Initial Implementation and Legal Challenges
The ICC had a troubled start because the Act failed to give it adequate enforcement powers.
- "The Commission is, or can be made, of great use to the railroads. It satisfies the popular clamor for a government supervision of the railroads, while at the same time that supervision is almost entirely nominal." - William H. H. Miller, US Attorney General, circa 1889.
Following passage of the Act, the ICC proceeded to set maximum shipping rates for railroads. However, several railroads challenged the agency's rate-making authority in 1897, with the Supreme Court ruling that the ICC had no power to fix rates; this ultimately nullified the clause stating that the short haul should cost no more than the long haul.
Read more about this topic: Interstate Commerce Commission
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