P"ymffii JPL Vjft
The Commoner
gBPTBMBBD. 1919
-
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0
,.ii- lift shall ..be sentenced to im-
,fte conviouuu, - t til he 8haU have
Iprlsonment xor and i&& h(mBeV o BUch
obeyed the ore J p6rs0n -holding the inquiry .
contempt i ana evidence on oath, and
iha have POW, .... rtfl.a
ifort
; Tb
pobli
jpeci;
; Th
poar
; nnrl to the owners where there is lack of
be paia w .. nntiml exlflttne invost-
Ye PQ - r ..
fnouSefl of inquiries may bo given and
publisbc
' special c
That i
rtpard"- omnnnt of comnensation to
Ol. mo " "--..
Tnai "" ...i.n-n iirtt.li such ireneral or
JH attui uiv 1 ,
cctions as tne cna
a Appraisement B
assessment of any
Prr.Mnnn as the chairman may give. -
'special tii ,, Board may reauire a
TnaL ' ooDccment of any eloment in the de-
ecord evidence as to the actual existing lnvcst
rec t onnh separate "assessment the Appraise-
Zt Board shall cause estimatea to be made of
SI actual existing investment by, comparison of
!!p cost of reproduction new of the properties
Inder Investigation with the cost of reproduction
ips depreciation and the estimated original costs.
l;LJ in riato. This, with tho intent to- ascer-
aln how much the owners have actually con
futed in money or its equivalent to the public
service; subject, however, to the legal limita
tions imposed by law upon the rights, powers,
authorities, interests, and privileges accorded in
and acquired under the charters of the corpora
tion owners and the grants to individual owners.
Section 8. That any capital sum payable under
an agreement or award made by said Appraise
ment Board to said owner, or-unuer any nnai
judicial review of such award, or for new exten
sions and capital improvements directed to be
made by such Appraisement Board, shall be dis
charged in whole or in part by cash payments,
or, if the secretary of the treasury so direct and
said owners shall so agree, by the issuance to
such owners of bonds as hereinafter provided of
a par value not exceeding in amount the total
amount of such agreement awarded by the Ap
praisement Board or by judicial determination.
Section 9. That for the purposes of p:ing
such amount of compensation so determined, the
secretary of the treasury, with the approval of
the President of the United States, is hereby
authorized, from tL e to time as required, to
issue bonds in such form and subject to such'
terms of issue, conversion, redemption, matur
ities, payment, and rate and time of payment of
interest as the secretary of the tfeeasury may
prescribe. The principal and interest thereof
shall be payable in the United-States gild'cpin t
of the present standard of value; but such bonds"'
shall not bear the circulation privilege.
That there is hereby created in the treasury '
of the United States a cumulative sinking fund
for the retirement of all bonds issued and out
standing under this act. Said, sinking fund and
all additions thereto are hereby appropriated for
the payment of such bonds at maturity by the
secretary of the treasury at such prices and upon
such terms and conditions as may be prescribed
fa said bonds. Said. sinking fund shall exist un
til all such bonds are retired.
There is hereby appropriated out of the operat
ing revenues of the National Railways Operation
Corporation, to be paid to the treasurer of the
United States, the sums provided for in para
graph (c), section 2, Article III of this act, or
out of any money in the treasury not otherwise
appropriated, an amount equal to 1 per centum
Per annum upon the aggregate amount of bonds
outstanding on July 1st of each year: Provided,
inat the amount of the annual payment into
rocn sinking fund shall in no year be diminished
nut f i.o the retirement of bonds previously
Ri.i ?? B The secretary of tho treasury shall,
ill . consress at the beginning, p each reg
ular session a separate annual report of the iac-
!n this secUon1!1111 7 the autity contairied.
Section 10. That, the Appraisement Boaifd
Ei prove and tl10 federal government shall
lnrtiVfli w e,xtensions and capital improvements,
supTi r S. le constructlon of railroads along
QnArnH r,0T routes as tie National Railways
uraung Corporation shall designate and locate,
inw l'Ieu pessary branch lines, feedings, sid-
'u&a, SWItCllinrra rA ..-. .1 .. ....i.
