pre
scribed or authorized by law; and each day’s continuance of such failure
or refusal after due service upon such corporation of the order or require-
ment of the commission shall be a separate offense: provided, that should
the operation of such order or requirement be suspended pending an
appeal therefrom, the period of such suspension shall not be computed
against the company in the matter of its liability to fines or penalties:
provided, further, that the power of the commission to impose the penal-
ties prescribed by the Constitution, or by the law, for the failure or re
fusal of any corporation to obey its valid orders and requirements, shall
not be construed to relieve any company or corporation from the penalties
now prescribed or hereafter to be prescribed by law for the failure or re
fusal of any such company or corporation to perform any public duty or
requirement prescribed, or which may be prescribed by any law of this
State, but that such penalties may be enforced by the commission in addi-
tion to the penalties authorized to be imposed by the Constitution and by
law for failure or refusal to obey any of its valid orders or requirements.
27. The commission shall have power and authority in all matters of
which it has jurisdiction under the Constitution, or the laws of this Com-
monwealth, to render and enter up judgment for fines and penalties, or
for the recovery of money, in any complaint, proceeding, contest, or con-
troversy, whether instituted of its own motion or otherwise, and to issue
process of execution thereon, which may be levied and executed in like
manner as executions awarded and issued upon the judgments or decrees
of the courts of Jaw or equity of this Commonwealth. All judgments of
the commission for fines or penalties, for contempt, or for the violation
of any provision of the Constitution, or the laws of this State, or for the
failure or refusal of any corporation to obey and observe the lawful rules,
regulations, or orders of the commission, shall be entered up in favor of
the Commonwealth, and when coilccted shall be paid by the clerk of the
commission into the treasury, as hereinbefore provided.

28. The commission shall have powers and jurisdiction possessed and
exercised under the law by the courts of reeord of this Commonwealth to
punish for contempt by fine or imprisonment, or by both, any person duly
summoned to appear and testify before the commission who shall fail or
refuse to appear and testify, without a lawful excuse, or who shall refuse
to answer any proper question propounded to him by the commission in
the discharge of its duty or who shall conduct himself in a rude, disre-
spectful, or disorderly manner before the commission, or any of them,
deliberating in the discharge of duty in public session, and may, for any
such contempt, impose the same penalties, either by fine or imprisonment,
or by both, and render and enter up judgment in any such proceeding and
enforce the same by process of execution or by commitment to jail, or by
both, in the same manner and by like process and: proceedings, and to the
same extent, as may by law be done by any of the courts of this Common-

wealth. The commission may commit any person adjudged by it guilty of
contempt to the jail of any city or county in the Commonwealth, and the
jailer thereof shall receive such person upon the commitment of the com-
mission, attested by its clerk, first assistant clerk, or acting clerk, and
confine such person in the jail of his city or county, as the case may be,
for the term of imprisonment specificd in the commitment, unless sooner
discharged therefrom by due process of law. The said jailer shall receive
for the board of any person so committed the same allowance made by
law for other persons confined in such jail, which shall be paid out of the
public treasury upon the allowance of the commission, certified as herein-
before provided. The fines and judgments of the commission in any con-
tempt proceeding may be reviewed, affirmed, reversed, or modified, as jus-
tice may require, on writ of error from the commission to the supreme
court of appeals.

29. That the commission shall, in all matters within its jurisdiction,
have the power and authority to award and issue, have served, executed,
and returned, any writ, notice, process, order, or order of publication which
may by law be awarded, issued, served, executed, or returned by or to any
court of law or equity in this Commonwealth, for the purpose of com-
pelling the attendance of witnesses, the production of books and papers,
the convening of parties, or.the enforcement and execution of its find-
ings, orders, or judgments.

30. That all writs, processes, and orders of the commission shall run in
the name of the Commonwealth, and shall be attested by its clerk, or first
assistant clerk, or acting clerk, and shall be directed to its bailiff, and may
be served, executed, and returned by the said bailiff, in anv city or county
of this State, or by the sergeant or sheriff, or any constable, of any city
or county in this State within his bailiwick. All writs, notices, processes,
or orders of the commission may be served, executed, and returned in like
manner and upon like persons or property as the processes, writs, notices,
or orders of the courts of record of this Commonwealth, and when so
served, executed, and returned shall have the same legal effect. The bailiff
or other officer serving or executing any writ, notice, process, or order of

the commission shall receive the same fees anil commissions allowed by
19
law for like services to the sergeants and sheriffs of the cities and counties
of this State: provided, that the bailiff of the commission shall account
for and pay to its clerk all fees and commissions received by him for any
services which he may render, which shall be accounted for and paid by
the clerk of the commission into the treasury, as hereinbefore provided.
The bailiff, or any other officer hereinbefore named, who shall fail to exe-
cute and return any writ, notice, process, or order of the commission shall
be subject to the penalties prescribed by law for the failure to execute and
return the process of any court, which penalties may be enforced by the
judgment of the commission.

