at the office of the commission in the City of Washington, D. C., on the general question of the liability of carriers arising under that provision of Section 20, of the Act to Regulate Commerce, which reads as follows: 'That any common carrier, railroad, or transportation, company receiving property for transportation from a point in one State to a point in another State shall issue a receipt or bill of lading therefor and shall be liable to the lawful holder thereof, for any loss, damage or injury to such property caused by it or by any common carrier, railroad, or transportation company to which such property may be delivered or over whose line or lines such property may pass, and no contract, receipt, rule, or regulation shall exempt such common carrier, railroad, or transportation company from the liability hereby imposed; Provided, That nothing in this section shall deprive any holder of such receipt or bill of lading of any remedy or right of action which he has under existing law.

""That the common carrier, railroad, or transportation company issuing such receipt or bill of lading, shall be entitled to recover from the common carrier, railroad, or transportation company on whose line the loss, damage or injury shall have been sustained the amount of such loss, damage, or injury as it may be required to pay to the owners of such property, as may be evidenced by any receipt, judgment, or transcript thereof.'

"It is the desire of the commission that at said hearing 'àll parties interested shall be represented and shall present by oral or printed brief their views as to the correct interpretation of these provisions of law.

"It is hereby ordered that this matter be, and is hereby, set down for hearing at the office of the commission in Washington, D. C., on June 15, 1907, at ten o'clock in the forenoon of that day. By the Commission.

EDWARD A. MOSELEY,

Secretary."

In compliance with the above call your Chairman, who was requested by your worthy President to represent the National Board of Trade, attended the meeting in that capacity. There were present representatives of the American Bankers' Association, various chambers of commerce, several shippers' associations, etc., and a number of railroad attorneys. The discussion took a wide range, embracing the construction of the language of the law and the constitutionality of certain provisions of it, the representatives of the railroads taking ground strongly against the constitutionality of the provision making the initial transportation company responsible to the shipper for loss or damage caused by any other common carrier, etc., over which the shipment may be billed by it. It appeared to be their desire to impress' the commission that common carriers could not be held responsible for loss or damage occurring beyond their own lines. The converse of this proposition appeared to have the best of the argument, and from questions propounded by members of the commission it appeared to your representa

tive that the commission would decide against the contention of the railroads on this point. During the discussion the statement was made that the commission as an administrative body could not consider the constitutionality of the several provisions of the law but would have to leave that questions to the courts. The clause in the second line of the law, "from a point in one State to a point in another State," was generally considered to be broad enough to embrace shipment to a territory or a foreign country, although there was sharp dissent from this construction. It also appeared to be the consensus of opinion that but one rate could be allowed the railroads instead of three as now. The meeting occupied several hours' time and the discussion of the various questions propounded was extremely interesting.

The PRESIDENT.-What shall be done with the report?

Mr. READ.-I have also a resolution.

The committee has

authorized its Chairman to offer the following:

WHEREAS, The Interstate Commerce Commission has now in hand the formulation of a uniform bill of lading to take the place of all others now in use by the railroad carriers of the country; and

WHEREAS, It is deemed absolutely essential to the proper conduct of the commerce of the country that order bills of lading, so important a vehicle in the movement of its crops, should be so segregated by all practical means from the so-called straight bills of lading that they can be readily recognized; therefore be it

Resolved, That the National Board of Trade hereby petitions and prays the Interstate Commerce Commission to require for such order bills of lading, a distinct and separate form, so differentiated by its wording, color, etc., that it shall be readily distinguished and that the following forms be submitted to the commission for its consideration:

ORIGINAL.

Received from...

.Railroad Company.

.Station.

190....

the property described below, in appar IDR...

good order, except as noted

(contents and condition of contents of packages unknown), to be transported and delivered, in accordance with the provisions of law, in like good order, to consignee.

(Insert description of articles, weight, rate, route, and car number and initials, is in carload.)

OFFICIAL

STAMP.

.Agent.

below in apparent good condition, except as noted (contents and condition of contents of packages unknown), to be transported and delivered to the order of.

.in accordance

with the provisions of law and the terms of this bill of lading.

