Hepburn Act
Long title | An Act to amend an act entitled "An act to regulate commerce," approved February fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and all Acts amendatory thereof, and to enlarge the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission |
---|---|
Enacted by | the 59th United States Congress |
Effective | June 29, 1906 |
Citations | |
Public law | Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 59–337 |
Statutes at Large | 34 Stat. 584 |
Codification | |
Acts amended | Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 |
Legislative history | |
|
The Hepburn Act is a 1906 United States federal law that expanded the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and gave it the power to set maximum railroad rates. This led to the discontinuation of free passes to loyal shippers.[1] In addition, the ICC could view the railroads' financial records, a task simplified by standardized bookkeeping systems. For any railroad that resisted, the ICC's conditions would remain in effect until the outcome of legislation said otherwise. By the Hepburn Act, the ICC's authority was extended to cover bridges, terminals, ferries, railroad sleeping cars, express companies and oil pipelines.
Overview
The Hepburn Act was named for its sponsor, ten-term Iowa Republican congressman William Peters Hepburn. The final version was close to what President Theodore Roosevelt had asked for, and it easily passed Congress, with only three dissenting votes.[2] The Act, along with the Elkins Act of 1903, was a component of one of Roosevelt's major policy goals: railroad regulation.
The most important provision of the law gave the ICC price control power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, and authorized the Commission to define what was just and reasonable.[3][4] The Act made ICC orders binding; that is, the railroads had to either obey or contest the ICC orders in federal court. To speed the rate-setting process, the Act specified that appeals from rulings of the district courts would go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Anti-rebate provisions were toughened, free passes were outlawed, and the penalties for violation were increased. The ICC staff grew from 104 in 1890 to 178 in 1905, 330 in 1907, and 527 in 1909. Finally, the ICC gained the power to prescribe a uniform system of accounting, require standardized reports, and inspect railroad accounts.[5]
The limitation on railroad rates depreciated the value of railroad securities, a factor in causing the Panic of 1907.[6]
Significance
Scholars consider the Hepburn Act the most important piece of legislation affecting railroads in the first half of the 20th century. Economists and historians debate whether it crippled the railroads, giving so much advantage to the shippers that a giant unregulated trucking industry—undreamed of in 1906—eventually took away their business.[7]
Follow-up legislation
Congress passed the Mann–Elkins Act in 1910 during the administration of President William Howard Taft, to address limitations in implementation of the Hepburn Act. The Mann–Elkins Act authorized the ICC to initiate reviews of railroad rate increases, rather than simply responding to complaints from shippers. The 1910 law empowered the ICC to set "just and reasonable" maximum rates and placed the burden of proof upon the railroad for demonstrating reasonableness.[8]
See also
- History of rail transport in the United States
- Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
- The Hepburn Committee (1879)
- Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. v. Mottley (1908)
References
- ^ United States. Hepburn Act, 59th Congress, Sess. 1, ch. 3591, 34 Stat. 584, enacted June 29, 1906.
- ^ Morris, Edmund (2002). Theodore Rex. Modern Library. p. 446. ISBN 978-0-8129-6600-8.
- ^ Debate Handbook on Wage and Price Controls, by J. Weston Walch, James P. McGough, p. 23 (1970)
- ^ The American Presidents: The Office and the Men, by Frank Northen Magill, p. 469 (1986)
- ^ Stone, Richard D. (1991). The Interstate Commerce Commission and the Railroad Industry: A History of Regulatory Policy. Praeger. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-275-93941-0.
- ^ Edwards, Adolph (1907). The Roosevelt Panic of 1907. New York: Anitrock. p. 66.
- ^ Martin, Albro (1971). Enterprise Denied: Origins of the Decline of American Railroads, 1897-1917. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-03508-8.
- ^ United States. Mann-Elkins Act, 61st Congress, 2nd session, ch. 309, 36 Stat. 539, enacted June 18, 1910.