31. That the commission shall cause to be taxed and collected in all
complaints, proceedings, contests, or controversies instituted or pending
before it, like fees and costs taxed and collected for like services by the
officers of the courts of this Commonwealth; also, the fees and mileage of
witnesses attending upon its public sessions, and may enter judgment for
the same and issue exccution thereon, which execution may be levied and
executed in hke manner as execution issued upon the judgments or de
crees of the courts of law or equity of this Commonwealth: provided, that
no costs shall be taxed or collected against the Commonwealth except on
appeals of corporations under the provisions of section one hundred and
eighty of the Constitution, which have been aggrieved by the assessments
and ascertainments made by the commission under sections one hundred
and seventy-six and one hundred and seventy-eight of the Constitution.

32. That the judgments of the commission for the recovery of money,
fines, or penalties shall be a lien on the real estate of the judgment debtor
when duly docketed and indexed in the judgment lien docket as the judg-
ments of the courts of record are required by law to be docketed and in-
dexed, in the county or city in which the real estate of the judgment
debtor is located, and the lien of such judgment may be enforced in equity
before any court having jurisdiction to enforce liens. The clerks of the
courts of the several cities and counties shall docket all such judgments
on the lien docket of their respective courts when a copy thereof, certified
by the clerk of the commission, shall be presented: for that purpose.

33. That the sessions of the commission for the hearing of any com-
plaint, proceeding, contest, or controversy instituted or pending before it,
whether of its own motion or otherwise, shall be public, and its findings,
decisions, and judgments shall be announced and rendered. in public ses-
sion. The judgments of the commission for fines or penalties, or for the
recovery of money, shall take effect as of the date of such judgment, and
when allowed by the commission in its order and entered up, the judg-
ment shall bear interest from that date. The commission may, by its
rules, provide for the number of its regular public sessions in each year,
the time of their commencement, their duration, and for their adjourn-
ment; and may also provide for extra or special public sessions when, in
their judgment, such extra or special public sessions may be necessary or
required. The commission shall hold at least one regular public session
in every three months in each year.

34. That the Commonwealth or any party aggrieved by any final find-
ing, order, or judgment of the commission shall have, of right, regardless
of the amount involved, an appeal to the supreme court of appeals, same
» be taken and perfected within six months from the date of such final
nding, order, or judgment, and the supreme court of appeals may, on
etition of the attorney-general, or any other party so aggrieved, if said
etition be presented within six months from the date of the final finding,
rder, or judgment of the commission, award a writ of supersedeas to any
ich final finding, order, or judgment, and may review, affirm, reverse, or
10dify the same, as justice may require, and enter therein such order as
vay be right and just. All such appeals shall be taken and perfected,
eard and determined, and the mandate of the supreme court of appeals
ertified down to the commission in the same manner as appeals in equity
auses from the circuit or corporation courts of this Commonwealth to
he supreme court; except such appeals shall be heard and disposed of
romptly by the supreme court, irrespective of its place of session, next
fter habeas corpus and Commonwealth’s cases already on the docket:
rovided, however, this section shall not be construed to interfere in any
ray with the provisions of subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) of section
ne hundred and fifty-six of the Constitution, as to appeals from the ac-
ion of the commission, prescribing rates, charges, or classification of
raffic, or affecting the train schedule of any transportation company, or
equiring additional facilities, conveniences, or public service of any trans-
yortation or transmission company, or refusal to approve a suspending
yond, or requiring additional security thereon, or an increase thereof;
ut shail be construed to provide only for appeals from the final findings,
yrders, and judgments of the commission in cases not expressly provided
or by the Constitution.

