tinue available until the end of the census period. The greater part, if not all, of the $12,000,000 thus far appropriated will be expended before the end of the fiscal year 1911. Another appropriation of $2,500,000 has therefore been asked for to cover the cost of tabulation during the fiscal year 1912 and the heavy cost of publishing the results of the census.

QUARTERS.

In order to provide for the large force necessary to compile the statistics of the Thirteenth Census, additional quarters had to be secured. About the beginning of the calendar year 1910, therefore, two additional buildings were leased. One of these buildings, designated as Census Annex No. 1, is a four-story brick building, located on First street, immediately adjoining the main Census Building. The annual rental is $6,000. This building is occupied chiefly by the manufactures division. The other additional building, designated as Census Annex No. 2, is a four-story brick building, located on L street near Fifth NW., originally constructed for an armory. The annual rental is $13,000. This building is almost wholly devoted to the agricultural division, but the smaller division of vital statistics is also located there.

The following statement shows the floor space and rentals of the three buildings now leased by the Census Bureau:

In view of the large rental expense, but still more by reason of the inconvenience of the buildings themselves, their lack of fireproof construction, and the separation of the force, serious consideration should be given at the proper time to the question of constructing a special fireproof building for the temporary work of the succeeding decennial censuses. Provision has been made in the plans for the proposed building of the Department of Commerce and Labor for space to accommodate the normal force of the Bureau of the Census during intercensal periods. It is, however, for obvious reasons, inexpedient to make provision in a monumental building of this character for the great space necessary to accommodate the large temporary force employed by this Bureau during the decennial census period only. The force of the Bureau during the census period is four or five times larger than between the censuses, and if space is to be owned by the Government to accommodate this large increased force, it should be in a building situated on less expensive land and less expensively constructed than the department building. It is probable that some profitable use could be made during the intercensal period of a special building designed primarily for the decennial census work. So long as the Government has not available space of its own capable of

accommodating the census work, there is serious risk that at any given census it will be either impossible to secure any quarters whatever by rental from private parties, or that it will be necessary to scatter the force in several different buildings and to put up with very inferior accommodations. In view of the great expense of collecting the census schedules, it is of the highest importance that the quarters in which they are stored and in which they are handled during the process of tabulation should be absolutely fireproof. Respectfully submitted.

Hon. CHARLES NAGEL,

E. DANA DURAND,

Director.

Secretary of Commerce and Labor.

REPORT

OF THE

INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION.

WASHINGTON, D. C., December 21, 1910.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

The Interstate Commerce Commission has the honor to submit its twenty-fourth annual report for the consideration of the Congress. The act of June 18, 1910 (36 Stat. L., 539), commonly known as the Mann-Elkins law, enlarged the substantive provisions of the act to regulate commerce, corrected numerous defects which experience had disclosed, conferred upon the public new rights and remedies, and correspondingly increased the jurisdiction and authority of the Commission. As in the period following the enactment of the Hepburn law of 1906, much consideration has been given, and for a time will be required to be given, to the administrative interpretation of the amended act for the guidance of shippers and carriers. The nature and general scope of this work was explained at some length in our report to the Congress for 1909, and what was said at that time respecting the practical importance and permanent value of this method of administration need not be here repeated. It is sufficient to say that the questions presented involve the application to daily transactions between carriers and shippers of substantially every provision of the amended statute.

Immediately following the passage of the Mann-Elkins law the Commission was called upon to exercise what is perhaps the most farreaching and fundamentally important power conferred upon it by that act, namely, the authority to suspend proposed advances in rates pending investigation of their propriety. It will be recalled that in the first half of 1910 numerous carriers had given notice of general advances in rates, and it was commonly understood that other carriers would shortly take similar action. As a result of conferences between the Government authorities and representatives of the carriers, the dates on which the proposed advances were to become effective were postponed pending the passage of the bill then under consideration by the Congress, and section 12 of that bill was made effective upon

2013

its passage in order that the Commission might at once institute investigations thereunder. Thereupon two general investigations were instituted, one relating to the general advances in rates proposed by eastern carriers and the other to those proposed by western carriers. In both proceedings organizations of shippers asked for and were given leave to intervene. Appreciating the importance to the general public, as well as to the interested carriers, of an early determination of the issues presented by these cases, every effort has been made to expedite the proceedings. As a result of the hearings, which closed November 30, a stupendous record is now before the Commission. Hundreds of tariffs naming the increased rates were voluntarily postponed by the carriers until November 1, 1910, and again postponed until February 1, 1911. The cases have been assigned for argument on January 9 and succeeding days, and the Commission intends to announce its decision at the earliest practicable date thereafter.

WORK OF THE COMMISSION.

Since our last annual report the Commission has announced decisions in 692 proceedings instituted by formal complaints or by the Commission on its own motion, and 125 similar cases have been disposed of by stipulation of the parties for dismissal or motion of complainants for discontinuance. It will thus be seen that 817 formal cases have been removed from the Commission's docket during the year. The present docket shows a marked improvement over that of previous years in the number of pending cases, and the entire work of the Commission is in a fairly satisfactory condition. A digest of the important points decided by the Commission will be printed in an appendix to this report.

During the same period 660 formal complaints have been filed and 11 proceedings instituted by the Commission. In addition to this, 25 proceedings involving suspension of tariffs under the act of June 18, 1910, have been instituted. The number of formal proceedings shows a marked decrease as compared with the number filed during the previous year, due mainly to the consolidation of complaints involving the same or substantially the same principle, subject, or state of facts.

The number of informal complaints made the subject of correspondence between the Commission and interested carriers shows a decrease for 1910 as compared with 1909, 3,840 having been filed during the year 1910, as against 4,136 in the previous year. This decrease may be in part accounted for by the fact that, as a result of numerous decisions by the Commission in formal and informal proceedings to which practices of shippers and carriers have been ad