Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 20.pdf/62

 CANADIAN RAILWAY COMMISSIONERS stock, and operating rules, and may make orders and regulations, generally providing for the protection of property, and the pro tection, safety, accommodation and comfort of the public, and of the employees of the company in the running and operating of trains by the company. Many other specific powers, too numerous to mention, are given to the Board. The Board is authorized, by general pro visions, to order a railway company to do anything required by the statute, and to forbid the doing or continuing of anything contrary to the statute. The Board is made a Court of Record, and is given full jurisdiction to hear and determine all matters, whether of law or of fact; and, as respects the enforcement of its orders and many other matters, it is given all such powers, rights and privileges as are vested in a Superior Court. The decision of the Board upon any question of fact is binding and con clusive upon all companies and persons, and in all courts. There may be an appeal from an order of the Board to the Supreme Court of Canada upon any question of law, under certain conditions. An unlimited right of appeal from the Board to the Gover nor General in Council is given. The Board may exercise its jurisdiction on complaint of any party interested, or it may, of its own motion, and is obliged at the request of the Minister of Railways to inquire into, hear, and determine any matter or thing which, under the Act, it might inquire into, hear, and determine upon application or complaint. The rules of the Board require applica tions and complaints to be made in writing and to be signed by the applicant or his solicitor, or, in the case of a corporate body or company, by its manager, secretary, or solicitor. The application is required to contain a clear and concise statement of the facts, the grounds of the application, the section of the Act under which the same is made, and the nature of the order applied for, or the relief or remedy to which the ap

plicant claims to be entitled. It has to be divided into paragraphs, each of which, as nearly as possible, is to be confined to a distinct portion of the subject, and the paragraphs are to be numbered consecu tively. The application or complaint is to be endorsed with the name and address of the applicant, or, if there be a solicitor acting for him in the matter, with the name and address of the solicitor. In many cases it is required to be accompanied by maps, plans, etc. The applicant is to serve the applica tion, and ten days is given for the respondent or respondents to answer it. The applicant may also reply to the answer. Any party is entitled to have a matter in which he is interested heard in open court, otherwise matters are frequently disposed of in an informal way by the Board upon correspond ence. As the Board has power to inquire into matters of its own motion, it is not strict in requiring applicants, and particularly illit erate persons, to conform to such rules, but often calls upon a railway company, upon a mere letter or informal complaint, to state its position. Experts are appointed to advise the Board, chiefly in engineering and traffic matters. Tariffs of tolls for passenger carriage are divided into two classes — standard pas senger tariffs and special passenger tariffs. Tariffs of tolls for the carriage of goods are divided into three classes — standard freight tariffs, special freight tariffs, and competi tive tariffs. All tariffs are required to be filed with the Board, and are to be published in a certain way, unless otherwise ordered by the Board. Standard freight and pas senger tariffs are subject to the approval of the Board. Special tariffs and competitive tariffs do not require the express sanction of the Board, but must specify tolls lower than those in the standard tariffs. The competi tive tariffs deal with the tolls to or from specified points which the Board may con sider, or may have declared, to be competi