The property herein described shall not be delivered until this original bill of lading, properly indorsed, has been surrendered and canceled, or, in case of partial delivery, a statement thereof has been indorsed hereon.

Any stipulation or indorsement on this bill of lading that it is not negotiable shall be void and of no effect.

Inspection will be permitted under this bill of lading, unless otherwise indorsed hereon, which indorsement shall be made at the time of issue by the agent, if requested by the shipper. Any alteration, addition or erasure, fraudulent or otherwise, in this bill of lading, which shall be made without the indorsement thereof hereon, signed by the agent of the carrier issuing this bill of lading, shall be without effect, and this bill of lading shall be enforcible according to its original tenor.

(Insert description of articles, weights, rates and routes, and car numbers and initials, if in carloads.)

OFFICIAL STAMP.

Agent.

I move that this resolution receive the sanction of the National Board of Trade by a direct vote.

Mr. CLUM, of Cleveland.—I beg to inquire whether the forms presented are similar to those printed in the official programme?

Mr. READ. They are. They are exact copies.

Mr. ROLPH, of Philadelphia.-I suggest, Mr. READ, that you hold up the two forms, so that the color may be exhibited.

Mr. READ. The form before the Interstate Commerce Commission at the present time has been approved by the American Bankers' Association and by a large number of the shippers and people specially interested in it. Where the form is objected to, the objection is not to the verbiage itself, but to the

fact that there are two forms instead of one. Two forms are required by the shipping and banking interests by reason of the fact that one is a negotiable instrument and the other is not. The words the bankers wanted printed in one form are "to the order of."

The PRESIDENT.-Was it not the contention that the railroads did not want any damages to be placed on any except the initial shipping company?

Mr. READ.--That does not come into this at all.

Mr. KELLY, of Philadelphia.-Before the motion is put, I would like to ask the Commissioner a question. I was not here when he read it. Do I understand that the bill of lading which you ask us to adopt is the common-law liability bill of lading?

Mr. READ.—It is the common-law liability bill of lading.

Mr. KELLY. I had the honor and pleasure of attending the sitting of the Interstate Commerce Commission when these bills of lading were considered, and, if I remember correctly, there were two propositions: one was known as the commonlaw liability bill of lading, and the other was the bill of lading acted upon by the American Bankers' Association. A large body of men, largely from the West, were in favor of the common-law liability; the American Bankers' Association were not in favor of that. Is it proposed that this organization shall indorse the bankers' bill of lading or the other?

Mr. READ. Both of them read in this way: "In accordance with the provisions of law."

Mr. KELLY.—That is the common-law liability.

Mr. READ.-And the Bankers' Association has indorsed these two forms.

Mr. KELLY.-The shipper is protected by the laws of the various States?

Mr. READ.-Yes.

The PRESIDENT.-Are there any other remarks, gentlemen? The resolution was adopted.

The PRESIDENT.-The next question is on the receipt of the report on the uniform bill of lading.

The report of the committee was received and ordered placed on file.

Mr. CARHART, of New York.-It would be very important, if we desire the adoption of these bills of lading, for us to have some one on the spot to represent us, and if our Chairman, Mr. READ, has not the authority at present so to do, I move that he be requested, being here in Washington, to look out for the interests of this resolution before the Interstate Commerce Commission.

The PRESIDENT.-That is a very pertinent resolution, but Mr. READ is already doing that.

The motion was agreed to.

RIVERS AND HARBORS.

The PRESIDENT.-We are ready for further reports.

Mr. FRY, of Philadelphia, from the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, handed the report of the committee to the Secretary.

The PRESIDENT.-This is a very important report, which will be read by the Secretary.

The Secretary read the report of the committee as follows:

The President of the National Board of Trade:

Your committee, to whom were referred the resolutions relative to the improvements of rivers and harbors covered by the topics embodied in the regular programme from 64 to 74, inclusive, having given careful consideration to this important subject, has the honor to submit the following preamble and resolutions :

WHEREAS, The existing conditions of our business interest, due largely to the inability of our limited transportation facilities to properly handle and economically transport the large freight movement of the country, calls for some speedy and permanent relief, and as it has been freely admitted by many of our commercial bodies and manufacturing interests that the only practical and permanent relief must come through the