Par. 42. That if upon investigation it shall be found that any rate, toll, charge, schedule, or joint rate, or rates, is unjust, unreasonable, insufficient, or unjustly discriminatory or preferential, or otherwise in violation of any of the provisions of this section, or that any time schedule, regulation, act, or service complained of is unjust, unreasonable, insufficient, preferential, or otherwise in violation or any of the provisions of this section, or if it be found that reasonable service is not supplied, the public utility found to be at fault shall pay the expenses incurred by the commission upon such investigation.

Par. 43. That the commission may, in its discretion, when complaint is made of more than one rate or charge, order separate hearings thereon, and may consider and determine the several matters complained of separately and at such times as it may prescribe. No complaint shall of necessity at any time be dismissed because of the absence of direct damage to the complainant.

Par. 44. That whenever the commission shall believe that any rate or charge may be unreasonable or unjustly discriminatory, or that any reasonable service is not supplied, or that an investigation of any matter relating to any public utility should for any reason be made, it may, on its own motion, summarily investigate the same with or without notice.

Par. 45. That if after making such investigation the commission becomes satisfied that sufficient grounds exist to warrant a formal hearing being ordered as to the matters so investigated, it shall furnish such public utility interested a statement notifying the public utility of the matters under investigation. Ten days after such notice has been given the commission may proceed to set a time and place for a hearing and an investigation as hereinbefore provided.

Par. 46. That notice of the time and place for such hearing shall be given to the public utility and to such other interested persons as the commission shall deem necessary, as provided in paragraph forty of this section, and thereafter proceedings shall be had and conducted in reference to the matter investigated in like manner as though complaint had been filed with the commission relative to the matter investigated, and the same order or orders may be made in reference thereto as if such investigation had been made on complaint.

Par. 47. That any public utility may make complaint as to any matter affecting its own product or service with like effect as though made by the commission or upon reasonable complaint as hereinbefore provided. Par. 48. That each of the commissioners and every agent provided for in paragraph thirty-six of this section for the purposes mentioned in this section shall have power to administer oaths, certify to official acts, issue subpanas, compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, accounts, papers, records, documents, and testimony. In case of disobedience on the part of any person or persons to comply with any order of the commission or any commissioner, or any subpœna, or on the refusal of any witness to testify to any matter regarding which he may be interrogated before the commission or its agent authorized, it shall be the duty of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, or a judge thereof, on application of a commissioner, to compel obedience by attachment proceedings for contempt, as in the case of disobedience of the requirements of a subpœna issued from such court or a refusal to testify therein.

Par. 49. That each witness who shall appear before the commission or its agent by its order shall receive for his attendance the fees and mileage

now provided for witnesses in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, which shall be audited and paid in the same manner as fees in criminal cases within the District of Columbia are audited and paid, upon the presentation of proper vouchers, sworn to by such witnesses and approved by the chairman of the commission. No witnesses subpoenaed at the instance of parties other than the commission shall be entitled to compensation for attendance or travel unless the commission shall certify that his testimony was material to the matter investigated, and that his attendance as a witness was reasonably necessary.

Par. 50. That the commission or any party may, in any investigation, cause the depositions of witnesses residing within or without the District of Columbia to be taken in the manner prescribed by law for like depositions in civil actions in circuit courts.

Par. 51. That a full and complete record shall be kept of all proceedings had before the commission or its agents on any formal investigation had, and all testimony shall be taken down by a stenographer appointed by the commission.

Par. 52. That whenever any complaint is served upon the commission under the provisions of this section the commission shall, before said action is reached for trial, cause a certified transcript of all proceedings had and testimony taken upon such investigation to be filed with the clerk of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.

Par. 53. That a transcribed copy of the evidence and proceedings, or any specific part thereof, in any investigation taken by a stenographer appointed by the commission, being certified by such stenographer to be a true and correct transcript of all the testimony in the investigation or of a particular witness, or of other specific part thereof, carefully compared by him with his original notes, and to be a correct statement of the evidence and proceedings had in such investigation so purporting to be taken and transcribed, shall be received in evidence with the same effect as if such reporter were present and testified to the fact so certified. A copy of such transcript shall be furnished on demand, free of cost, to any party to such investigation.