35. That the commission may require a suspending bond on any ap-
peal, in such penalty and with such surety thereon as it may deem sufh-
-ient, and may, during the pendency of any appeal, at any time, require
he increase of any such bond or additional security thereon: provided,
10owever, there shall be of right, regardless of the amount, an appeal from
‘he action of the commission refusing to approve a suspending bond, or
requiring an increase thereof, or additional security thereon, in like man-
ner as provided by subsections (d'), (e), (f), and (g) of section one hun-
lred and fifty-six of the Constitution. The commission may also require
yond for the payment of costs in such penalty, and with such security, as
it may deem sufficient, in any complaint, proceeding, contest, or contro-
versy instituted or pending before it. All suspending bonds, and bonds
for the payment of costs, taken or required to be taken by the commission,
shall be made payable to the Commonwealth, and may be enforced in the
name of the Commonwealth by motion or other legal proceeding or remedy
before the commission, or in any circuit or corporation court of this Com-
monwealth having jurisdiction of a motion or action on such bonds, and
the process and proceedings thereon shall be as provided by law upon
bonds of the like character required and taken by any court of this Com-
monwealth, and the commission or such circuit or corporation court may
render and enter up like judgments upon such bonds as may, by law, be
rendered and entered upon bonds of like character, and process of execu-
tion shall issue upon such judgments, and may be levied and executed as
provided by law in other cases.

36. That if any transportation company, upon the final decision of an
appeal from the action of the commission prescribing rates, charges, or
classification of traffic, confirming or modifying the action of the com-
mission, shall fail to refund in the manner and within the time
prescribed: in the notice of the commission all amounts which the ap-
pealing company may have collected pending the appeal, in excess of
that authorized by such final decision, upon notice to such corporation
by the commission of such final decision, then the commission, after
thirty days’ notice to any such company, may, unless the amount re
quired by such order be paid to the clerk of the commission, render and
enter judgment in the name of the Commonwealth, for the use of the
persons, firms, and corporations entitled to the same, against any such
company for the aggregate amount of such collections and for costs,
and may enforce the amount of such judgment and costs by process
of execution, as hereinbefore provided as to the enforcement of the judz-
ments of the commission. 'The commission shall, upon the collection of
said judgment, forthwith distribute the amount thereof, through its clerk,
among the parties entitled thereto, respectively, in such manner as it may
by its “rules or orders preseribe, and shall, upon the payment or collection
of any such judgment, enter the same satisfied upon its records, and have
the same entered satisfied on the judgment hen docket of the court of anv
city or county where the same mav have been docketed, and the satis fac-
tion of any such judgment shall be a bar to any further action or recov-
ery against anv such corporation to the extent of such recovery. °

37. The commission may investigate the cause of any accident on any
transportation line which, in its judgment, shall require investigation.

38. The commission is authorized to enter into contracts with the sev-
eral railroads and other transportation companies, doing business in this
State, for the transportation of convicts, insane, or other persons, who are
cared for by the State, and of sheriffs and all necessary guards, to and
from the penitentiary and the several State hospitals in this State, upon
such terms as the commission and the several companies may agree, not to
exceed two cents per mile for each person transported under such con-
tract. Said contracts may be renewed or extended for such time as the
commission shall deem to be to the interest of the State.

39. The commission shall determine the most direct and practicable
route from each courthouse by which to convey persons to the penitentiary
and the several State hospitals, and shall file with the auditor of public
accounts, the superintendent of the penitentiary, the superintendents of
the several State hospitals, and the clerks of the several counties and cor-
porations, a schedule of the route determined upon.

40, The commission shall furnish with such schedule certificates of
{transportation in the form agreed upon in its contract with the companies.
Said certificates shall be signed by the clerk of the commission, and shall
be taken up by the conductor or other agent authorized by said com-
panies to collect fare, as other tickets or fares are collected. They shall
be presented by the companies holding the same, either monthly or quar-
terly, as may be determined upon by the commission and the companies.
to the auditor of public accounts, who shall examine the same, and if
found correct, pay them as other claims against the State are audited and
settled.
41. The commission shall, annually, on the first day of January, pub-
lish a compilation of the statute laws governing common carriers in the
State of Virginia, together with a compilation of the rules and regula-
tions prescribed for their government by the commission, and shall fur-
nish a sufficient number of copies to each railroad company or transporta-
tion company, or person opcrating the same, to enable such company or
person operating the same to post and keep posted conspicuously in every
passenger and freight depot of the company a copy of such laws, rules,
and regulations; and every such company, or person operating the same,
is hereby required to see that such copies, when furnished by the com-
miission, are posted and kept posted in the manner prescribed.