Or nthar 1 ' u. djjuio, ttuu may jjuiuuuou
tion 011 ,e ac(luire by contract or condemna
tion all real nrwi nhi A
Carrvlno- . I 7. i,D1DUimi iiiupeity uouesau
furtC : x BurPoses of this act: Pro
c1r .: nat tne Appraisement Board shall
carrviiH and Persnal property necessary, to
.... .inB OUt the niirtinaoa nt fhlo of "DiwirfrlAfl
else thL e APPraisement Board shall exer-
Pron7tlDOWer of eminent domain in acquiring
dared 8UCh e' whIch use is hereby de
in the nS!fa puDlIotUBe y PrpRer proceedings
the feflfimi ' ;"zl . OL :iu'n"i maies, or
now m 1 inri .ir8' inaccoidante ggttb. tne iawts
ent Bo&inv.atii?in' forcehafee, Appre
oard snall acquire rights toU way, terminal
grounds, and all other rights; that It shall pur-
? ,r ?-hervfiBf ac(lire a necessary equip
ment for the construction and operation of such
now extensions and capital improvements, and
shall provide for the construction of telegraph
and telephone lines which the board of directors
of the National Railways Operating Corporation
may doom to bo necessary or convenient in tho
construction and Operation of tho railways of tho
United States and its possessions; and tho Ap
praisement Board shall provido for tho construc
tion and extension of light railways or less than
standard-guage railways, bridges, ferries, har
bors, docks or piers, canals, or inland navigation
facilities, which it may deem necessary, and shall
classify railroads in such manner as the board
.of directors shall deem fit.
That it is the intent and purpose of congress,
through this act, to authorize tho Appraisement
Board, and it is hereby fully authorized and
empowered through such ofilcors, agents, or
agencies as it may appoint or employ, to do
all necessary acts and things in addition to thoso
specially authorized in this act to enable it to
accomplish the purposes and objects of this act.
That the Appraisement Board is authorized,
with the approval of the President of the Unltod
States, to'withdraw, locate, and dispose of, under
such rules and regulations as it nfay prescribe,
such area or areas of tho public domain along
the line or lines of proposed new railroads for
townsite purposes as it may from time to time
designate.
Section 10. That terminal and station grounds
and rights of way through the lands of tho
United States and "its possessions are hereby
granted for the construction of railroads and
telegraph and telephone lines anuthorizod by
this act; and in'all patents for lands thereafter
taken up or entered on, located in the lands of
the United States and its possessions, tbere shall
be expressed that there is reserved to the United
States a right of way for the construction of rail
roads and telegraph and telephone linos to such
extent on either side of tho center lino of any
such road and on either side of the center lino
of any vsuch telegraph or telephone lines as tho
Appraisement Board may deem necessary or ad
visable; and the Appraisement Board may, in
such manner as it deems advisable, -mako reser
vation of such lands as are or may be uooful for
furnishing materials for construction and for
stations, terminals, docks, and for such other
purposes in connection with tho construction and
operation of such railroad lines as it may deem
necessary and desirable.
That it is hereby declared that the extension
of railroad lines in new territory shall be net
only by the expenditure of capital funds by tho
. United States but also by the excerciso of the
power of taxation imposed by local authority
upon the territory benefited, whereby such ter
ritory shall contribute its portion of the cost of
the extensions approximately commensurate with
the increase in value which the land within that
territory may realize by reason of the building
of such extension.
That if a certain region or localit desires an
extension of railway facilities and organizes
under local or regional special assessment laws,
nroviding by local taxation for the cost of con
Ktion of the lines desired, tho obligation on
?he part of the United States to build such exten
sion shall be deemed by the Appraisement Board
to be imperative.
That if a certain region or locality will organ
ize itself under regional or local special . assess
ment laws, and, having so organized, will assume
that nart of the cost of the construction and
inninment of the new extension which may bo
equipment or tne n AppraIsement Board,
apportioned to it by tne pi as
and 71 ISid to "t Dy the Appraisement Board,
may ?SJ dLeotBloh extension by the United
lctReTshaTlne of costs shall bo
deeded" y ? Appraisement Board to be im
perative. Appraisement Board shall
That whenever the app welfare to build
deem it Wll which would re-
r eiic01orthofseCO bSf the extension is
ma&G- ,L , , nlnrnA that any expenditure made
ThaJ Ifc Sn ou -o ? funds Provided by taxation
for extension out of nnorPBnall any payments
?ay Sin or improvements made out or
properties of
iarraiaS.