Par. 54. That no franchise nor any right to or under any franchise to own or operate any public utility as defined in this section or to use the tracks of any street railroad shall be assigned, transferred, or leased, nor shall any contract or agreement with reference to or affecting any such franchise or right be valid or of any force or effect whatsoever unless the assignment, transfer, lease, contract, or agreement shall have been approved by the commission in writing. The permission and approval of the commission to the assignment, transfer, or lease of a franchise under this paragraph shall not be construed to revive or validate any lapsed or invalid franchise or to enlarge or add to the powers and privileges contained in the grant of any franchise or to waive any forfeiture. It shall be unlawful for any street railroad corporation, gas corporation, electric corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, or other public utility corporation, directly or indirectly, to acquire the stock or bonds of any other corporation incorporated for or engaged in the same or similar business as it is, unless authorized in writing to do so by the commission, and every contract, transfer, agreement for transfer, or assignment of any such stock or bonds without such written authority shall be void and of no effect.

Par. 55. That the commission shall, within its jurisdiction—

Have general supervision of all gas corporations and electrical corporations having authority under any general or special law or under any charter or franchise to lay down, erect, or maintain wires, pipes, conduits, ducts, or other fixtures in, over, or under the streets, highways, and public places in the District of Columbia for the purpose of furnishing or distributing gas or of furnishing or transmitting electricity for light, heat, or power, or maintaining underground conduits or ducts for electrical conductors, and all gas plants and electric plants owned, leased, or operated by any corporation.

Investigate and ascertain, from time to time, the quality and quantity of gas supplied by persons or corporations; examine or investigate the methods employed by such persons and corporations in manufacturing distributing, and supplying gas or electricity for light, heat, or power, and in transmitting the same, and have power to order such reasonable improvements as will reasonably promote the public interest, preserve the public health, and protect those using such gas or electricity and those employed in the manufacture and distribution thereof or in the manufacture and operation of the works, wires, poles, lines, conduits, ducts, and systems connected therewith, and have power to order reasonable improvements and extensions of the works, wires, poles, lines, conduits, ducts, and other reasonable devices, apparatus, and property of gas corporations and electrical corporations.

Have power by order to fix from time to time standards for determining the purity or the measurement of the illuminating power of gas to be manufactured, distributed, or sold by persons or corporations for lighting, heating, or power purposes, and to prescribe from time to time the efficiency of the electric supply system, of the current supplied, and of the lamps furnished by the persons or corporations generating and selling electric current, and by order to require the gas so manufactured, distributed, or sold to equal the standards so fixed by it, and to prescribe from time to time the reasonable minimum and maximum pressure at which gas shall be delivered by said persons or corporations. For the purpose of determining whether the gas manufactured, distributed, or sold by such persons or corporations for lighting, heating, or power purposes conforms to the standards of illuminating power, purity, and pressure, and for the purpose of determining whether the efficiency of the electric supply system, of the current supplied, and of the lamps furnished conforms to the orders issued by the commission, the commission shall have power, of its own motion, to examine and investigate the plants and methods employed in manufacturing, delivering, and supplying gas or electricity, and shall have access, through its members or persons employed and authorized by it to make such examinations and investigations, to all parts of the manufacturing plants owned, used, or operated for the manufacture, transmission, or distribution of gas or electricity by any such person or corporation. Any employee or agent of the commission who divulges any fact or information which may come to his knowledge during the course of any such inspection or examination, except in so far as he may be directed by the commission, or by a court or judge thereof, or authorized by law, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $500 for each offense.

Par. 56. That no gas corporation or electrical corporation shall begin the construction of a gas plant or electric plant without first having obtained the permission and approval of the commission.

Par. 57. That the commission shall appoint inspectors of gas meters, whose duty it shall be, when required by the commission, to inspect, examine, prove, and ascertain the accuracy of any and all gas meters used or intended to be used for measuring or ascertaining the quantity of gas for light, heat, or power furnished by any person or corporation to or for the use of any person or corporation, and when found to be or made to be correct, the inspector shall seal all such meters and each of them with some suitable device, which device shall be recorded in the office of the commission.

No corporation or person shall furnish, set, or put in use any gas meter which shall not have been inspected, proved, and sealed by an inspector of the commission.

