Editing Hepburn Act

{{Short description|1906 United States federal law}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| longtitle         = 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        = 59th
| effective date    = June 29, 1906
| cite public law   = {{uspl|59|337}}
| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|34|584}}
| acts amended    = [[Interstate Commerce Act of 1887]]
| introducedin    = House
| introducedbill  = {{usbill|59|H.R.|12987}}
| signedpresident = [[Theodore Roosevelt]]
| signeddate      = June 29, 1906
}}
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.<ref>United States. Hepburn Act, [[59th Congress]], Sess. 1, ch. 3591, {{USStat|34|584}}, enacted June 29, 1906.</ref> 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 car]]s, express companies and [[oil pipeline]]s.

==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>

==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 in the United States|trucking industry]]—undreamed of in 1906—eventually took away their business.<ref>{{cite book |title=Enterprise Denied: Origins of the Decline of American Railroads, 1897-1917 |url=https://archive.org/details/enterprisedenied0000mart |url-access=registration |last=Martin |first=Albro |year=1971 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-03508-8 }}</ref>

==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.<ref name="M-E Act">United States. Mann-Elkins Act, [[61st Congress]], 2nd session, ch. 309, {{USStat|36|539}}, enacted June 18, 1910.</ref>

==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==
{{Reflist}}

{{Theodore Roosevelt}}

[[Category:1906 in American law]]
[[Category:Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt]]
[[Category:United States railroad regulation]]
[[Category:United States federal transportation legislation]]
[[Category:1906 in rail transport]]
[[Category:1906 in American politics]]
[[Category:Progressive Era in the United States]]
[[Category:History of rail transportation in the United States]]