from any other person, shall not be deemed by so doing to represent or warrant the genuineness of such bill or the quantity or quality of the goods therein described.

Secs. 37-41

gotiation.

SEC. 37. That the validity of the negotiation of a bill Validity of we is not impaired by the fact that such negotiation was a breach of duty on the part of the person making the negotiation, or by the fact that the owner of the bill was deprived of the possession of the same by fraud, accident, mistake, duress, loss, theft, or conversion, if the person to whom the bill was negotiated, or a person to whom the bill was subsequently negotiated gave value therefor in good faith, without notice of the breach of duty, or fraud, accident, mistake, duress, loss, theft, or conversion.

SEC. 38. That where a person, having sold, mortgaged, Subsequent noor pledged goods which are in a carrier's possession and for which an order bill has been issued, or having sold, mortgaged, or pledged the order bill representing such goods, continues in possession of the order bill, the subsequent negotiation thereof by that person under any sale, pledge, or other disposition thereof to any person receiving the same in good faith, for value and without notice of the previous sale, shall have the same effect as if the first purchaser of the goods or bill had expressly authorized the subsequent negotiation.

SEC. 39. That where an order bill has been issued for Seller's Hen. Stoppage in goods no seller's lien or right of stoppage in transitu transitu. shall defeat the rights of any purchaser for value in good faith to whom such bill has been negotiated, whether such negotiation be prior or subsequent to the notification to the carrier who issued such bill of the seller's claim to a lien or right of stoppage in transitu. Nor shall the carrier be obliged to deliver or justified in delivering the good to an unpaid seller unless such bill is first surrendered for cancellation.

holder.

SEO. 40. That, except as provided in section thirty- Rights of Hen nine, nothing in this act shall limit the rights and remedies of a mortgagee or lien holder whose mortgage or lien on goods would be valid, apart from this act, as against one who for value and in good faith purchased from the owner, immediately prior to the time of their delivery to the carrier, the goods which are subject to the mortgage or lien and obtained possession of them.

counterfeiting

SEC. 41. That any person who, knowingly or with in- Forging or tent to defraud, falsely makes, alters, forges, counterfeits, bills. prints or photographs any bill of lading purporting to

Secs. 41 and 42-44

Penalty.

Definitions.

Not retroactivo.

Sections sever

able.

represent goods received for shipment among the several States or with foreign nations, or with like intent utters or publishes as true and genuine any such falsely altered, forged, counterfeited, falsely printed or photographed bill of lading, knowing it to be falsely altered, forged, counterfeited, falsely printed or photographed, or aids in making, altering, forging, counterfeiting, printing or photographing, or uttering or publishing the same, or issues or aids in issuing or procuring the issue of, or negotiates or transfers for value a bill which contains a false statement as to the receipt of the goods, or as to any other matter, or who, with intent to defraud, violates, or fails to comply with, or aids in any violation of, or failure to comply with any provision of this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be punished for each offense by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by a fine not exceeding $5,000, or both.

SEC. 42. First. That in this act, unless the context of subject matter otherwise requires—

"Action" includes counterclaim, set-off, and suit in equity.

"Bill" means bill of lading governed by this act.

"Consignee" means the person named in the bill as the person to whom delivery of the goods is to be made. "Consignor" means the person named in the bill as the person from whom the goods have been received for shipment.

"Goods" means merchandise or chattels in course of transportation or which have been or are about to be transported.

"Holder" of a bill means a person who has both actual possession of such bill and a right of property therein. "Order" means an order by indorsement on the bill. "Person" includes a corporation or partnership, or two or more persons having a joint or common interest. To "purchase" includes to take as mortgagee and to take as pledgee.

"State" includes any Territory, District, insular possession, or isthmian possession.

SEC. 43. That the provisions of this act do not apply to bills made and delivered prior to the taking effect thereof.

SEC. 44. That the provisions and each part thereof and the sections and each part thereof of this act are independent and severable, and the declaring of any provision

or part thereof, or provisions or part thereof, or section or part thereof, or sections or part thereof, unconstitutional shall not impair or render unconstitutional any other provision or part thereof or section or part thereof. SEC. 45. That this act shall take effect and be in force on and after the first day of January next after its passage.

Secs. 1 and 2

Effective date Jan. 1, 1917.

GOVERNMENT-AIDED RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH ACT.

AN ACT Supplementary to the Act of July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, entitled "An Act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes," and also of the Act of July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and other Acts amendatory. of said first-named Act.

aided railroad and

operate lines

25 Stat. L., 382.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives · of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all railroad and telegraph companies to which the GovernmentUnited States has granted any subsidy in lands or bonds telegraph lines must themselves or loan of credit for the construction of either railroad maintain and or telegraph lines, which, by the Acts incorporating them, or by any Act amendatory or supplementary thereto, are required to construct, maintain, or operate telegraph lines, and all companies engaged in operating said railroad or telegraph lines shall forthwith, and henceforward by and through their own respective corporate officers and employees, maintain and operate, for railroad, governmental, commercial, and all other purposes, telegraph lines, and exercised by themselves alone all the telegraph franchises conferred upon them and obligations assumed by them under the Acts making the grants as aforesaid.

egraph lines.

