No officer, agent, or employee of a railroad company shall willfully fail to fill out and return a blank form required by the public utilities commission, or by law, or willfully fail to answer a question propounded in a blank form, knowingly give a false answer to such question or evade the answer to it, if the fact inquired of is within his knowledge, or, upon proper demand, willfully fail to exhibit a book, paper, or account of such railroad which is in his possession or under his control, to a public utilities commissioner or other person authorized to examine it.