'"iScqulfihg- the; ral iway JP"7 -
thnif'fetateand $r-posu.. . --
for
oper,a
,.
government shall acquire comploto ownership In
thoso properties and shall financo their acquisi
tion., as herein provided, by capital cxpondlturejri
covering all construction and cquipmont, andfra-
eluding in such financing tho requisite ambunfc A
of capital required as working capital a tho
same may from time to timo bo determined by
tho Appraisement Board.
Section 13. That tho Appraisement Board shall
mako to tho President annually, and at such
othor periods as may bo required by tho President
or by either Iioumq of congress, full and comploto
reports of all Its acts and doings and of all
moneys received and oxpomlod in tho construc
tion of new extensions and capital ImprovemontH
and in tho porformanco of tnoir duties In con
nection therewith. Tho annual reports heroin
providod for shall bo, by tho President, trans
mitted to congress.
That any government omployoo or ofllolal, any
member of the Appraisement Board or em
ployees of such board, any director, ofllcial em
ployee, or classified employoo of tho corporation
who shall receive any consideration or banont,
cither directly or indirootly, in oxcoss of his
wagos or'romunoration authorized by this act,
out of tho operation of said railways or for any
railway undertaking, or by any form of Induce
ment that could influonco official action, shall
upon conviction thereof be subject to a penalty
of ten times tho value of tho consideration so
recoived and to imprisonment for a term of ono
to twenty years, tho extent (ft tho lattor penalty
to bo imposed by tho jury.
ARTICLE II
Soction 1. That tho National Railways Operat
ing Corporation (referred to heroin as the. cor
poration) is hereby created and constituted as
a body corporate and politic indoed, action, and
name. Tho board of directors, official employees,
and classified employees, hereinafter described,
shall be and constitute said corporation. Tho
purpose of said corporation shall bo for publlo
service and not for privato profit, and for leasing,
maintaining, and operating for public uso as a
single system all of the railway lines and trans
portation property of tho United States and its
possessions.
That the corporation shall bo created for tho
term of one hundred years.
That said corporation may exercise nil of tho
powers liorelnafter conferred, may own and hold
all properties, rights, and privileges permitted by
this charter, and In its name may sue and bo sued.
That tho affairs of said, corporation shall bo
administered by a board of directors of fiftoon
members, which shall be selected inthe follow
ing manner: Five of tho directors shall bo
elected by the classified employees of tho rail
way linos and properties of tho United States
and its possessions below the grado of appointod
officials; five of tho directors shall be olectod
by tho official employees of said lines and prop
erties; and five, of whom one shall be dehlgnated
as chairman, shall be appointod by tho President
of the United States, by and with the advice and
consent of the senate; not more than three of
said appointees shall belong to ono political
party.
That the members of each group of fivo direc
tors shall be elected and appointed, respectively,
for terms of two, four, six, eight, and ten years
each, their terms thereafter overlapping and for
ten years each. Tho elected directors shall bo
subject to recall by their electors and the ap
pointed directors to removal by tho President for
inability or misconduct.
Section 2. That the board of directors shall
have power to create all of tho offices In said
corporation by name or classification and to ap
point all officials from chief executive down to
the point where employment begins by classifica
tion, or to authorize he,ads of departments cre
ated by said board of directors to appoint their
subordinates down to thVpoInt where employ
ment begins by classification, and to prescribe
the conditions of employment and classification
of all other employees.
That notwithstanding anything in this act,
any society of workers, all or some of whose
members are wholly or partly employees on the
railway lines or properties of the federal govern
ment, or in any other manner employed by the
corporation, or otherwise under this act, may bo
registered or constitute themselves or be a
trade-union, and may do anything individually
or in combination which the members of a trade
union may lawully do: Provided further, . bat
notwithstanding any act, order, or regulajionp
the contrary, It shall be lawful for aayperspu
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