42. That the commission shall have and use a common seal, to consist
of a circular die with the coat-of-arms of Virginia and the title “State
Corporation Commission” stamped upon the face of the die, and shall
have power to affix said seal to any paper, record, or document when
necessary for the purpose of authentication, and such seal, when so affixed
to any paper, record, or document emanating from the commission or its
clerk’s office, shal] have the same force and effect for authentication as the
seal of any court of record in this State. The clerk of the commission
shall collect a tax of one dollar for each impression of said seal upon any
paper, record, or document, for which tax he shall account to the auditor
of public accounts, and pay the same into the public treasury as herein-
before provided.

43. That the commission shall keep a docket of all complaints, proceed-
ings, contests, and controversies instituted or pending before it, and all
cases shall be numbered on the docket in the order in which they were in-
stituted, and the papers therein jacketed and numbered in the same con-
secutive order, and when finally determined and disposed of, the papers
and files shall be filed and preserved in the same numerical order and
properly indexed for convenient future reference.

44. The commission shall, by order entered upon the records of its pro-
ceedings, make all allowances to be paid out of the public treasury for ex-
penses, witness fees, and mileage, and for service of proccss, and when so
allowed and certified by its clerk to the auditor of public accounts, the
last-named officer shall draw his warrant for the payment of the amount
of any such allowances out of the public treasury: provided, that the com-
mission shall not allow to any witness exceeding one-dollar per day for his
attendance, nor exceeding five cents per mile for each mile traveled to
and from the place of attendance, and shall not make any allowances to
he paid out of the public treasury save when the expenses incurred, the
witness attendance, or the services of process, is at the instance of the
commission, or on behalf of the Commonwealth.

45. That the commission shall have made and kept in its clerk’s office
a register of all corporations, which register shall contain the corporate
names of all corporations heretofore chartered and existing at this date,
<o far as the same may be obtainable, and those hereafter chartered by the
laws of this State, and of all foreign corporations heretofore or hereafter
licensed to transact business in this State, and: as to domestic corporations
shall contain also the following information, to-wit: Date of incorpora-
tion. Names and residences of officers and directors. Amount of capital
stock, and whether preferred or common, or both, and the amount of each.
Amount of bonds to be issued. Nature of corporate enterprise or buéi-
ness to be conducted. The place of its principal or general office or place
of business.

The seerctary of the Commonwealth shall forthwith prepare and fur-
nish to the commission a list of all charters recorded in his office up to
April first, nineteen hundred and three, containing the above information
so far as shown by the records of his office.

46. The commission shall issue all charters and all amendments, exten-
sions, and renewal of charters, upon application, complying with the pro-
visions of the incorporation laws of this State, and when any charter, or
amendment, extension, or renewal of a charter is issued, shall certify the
same, under its seal, to the secretary of the Commonwealth for recorda-
tion as required by law, and the commission shall have the granting of al:
licenses to foreign corporations to transact business in this State. The
commission shall, before approving any application or petition for a char-
ter, or granting any license to any forcign corporation to transact business
in this “State, require the payment of the fees prescribed by law, and on
or before the first day of March in each year, in addition to the franchise
tax and the fecs otherwise prescribed by law, require each domestic cor-
poration, other than a purely charitable institution, and each foreign cor-
poration doing business in this State, to pay a registration fee as follows:
Where the proposed maximum capital stock is fixed at fifteen thousand
dollars or under, or if such corporation is organized on a mutual basis or
without capital stock, five dollars; in excess of fifteen thousand dollars
and not over fifty thousand dollars, ten dollars; in excess of fifty thou-
sand dollars and not over one hundred thousand dollars, fifteen dollars;
in excess of one hundred thousand dollars and not over three hundred
thousand dollars, twenty dollars; and in excess of three hundred thousand
dollars, twenty-five dollars; all ‘of which fees shall be collected and re
ecived by its clerk and accounted for and paid into the public treasury as
hereinbefore provided.

