. Interstate Commerce Commission | FactMonster reasons and evidence. With these new powers, the ICC gained almost complete control over rail rates, and therefore much of rail competition. . e. federal land grants to railroads, By 1890, the majority of Americans: a. worked as farmers. It was the periods of the growth of great industrieslike railroads and oiland of excesses that went along with wealth. Even those rail companies that remained solvent amidst the increased regulations had been weakened by the Transportation Act's policy of recaptured earnings, which prevented any accumulation of capital resources. Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. The Hepburn Act enabled the ICC to put a cap on rate charges, to determine adequate accounting procedures, and to alter unfair rates to ones it deemed "just and reasonable." Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. The law sought to prevent monopoly by promoting competition, and also to outlaw discriminatory rate-setting. The interstate commerce commission was established in 1887 to ensure that railroads charged farmers and merchants reasonable and fair rates. Ch 16 study guide Flashcards | Quizlet Although one justification for economic regulation was to protect consumers from the exercise of producers market power, observers noted that regulatory agencies, such as the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Civil Aeronautics Board, and the Federal Communications Commission, seemed to get captured by the industries they regulated. Congressional legislation known as the Interstate Commerce Act created the Interstate Commerce Commission, required railroads to publish uniform rates, and outlawed rebates and pools. Under the provisions of the states police powers, interstate shipments may be banned, and, in the absence of federal laws to the contrary, state laws regulating highway traffic will invariably be upheld. Any returns to the railroads that were in excess of the established rate levels were to be "recaptured" by the government, placed in a fund, and from that fund, loans were to be made to struggling rail carriers. Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, Safety Appliance Act of Mar. The Hepburn Act empowered the ICC to change a railroad rate to one it considered "just and reasonable," after a full hearing of a complaint. This essay provides a brief history of regulation and deregulation, reviewing the key milestones that have shaped regulatory practices in the United States from the mid-1900s to the presidency of Donald J. Trump. The ICC was established by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland. It amended the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, expanding the Interstate Commerce Commission's (ICC) responsibilities to include the regulation of telephone, telegraph, and cable companies. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Although they were losing business to competing modes of transportation, they were still considered a threat.