The commission shall appoint inspectors of electric meters, whose duty it shall be, when required by the commission, to inspect, examine, and ascertain the accuracy of any and all electric meters used or intended to be used for measuring and ascertaining the quantity of electric current furnished for light, heat, or power by any person or corporation to or for the use of any person or corporation, and to inspect, examine, and ascertain the accuracy of all apparatus for testing and proving the accuracy of electric meters; and when found to be or made to be correct the inspector shall stamp or mark all such meters and apparatus with some suitable device, which device shall be recorded in the office of the commission. No corporation or person shall furnish, set, or put in use any electric meter the type of which shall not have been approved by the commission or any meter not approved by an inspector of the commission.

Every gas corporation and electrical corporation shall provide, repair, and maintain such suitable premises and apparatus and facilities as may be required and approved by the commission for testing and proving the accuracy of gas and electric meters furnished for use by it, and by which apparatus every meter may be tested.

If any consumer to whom a meter has been furnished shall request the commission in writing to inspect such meter, the commission shall have the same inspected and tested; if the same, on being so tested, shall be found to be more than four per centum, if an electric meter, or more than two per centum, if a gas meter, defective or incorrect to the prejudice of the consumer, the inspector shall order the gas or electrical corporation forthwith to remove the same and to place instead a correct meter, and the expense of such inspection and test shall be borne by the corporation; if the same, on being so tested, shall be found to be correct, the expense of such inspection and test shall be borne by the consumer.

The commission shall prescribe such rules and regulations to carry into effect the provisions of this paragraph as it may deem necessary and shall fix uniform reasonable charges for the inspection and testing of meters upon complaint.

Par. 58. That if it be alleged and established in an action brought in any court for the collection of any charge for gas or electricity that a price has been demanded in excess of that fixed by the commission or by statute no recovery shall be had therein, but the fact that such excessive charges have been made shall be a complete defense to such action.

Par. 59. That the appointment and power to remove the inspector of gas and meters and assistant inspectors of gas and meters from office is hereby vested in the commission. All the powers and duties of such inspectors conferred and imposed by statute shall be exercised and performed under the supervision and control of the commission: Provided, That the salaries of the inspector of gas and meters and every assistant inspector of gas and meters shall continue to be paid as heretofore and as now provided by Act of Congress.

Par. 60. That the inspector of gas and meters now provided for by law shall transfer and deliver to the commission all books, maps, papers, records, apparatus, and the property of whatsoever description in his possession, and said commission is authorized to take possession of all books, maps, papers, records, apparatus, and property of whatsoever description.

Par. 61. That all public utilities to which an order of the commission applies shall make such changes in their schedules on file as may be necessary to make the same conform to said order, and no change shall thereafter be made by any public utility in any such rates, tolls, or charges, or in any joint rate or rates, without the approval of the commission. Certified copies of all other orders of the commission shall be delivered to the public utility affected thereby in like manner, and the same shall take effect within such reasonable time thereafter as the commission shall prescribe.

Par. 62. That the commission may, at any time, upon notice to the public utility and after opportunity to be heard as provided in paragraph forty of this scetion, rescind, alter, or amend any order fixing any rate or rates, tolls, charges, or schedules, or any other order made by the commission, and certified copies of the same shall be served and take effect as herein provided for original orders.

Par. 63. That all rates, tolls, charges, time and condition of payment thereof, schedules, and joint rates fixed by the commission shall be in force and shall be prima facie reasonable until finally found otherwise in an action brought for that purpose.

Par. 64. That if at any time the commission shall be in doubt of the elements of value to be by them considered in arriving at the true valuation under the provisions of this section, they are authorized and empowered to institute a proceeding in equity in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia petitioning said court to instruct them as to the element_or elements of value to be by them considered as aforesaid, and the particular utility under valuation at the time shall be made party defendant in said

action.

That any public utility and any person or corporation interest being dissatisfied with any order or decision of the commission fixing any valuation, rate or rates, tolls, charges, schedules, joint rates or rates, or regulation, requirement, act, service or other thing complained of, may commence a proceeding in equity in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia against the commission, as defendants, to vacate, set aside, or modify any such decision or order on the ground that the valuation, rate or rates, tolls, charges, schedules, joint rate or rates or regulation, requirement, act, service, or other thing complained of fixed in such order is unlawful, inadequate, or unreasonable. The answer of the commission, on any such action being instituted against it, or the answer of any public utility on any such action being commenced by said commission against