47. That the commission shall designate some State depository as a
place of deposit for the moneye received by its clerk under this or anv
future act of the general assembly, and shall require its clerk to deposit
therein all moneys received by him at least once in every twenty-four
hours, and all checks upon said depository drawn by said clerk shall t+
countersigned by the chairman or acting chairman of the commission.
That the “bailiff of the commission, or any sergeant, sheriff, or constable
who shall collect any judgment, or anv part thereof, rendered by the com-
mission, shall, within ten davs after such collection, pay the amount
thereof, either in current funds or by certified check, to the clerk of the
commission. Any officer of the commission, or any sergeant, sheriff, or
constable who shall omit or fail to perform any of the requirements of thi:
section, shal] be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one
thousand dollars, which may be imposed and judgment rendered there
for and enforced by the commission. All proceedings against any such

officer and the surety on his official bond, may be had as provided by law
in reference to official bonds, for default in the accounting for, or pay-
ment over, of any moneys collected or received by him under the pro-
visions of this act.

48. That the commission shall annually, on or before the first day of
December, notify each corporation subject to a registration fee of the
amount thereof, and when the same is payable, and when paid its clerk
shall promptly receipt therefor to the corporation paying the same, such
notice to be mailed: to the last address furnished by such company.

49. That all transportation companies operating in this State shall, on
the order of the commission, attested by its clerk, or on an order signed
by. any member of the commission, furnish free transportation to the
members of the commission and its officers, when traveling on official
business, and the order for such transportation shall show that the same
is desired for official business.

50. That the commission shall have authority to purchase all necessary
supplies, and to have all necessary printing and publishing done, and to
secure all telephone and telegraph service necessary to the efficient dis-
charge of its duties, and the same shall be paid out of the fund appro-
priated for its incidental and contingent expenses: provided, however,
that all printing necessary for the commission shall be done by the public
printer on its order.

51. That the commission shall, on or before the first day of December
in each year, tabulate and publish in statistical form such reports made to
it in pursuance of the Constitution and laws of this State, as required by
subsection (a) of section one hundred and fifty-six of the Constitution
proper, and shall, on the same date in each year, make report to the gov-
ernor as required by subsection (1) of said section, to be by him laid be-
fore the general assembly at each regular session thereof.

52. That any member of the commission who, during the term of his
office, shall be directly or indirectly employed by, or hold any office in
relation to, any transportation or transmission company, or in any wise
become interested therein financially, or shall engage in the practice of
law, or be guilty of misfeasance or malfeasance in office, shall be im-
peached and removed from office in the same manner provided for the im-
peachment and removal of judges of the supreme court of appeals; and
any officer of the commission for like causes, or for neglect of duty, or
when, in the judgment of the commission, the public service will be pro-
moted thereby, may be removed from office by the commission.

53. The board of public works and the railroad commissioner shall, on
the second day of March, nineteen hundred and three, or as soon thereafter
as requested by the commission, surrender and deliver to the commission
the records, books, files, and papers of their respective offices, and there-
after said records, books, files, and papers shall be and remain a part of
the records, books, papers and files of the commission.

54. That the annual salarics of the members and officers of the com-
mission shall be as follows: Each commissioner, four thousand dollars;
the clerk, two thousand dollars; the first assistant clerk, fifteen hundred
dollars; the stenographer, twelve hundred dollars; and the bailiff, nine
hundred dollars; and the auditor of public accounts shall draw his war-
rant upon the public treasury for the payment of said salaries in equal
monthly payments for each month of their respective terms of office.
152 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.

55. This act shall not be construcd to take away or impair the jurisdic-
tion of any court’of this Commonwealth to hear and determine any pro-
cecding, suit or motion of which it now has jurisdiction, for the enforce
ment of any fine or penalty against anv corporation under the laws of this
State, but that the powers and jurisdiction of the commission to hear,
determine, and enforce such fines and penalties shall be construed to be
concurrent.

56. The commission is hereby charged with all the duties and vested
with all the rights, property, functions, and powers heretofore performed,
vested in, and exercised by the board of pubhe works, except in so far as
the same may be in conflict with the Constitution and laws of this State,
and the commission shall particularly perform the duties and exercise the
powers heretofore performed and exercised by said board, prescribed in
sections fifty-nine to seventy-eight, inclusive, of this act.

