Editing Mann–Elkins Act (section)

==Aftermath==
Following implementation of the act, railroads had difficulty securing revenue sufficient to keep pace with their rising costs, although the ICC had allowed some rate increases. Investors had overexpanded the nation's trackage, so by late 1915 fully one-sixth of the railroad trackage in the country belonged to roads in [[receivership]] ([[bankruptcy]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cunningham |first=William J. |title=The Railroads Under Government Operation. I. The Period to the Close of 1918 |date=February 1921 |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics |volume=35 |issue=2 |page=292 |doi=10.2307/1883890}}</ref> The national railway investment of 17.5 billion dollars, of which more than half was funded debt, had an estimated worth of sixteen billion dollars.<ref name="March">{{cite book |last=March |first=Francis A. |title=History of the World War |url=https://archive.org/details/historyworldwar00beamgoog |publisher=United Publishers of the United States and Canada |date =1919 |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>{{rp|515-16}} As the United States considered entering [[World War I]], the government identified nationwide inadequacies in [[rail terminal|terminals]], [[rail tracks|trackage]], and [[rolling stock]]. In December 1917 the ICC recommended federal control of the railroad industry to ensure efficient operation during wartime. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] issued an order for [[nationalisation]] of the railroads on December 26, 1917.<ref>United States. Presidential Proclamation 1419, December 26, 1917, under authority of the [[Army Appropriations Act of 1916|Army Appropriation Act]], {{USStat|39|45}}, August 29, 1916.</ref> The [[United States Railroad Administration]] was established to manage the railroads during the war, and was abolished in 1920 by the [[Esch–Cummins Act]].<ref>United States. Esch–Cummins Act, {{uspl|66|152}}, {{USStat|41|456}}. Approved 1920-02-28.</ref>

The Mann–Elkins Act paved the way for the [[Communications Act of 1934]]. The 1934 law consolidated portions of the Mann-Elkins Act and other laws affecting the telephone and radio industries, to create a unified authority for telecommunications within a new agency, the [[Federal Communications Commission]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://commercial.laws.com/commerce/mann-elkins-act|title=Mann Elkins Act - Commercial {{!}} Laws.com|website=commercial.laws.com |access-date=2017-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fpc.gov/the-communications-act-of-1934/|title=The Communications Act of 1934; Federal Privacy Council |website=www.fpc.gov |access-date=2017-05-26}}</ref>