- v
- t
- e
- 26th President of the United States (1901–1909)
- 25th Vice President of the United States (1901)
- 33rd Governor of New York (1899–1900)
- Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1897–1898)
- New York City Police Commissioner (1895–1897)
(timeline)
- First inauguration
- Second inauguration
- Foreign policy
- "Square Deal"
- Booker T. Washington dinner
- Conservation
- Northern Securities Company breakup
- Coal strike of 1902
- Pure Food and Drug Act
- Meat Inspection Act
- Expediting Act
- Elkins Act
- Hepburn Act
- Aldrich–Vreeland Act
- Tillman Act of 1907
- Federal Employers Liability Act
- Kinkaid Act
- Big stick ideology
- Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty
- Venezuelan crisis
- Occupation of Cuba
- Russo-Japanese War
- Army War College
- Roosevelt Hall
- College football meetings
- Bureau of Investigation
- Department of Commerce and Labor
- Keep Commission
- Inland Waterways Commission
- Bureau of the Census
- Great White Fleet
- Perdicaris affair
- Cabinet
- White House West Wing
- State of the Union Address, 1901
- 1906
- 1908
- White House desk
- Federal judiciary appointments
events
homes
and speeches
- Theodore Roosevelt bibliography
- The Naval War of 1812 (1882 book)
- "The Strenuous Life" (1899 speech)
- League to Enforce Peace
- "Citizenship in a Republic" (1910 speech)
- "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual" (1912 post-assassination-attempt speech)
- Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography (1913 book)
- The Forum magazine articles
- Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia
- Archival collections
- Bibliography
- Mount Rushmore
- Theodore Roosevelt Center and Digital Library
- White House Roosevelt Room
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park
- Theodore Roosevelt Island
- Roosevelt National Forest
- Roosevelt Park (San Antonio)
- Roosevelt Study Center
- Theodore Roosevelt Association
- Mount Rushmore Anniversary coins
- Statues
- New York City
- Portland, Oregon
- Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park
- Theodore Roosevelt Monument
- Roosevelt Memorial, Portland, Oregon
- Proposed presidential library
- Theodore Roosevelt United States Courthouse
- Roosevelt River
- Theodore Roosevelt Bridge
- Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge
- Theodore Roosevelt Award
- USS Theodore Roosevelt (1906, 1961, 1984)
- Roosevelt Road
- U.S. postage stamps
culture
- Teddy bear
- "Speak softly, and carry a big stick"
- Books
- Films
- Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King, 1901 film
- Roosevelt in Africa, 1910 documentary
- The Rough Riders, 1927 film
- Teddy, the Rough Rider, 1940 film
- Rough Riders, 1997 miniseries
- The Roosevelts, 2014 documentary
- Theodore Roosevelt, 2022 miniseries
- Alice Hathaway Lee (first wife)
- Edith Kermit Carow (second wife)
- Alice Lee Roosevelt (daughter)
- Theodore Roosevelt III (son)
- Kermit Roosevelt (son)
- Ethel Carow Roosevelt (daughter)
- Archibald Roosevelt (son)
- Quentin Roosevelt (son)
- Theodore Roosevelt IV (grandson)
- Cornelius V. S. Roosevelt III (grandson)
- Quentin Roosevelt II (grandson)
- Kermit Roosevelt Jr. (grandson)
- Joseph Willard Roosevelt (grandson)
- Edith Roosevelt Derby (granddaughter)
- Theodora Roosevelt (granddaughter)
- Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (father)
- Martha Bulloch Roosevelt (mother)
- Anna "Bamie" Roosevelt (sister)
- Elliott Bulloch Roosevelt (brother)
- Corinne Roosevelt (sister)
- Cornelius Roosevelt (grandfather)
- James Stephens Bulloch (grandfather)
- James Alfred Roosevelt (uncle)
- Robert Barnhill Roosevelt
- Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (niece)
- Gracie Hall Roosevelt (nephew)
- Pete (dog)