uotes the laws forbidding railroad officials from being
interested in fast freight, express, or transportation companies,
and from dealing in railroad securities, and adds, that "the
violation of these laws is believed to be very common among
railroad officials."

The commissioner also gives examples of the "increase or watering
of stock" by railroad companies, and remarks, "the foregoing
statements are the more striking in view of the fact that the
stockholders in the company have been in receipt of regular
semi-annual dividends for seven years of from six to ten per cent
per annum."

The significance of this remark of the commissioner lies in the
fact that the rates which railroad companies may charge for the
transportation of passengers and freight may be prescribed by the
General Assembly, whenever the net profits amount to ten per cent
on the capital actually invested.

The interests involved are of such magnitude that all legislation
ought to be based on the fullest and most accurate information
which a careful investigation can furnish. I, therefore, recommend
that a commission of five citizens, of whom the railroad
commissioner shall be one, be organized, with ample powers to
investigate the management of the railroad companies of the State,
their legal rights, and the rights of the State and its citizens,
and to report the information acquired, with a recommendation of
such measures as the commission shall deem expedient.

During the past year, the traveling public has enjoyed, in Ohio,
remarkable immunity from railroad accidents. According to the
reports of the railroad companies to the commissioner, not a single
passenger has lost his life by the fault of the railroads in the
State during the year. But the number of persons, "other than
passengers," and of "employees" who have lost their lives, is quite
large. One hundred and fifty-seven persons are reported to have
been killed, and it is without doubt that many deaths have occurred
which have not been reported. Many of these fatal accidents
happened in the streets of towns and cities, and at street and road
crossings. It is perfectly practicable to protect citizens from
these dangers, by enforcing proper regulations as to the speed of
trains, and as to the occupancy and cr