57. The commission, or some member thereof, shall, and is hereby
directed and authorized to, attend the sale of any work of internal im-
provement in which the State is a stockholder or otherwise interested,
whether such sale be made by virtue of mortgage, judgment, decree, or
other hen |

58. If the works of any internal improvement company be not com-
meneed and be completed within the time prescribed by law, or by its
charter, or if after such works be completed, the company abandon them,
or for three successive years cease to use and fail to keep them in good
repair, in each of these cases the State may proceed against such company
by writ of quo warranto, or information in the - nature of a writ of quo
warranto, and if in any such proceeding there is a judgment against the
company, the commission shall forthwith take possession of its ‘work and
property and sell the same (except the debts owing to the company), and
convey the works and property so sold to the purchaser thereof as soon as
the purchase money has been paid, the deed of conveyance to be executed
by the chairman of the commission under its seal. The commission shall,
moreover, collect, as far as practicable, the debts aforesaid, and apply the
proceeds thereof and of the said sale, after deducting the costs and ex-
penscs of the collection and sale, to the discharge of the habilities of the
company, and whatever remains after said habilities are discharged, pav
into the treasury of the State. Upon such conveyance to the said pur-
chaser, he shall forthwith be a corporation by any name which mav be sct
forth in such conveyance, or any writing signed by him and admitted to
record in the county or corporation wherein the convevance shall be ad-
mitted to record; and to the corporation thus created all the provisions of
section twelve hundred and thirty-four of the Code shall apply, except that
the franchises, rights, and privileges to which such corporation shall suc-
ceed and the duties which it shall perform, shal] be such as would have
been had or performed by the first company but for the judgment afore-

said in the proeceding by writ of quo warranto, or information in the na-
ture of a writ of quo warranto, save only as in said section provided.

59. It shall be the duty of the commission, with the consent of the
board of supervisors of any county given at any regular meeting by a two-
thirds vote of all elected in such county, where in their opinion the public
interest will be promoted thereby, to transfer and convey the State’s in-
terest in any turnpike or plank road, or any part thereof, to the county or
counties in which said road lies. The transfer shall be made by a formal
order to be entered upon the minutes of the proceedings of the commis-
sion, and a copy to be transmitted by its clerk to the clerk of the circuit
or county court for record in the clerk’s office in cach county where the
said road lies.

60. The commission shall be vested with power to collect any fund or
dividend due from any work of internal improvement in which the State
is interested, and to pay the same into the treasury to the credit of the
sinking fund.

61. The commission, for all works in which the State may hold stock
heretofore subscribed and not disposed of, shall from time to time appoint
one or more proxies to represent the stock held by or on behalf of the
State in the company having control of such work: provided, that the
present proxies shall hold over until their successors are appointed.

62. In cases in which it may be desired by the commission, its proxies
shall cause to be transmitted to it copies of the reports of the proceedings
of the directors of the companies in which they are proxies, the proceed-
ings of the stockholders thereof, and other documents relating to the
works, and shall make such reports as the commission may require or to
the proxies may seem proper.

63. In every company to the stock of which the board of public works
or the State has heretofore subscribed and which has not. been disposed of,
the commission shall appoint such portion of the directors as shall bear to
the whole number of the directors of such company the same proportion,
as nearly as possible, that the stock held on behalf of the State in such
company bears to the whole capital stock thereof.

64. The appointment of directors in a company, according to the pre-
ceding section, shall be made by the commission before each annual meet-
ing therein.

65. Proxies and directors appointed by the commission shall be in office
from the time such appointment is in force until their successors are ap-
pointed, unless sooner removed. When a proxy fails to attend at any
meeting, the commission, without removing him, may make a temporary
appointment, to be in force during his absence.

66. The commission and the second auditor shall cause to be registered,
in books to be kept in their respective offices for the purpose, all claims,
stocks, bonds, choses in action, and all property, real or personal, due or
belonging to the State, with such description thereof as will enable easy
reference to the same by any State officer or person interested.

67. Any money forfeited to the commission, and any money which
ought to be paid into the public treasury to the credit of the fund for in-
ternal improvement, shall be recovered, with interest on such money from
the time the same ought to be paid, by motion, after fifteen davs’ notice,
or bv action in the circuit court of the city of Richmond. The second
auditor shall institute and prosecute in the name of the Commonwealth
the proceedings after an order for such motion or action shall have been
made by the commission.

68. The commission may appoint agents for the collection of its debts
or claims, and authorize them to secure payinent thereof on such terms as

20
it may approve, except it shall not appoint an agent to collect any judg-
ment, fine, or penalty rendered or imposed by the commission.

