In the laws of England and of the British colonies the custom of defining the terms employed in the law appears to be well established. Canadian law, for instance, defines such terms as "company, "coach," "department," "goods," "highway," "lines," "maps," "plans," "near," "owner railway," "toll," "tariff," "the working expenditure," "the undertaking," and the like.

Necessary legal terms can be found in Black's Law Dictionary, published by the West Publishing Company, while the Traffic Glossary of the LaSalle Traffic Library defines the technical terms and phrases applied to railway traffic work.

INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION DECISIONS

These are the orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission entered in connection with various rate cases or transportation problems that have come before it for review. They are issued to the public first in the shape of leaflets, and when a sufficient number of leaflets have been issued, in bound volumes, the bound volumes as a rule running two or three numbers behind the unbound leaflet form.

Subscription for either the bound volume or the leaflet may be entered with the Superintendent of Public Documents, Washington, D. C., at a very nominal expense.

The Superintendent of Public Documents is not in a position to furnish earlier bound volumes up to and including twelve. Volumes 1 to 12 inclusive are controlled by the Lawyers Coöperative Publishing Company, Rochester, N. Y., and these early volumes must be secured from that source.

DIGEST OF COMMISSION DECISIONS

The opinions emanating from the Interstate Commerce Commission regarding complaints laid before it are in some instances very voluminous, and full of irrelevant detail. It has been the custom of the legal fraternity to condense into short paragraphs the principal points of these decisions.

Such a digest of the decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission from the time of its inception, 1887, to 1906 can be found in a single volume, Digest of Decisions under the Act to Regulate Commerce, by Mr. E. B. Peirce.

A rather elaborate table of contents and index form a complete reference to the contents of the volume. By familiarizing oneself with the classifications, cases parallel to those confronting an industry may be located at will.

Since 1906 summaries of these decisions have been published by H. C. Lust & Company, of Chicago. In addition to the bound volumes covering certain periods they offer a supplemental service in the shape of a paper-covered volume issued quarterly each year, giving the digest of Commission decisions appearing for that period.

"CLAIMS BETWEEN SHIPPERS AND CARRIERS"

Merriam's Claims between Shippers and Carriers, published by the LaSalle Extension University, is an extensive work and includes a digest of all American court decisions on loss or damage issues between shippers and carriers.

Not infrequently the shipper will engage counsel

to prosecute an issue for him when he has no case at all; and on the other hand, the carriers often decline claims when, under the law, they have no right to do so. A thoro analysis of the classification in this book will enable the department to handle loss and damage issues intelligently, and to avoid many of the expensive leaks that occur under the present hit or miss plan.

"LOSS AND DAMAGE CLAIMS"

Loss and Damage Claims is the work of Mr. H. C. Lust, of the Chicago Bar. The statement in the author's preface to the work indicates its scope and purpose:

The book is prepared as a guide to the traffic man in the settlement of loss and damage claims. While care has been taken to support the various principles with citations of cases, they are intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive.

An endeavor has been made to examine the entire law and to state only such principles as, in the opinion of the author, will be sustained in the federal courts. It has been deemed advisable to emphasize by repetition certain important principles.

An attempt has been made to create a simple classification following the course that a shipment naturally takes; thus, the liability of the carrier when it first receives the shipment, the liability during transit, the liability after arrival, seems to be the natural method of treating the subject.

In the appendix, will be found printed the three federal laws with which Congress has occupied the field of loss and damage claims, namely, the Cummins Amendment, the Twenty-EightHour Law, and the Bill of Lading Act.

Attention is called to the fact that on account of new legislation which undoubtedly will be passed in the future, and new

decisions, the principles enunciated will necessarily change in the course of time. The law of loss and damage claims will be kept down to date by quarterly supplements known as the Loss and Damage Review. These, coming out every three months, will constitute a current quarterly textbook of the law.

"HUTCHINSON ON CARRIERS"

The work regarded by many of the foremost traffic men as the leading authority on the liability of carriers in the discharge of their duties as common carriers is Hutchinson on Carriers.

It is frequently cited in court decisions wherein such issues are involved.

The various incidents of transportation, such as the delivery to the carrier, the carrier's duty to transport, the carrier's liability as warehouseman, the bill of lading as a contract are treated at length in a somewhat simple style readily understood by men of average intelligence. It includes also material on water carriers. It is one of the more expensive books, but is a valuable addition to the traffic department library.

Similar works are those of Miche on Carriers, and Moore on Carriers.

"FULLER ON INTERSTATE COMMERCE"

Fuller on Interstate Commerce is a work which has to do with the Act to Regulate Commerce as it has come to the Supreme Court for review. The points involved rest largely on the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the confiscation of property without due process of law, and the commerce clause of the Constitution.

In his introduction to this work, the author states that the literature of the subject, both political and economic, as well as legal, appears to be well-nigh inexhaustible, yet there seems room for a further discussion of certain features of the Act to Regulate Commerce.

The findings of the Interstate Commerce Commission to date fill some forty-odd volumes. The decisions of the lower federal courts upon this act are only less voluminous. On the other hand, the decisions of the Supreme Court, which constitute the last word on the subject, have often not been treated by writers on this subject with a due measure of importance.

STATE COMMISSION REPORTS

The concern should also make an effort to secure copies of the State Public Utility Commission reports of the state in which they are located. Many important cases come before such tribunals and a perusal of the decisions and orders entered will often be suggestive of some line of action on similar cases that may be pending.

In conclusion, lists of works on railway economics and transportation problems may be secured from booksellers from which selections may be made for addition to the departmental library.