SEC. 2 That whenever any telegraph company which Connecting telshall have accepted the provisions of title sixty-five of the Revised Statutes shall extend its line to any station or office of a telegraph line belonging to any one of said railroad or telegraph companies, referred to in the first section of this Act, said telegraph company so extending its line shall have the right and said railroad or telegraph company shall allow the line of said telegraph company so extending its line to connect with the telegraph line of said railroad or telegraph company to which it is extended at the place where their lines may meet, for the prompt Equal facilities and convenient interchange of telegraph business between

required.

Secs. 2, 3, and 4

sion.

said companies; and such railroad and telegraph companies, referred to in the first section of this Act, shall so operate their respective telegraph lines as to afford equal facilities to all, without discrimination in favor of or against any person, company, or corporation whatever, and shall receive, deliver, and exchange business with connecting telegraph lines on equal terms, and affording equal facilities, and without discrimination for or against any one of such connecting lines; and such exchange of business shall be on terms just and equitable. Complaints to SEC. 3. That if any such railroad or telegraph comInterstate Commerce Commis- pany referred to in the first section of this Act or company operating such railroad or telegraph line shall refuse or fail, in whole or in part, to maintain and operate a telegraph line as provided in this Act and Acts to which this is supplementary, for the use of the Government or the public, for commercial and other purposes, without discrimination, or shall refuse or fail to make or continue such arrangements for the interchange of business with any connecting telegraph company, ther any person, company, corporation, or connecting telegraph company may apply for relief to the Interstate ComDuties of the merce Commission, whose duty it shall thereupon be, where complaint under such rules and regulations as said Commission may

Commission

is made.

prescribe, to ascertain the facts, and determine and order what arrangement is proper to be made in the particular case, and the railroad or telegraph company concerned shall abide by and perform such order; and it shall be the duty of the Interstate Commerce Commission, when such determination and order are made, to notify the parties concerned, and, if necessary, enforce the same by writ of mandamus in the courts of the United States, in the name of the United States, at the relation of either Commission of said Interstate Commerce Commissioners: Provided, quiries on its own That the said Commissioners may institute any inquiry, upon their own motion, in the same manner and to the same effect as though complaint had been made.

may institute in

motion.

Duty of the Attorney General under this Act.

SEC. 4. That in order to secure and preserve to the United States the full value and benefit of its liens upon all the telegraph lines required to be constructed by and lawfully belonging to said railroad and telegraph companies referred to in the first section of this Act, and to have the same possessed, used, and operated in conformity with the provisions of this Act and of the several Acts to which this Act is supplementary, it is hereby made the

duty of the Attorney General of the United States, by proper proceedings, to prevent any unlawful interference with the rights and equities of the United States under this Act, and under the Acts hereinbefore mentioned, and under all Acts of Congress relating to such railroads and telegraph lines, and to have legally ascertained and finally adjudicated all alleged rights of all persons and corporations whatever claiming in any manner any control or interest of any kind in any telegraph lines or property, or exclusive rights of way upon the lands of said railroad companies, or any of them, and to have all contracts and provisions of contracts set aside and annulled which have been unlawfully and beyond their powers entered into by said railroad or telegraph companies, or any of them, with any other person, company, or corporation.

Secs. 4 and 8

Penalties for failure to comply

sions of this Act

the Commission.

SEC. 5. That any officer or agent of said railroad or telegraph companies, or of any company operating the with the provi railroads and telegraph lines of said companies, who shall or the orders of refuse or fail to operate the telegraph lines of said railroad or telegraph companies under his control, or which he is engaged in operating, in the manner directed in this Act and by the Acts to which it is supplementary, or who shall refuse or fail, in such operation and use, to afford and secure to the Government and the public equal facilities, or to secure to each of said connecting telegraph lines equal advantages and facilities in the interchange of business, as herein provided for, without any discrimination whatever for or adverse to the telegraph line of any or either of said connecting companies, or shall refuse to. abide by, or perform and carry out within a reasonable time the order or orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission, shall in every such case of refusal or failure be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall in every such case be fined in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, and may be imprisoned not less than six months; and in every such case of refusal or failure the party aggrieved may not only cause the officer or agent guilty thereof to be prosecuted under the provisions of this section, but may also bring an action for the damages Actions for sustained thereby against the company whose officer or so be brought. agent may be guilty thereof, in the circuit or district court of the United States in any State or Territory in which any portion of the road or telegraph line of said company may be situated; and in case of suit process may

damages may al