69. When the estate of any person taken under execution or for sal:
under any decrce or deed of trust for any such debt or claim will not sel.
for the amount thereof, the commission may purchase such estate.

70. The commission may sell any estate so purchased, at such time and
on such terms as the commission may deem advantageous, and the com-
mission shall execute a deed conveying to the purchaser all the interest
which the commission may have in such land.

71. For the services of any agent under this act, the commission mar
allow compensation not exceeding, in any case, five per centum on the
money actually paid into the treasury.

72. Where the tolls of any canal, navigation, or bridge company are
not prescribed by its charter, the commission shall fix such tolls as may
seem to it reasonable, and may alter the same at its pleasure.

%3. If in any company incorporated and organized: before the first dav
of July, eighteen hundred and fifty, to the stock of which the board oi
public works or the State has, before or since that date, subscribed, a reso-
lution be adopted in general meeting of the stockholders (by the vote of
the majority of the stockholders, other than the State), assenting to sec
tion sixty-five of this act, the same shall thenceforth be of the same force
in respect to such company that it would be if it had formed a part of the
act incorporating such company. If such assent be not given, the votes in
the meetings of the stockholders of such company and the appointment
of directors therein shall continue to be according to the laws in force on
the day before the Code of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven took effect.
unless it be a company whose charter is, by the terms thereof, subject to he
altered, amended, or modified by the general assembly; in which case the
said section sixty-five shall be of the same force in respect to it as if such
assent had been given.

%4. That so much of the act entitled “an act to authorize the James
River and Kanawha Company to make sale and transfer of all its works.
property, and franchises to the Richmond and Alleghany Railroad Com-
pany, and to define the powers and duties of the board of public works in
reference thereto,” approved February twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred
and seventy-nine, as has not been carried into effect, shall continue in
force, and the commission shall exercise all the powers and perform al!
the duties conferred and imposed upon the board of public works by the
said act.

75. The commission shall make report to the general assembly at each
recular session, showing the condition of each work made on the State ac-
count, or to the stock of which the board of public works or the State had
heretofore subscribed, and giving such other information in relation
thereto as it may deem pertinent. And the second auditor shall also re-
port to the general assembly at such regular session a succinct statement
relative to every such work, showing the gross amount of the year’s income
therefrom, the net balance of such income remaining, after paying cur-
rent expenses, and interest on debts due on account of the work, and what
percentage such net balance is on the capital expended. On or before the
first day of October the said reports shall be delivered to the superintend-
ent of public printing, and he shall cause the same to be printed.

76. That subsection twelve of section one hundred and eighty-three,
and sections twelve hundred and twelve, twelve hundred and thirty-six,
twelve hundred and thirty-nine, twelve hundred and fifty-four, twelve
hundred and ninety-eight, twelve hundred and ninety-nine, thirteen hun-
dred, as amended by an act of the general assembly, approved March
fourth, nineteen hundred; thirteen hundred and one, thirteen hundred
and two, thirteen hundred and three, thirteen hundred and six, thirteen
hundred and seven, thirteen hundred and eight, thirteen hundred and ten,
thirteen hundred and eleven, as amended by an act of the general assem-
bly, approved March fourth, nincteen hundred; thirteen hundred and
twelve, thirteen hundred and thirteen, thirteen hundred and fourteen,
thirteen hundred and fifteen, thirteen hundred and sixteen, thirteen hun-
dred and seventeen, thirteen hundred and eighteen, thirteen hundred and
nineteen, thirteen hundred and twenty, thirteen hundred arid twenty-one,
thirteen hundred and twenty-two, thirteen hundred and twenty-three,
thirteen hundred and twenty-four, thirteen hundred and twenty-five, thir-
teen hundred and twenty-six, thirteen hundred and twenty-seven, thirteen
hundred and twenty-cight, thirteen hundred and twenty-nine, thirteen
hundred and thirty, thirteen hundred and thirty-one, thirteen hundred
and thirty-two, thirteen hundred and thirty-three, and thirteen hundred
and thirty-seven of the Code of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and
sections eleven, twelve, and thirteen of the act of the general assembly of
Virginia, approved March third, eighteen hundred and nincty-two, en-
titled an act to further regulate and control common carriers doing busi-
ness in this State, and further defining the duties of the railroad com-
missioner in relation thereto, be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

77. This act shall be in force from its passage.