§31-2-5. Buying, selling or transporting coal and coke.
It shall be unlawful for any railroad corporation to engage, directly or indirectly, in the business of buying and selling coal or coke, or to promise, pledge or lend its credit, money or other property or thing of value to another, either natural or corporate, engaged in such business, but nothing herein shall prevent such corporation from purchasing such articles for its own consumption, or when it is the owner of any such commodities from selling and shipping the same: Provided, That in doing so, such corporation shall not discriminate in rates, distribution of cars or otherwise against other shippers of like commodities on its lines: Provided further, That when such company has the right to sell either of such commodities, and is unable from any cause to fill any bona fide contracts it may have made to supply such commodities, or either of them, it may purchase them to enable it to fill such contracts.
Every railroad corporation, along whose line of railroad the industry of mining coal or manufacturing coke is carried on, shall without discrimination between or among shippers, and without unnecessary delay, make a reasonable provision for the transportation of all such coal and coke offered for transportation over its railroad, and no such railroad corporation shall discriminate in rates, distribution of cars or otherwise against or among shippers of coal or coke offered for shipment on its line or lines.
The circuit and criminal courts of every county through or into which the railroad of any such railroad corporation violating any or either of the provisions of this section may pass, shall have concurrent jurisdiction of all the offenses under and violations of the provisions of this section.
Any railroad corporation or officer or agent thereof who shall knowingly and wilfully violate any of the provisions of this section, shall, for each and every such offense, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than $500.
