Editing Hepburn Act (section)

==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 [[United States Congress|Congress]], with only three dissenting votes.<ref>{{cite book |title=Theodore Rex |last=Morris |first=Edmund |year=2002 |publisher=Modern Library |isbn=978-0-8129-6600-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/theodorerex00edmu/page/446 446] |url=https://archive.org/details/theodorerex00edmu/page/446 }}</ref> The Act, along with the [[Elkins Act]] of 1903, was a component of one of Roosevelt's major policy goals: railroad [[regulation]].

In [[Interstate Commerce Commission v. Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway Co.|''Interstate Commerce Commission v. Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway Co.'']] (1897), the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] ruled that the [[Interstate Commerce Act of 1887]] did not grant the Interstate Commerce Commission an implied power to set reasonable rail transport rates.<ref name=":0">{{ussc|167|479|1897|name=Interstate Commerce Commission v. Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway Co.}}.</ref> This act addressed this issue by explicitly granting such [[price control]] power to the agency under a "just-and-reasonable" standard. Railroads were forced to either comply or cease operations. Appeals of [[United States district court|district court]] rulings on this act's application would directly go to the Supreme Court to speed the rate-setting process.<ref>Debate Handbook on Wage and Price Controls, by J. Weston Walch, James P. McGough, p. 23 (1970)</ref><ref>The American Presidents: The Office and the Men, by Frank Northen Magill, p. 469 (1986)</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Interstate Commerce Commission and the Railroad Industry: A History of Regulatory Policy |last=Stone |first=Richard D. |year=1991 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-0-275-93941-0 |page=12}}</ref>

The limitation on railroad rates depreciated the value of railroad securities, a factor in causing the [[Panic of 1907]].<ref>
{{cite book |title=The Roosevelt Panic of 1907 |last=Edwards |first=Adolph |year=1907 |publisher=Anitrock |location=New York |page=66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R3koAAAAYAAJ }}</ref>