Editing Mann–Elkins Act

{{Short description|US federal law related to railroad rates}}
{{William Howard Taft series}}

The '''Mann–Elkins Act''', also called the Railway Rate Act of 1910, was a [[United States federal law]] that strengthened the authority of the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] (ICC) over railroad rates. The law also expanded the ICC's jurisdiction to include regulation of [[Telephone company|telephone]], [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] and [[Wireless telegraphy|wireless]] companies, and created a commerce court.<ref name="M-E Act">United States. Mann-Elkins Act, [[61st Congress]], 2nd session, ch. 309, {{USStat|36|539}}, enacted June 18, 1910.</ref>

==Background==
President [[William Howard Taft]] was concerned about controlling unfair trade practices and competition in the railroad industry. During his 1908 presidential campaign, Taft called for a railroad rate law and policies to boost competition in the rail industry.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dixon |first=Frank Haigh |date=1910 |title=The Mann-Elkins Act, Amending the Act to Regulate Commerce |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1883490 |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=593–633 |doi=10.2307/1883490 |issn=0033-5533}}</ref> His administration argued that the [[Interstate Commerce Act]] (1887) and the [[Hepburn Act]] (1906) were only partially effective in addressing problems that the railroads had imposed upon the national economy. Taft supported amending the Interstate Commerce Act to allow the ICC's initiation of suspending of railroad rate increases (rather than just by responding to complaints). Taft also recommended that railroads should be allowed to arrange rate increases among themselves. (The latter proposal was not adopted in the enacted legislation.)<ref name=Pringle>{{cite book |last=Pringle |first=Henry A. |title=The Life and Times of William Howard Taft: A Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.164430/page/n4 |date=1939 |publisher=Farrar & Rinehart |location=New York}}</ref>{{rp|522-526}}

==Overview==
The Mann-Elkins Act was a piece of reform legislation developed during the [[Progressivism in the United States|Progressive era]]. The principal sponsors were Congressmen [[Stephen Benton Elkins]] and [[James Robert Mann (Illinois)|James Robert Mann]]. While there had been concern in [[United States Congress|Congress]] about the limited effectiveness of the ICC generally, the act was developed in direct response to rate increases that western railroads announced in 1910.<ref name=Pringle/>{{rp|524}}

===Rate setting===
The 1910 act amended the 1887 and 1906 acts by authorizing the ICC to investigate railroad rate increases, suspending rates where warranted and placing the burden of proof upon the railroad for demonstrating reasonableness.<ref>{{cite book |last=Judson |first=Frederick N. |title=The Law of Interstate Commerce and Its Federal Regulation |edition=2nd |date=1912 |publisher=T.H. Flood |location=Chicago |page=471}}</ref> The law mandated that the ICC is "empowered to determine and prescribe what will be the just and reasonable individual or joint rate or rates..."<ref name="M-E Act"/>{{rp|Sec. 15}} This was the first federal law to authorize setting of maximum rates for a single industry during peacetime.<ref name=Martin>{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Albro |title=Railroads Triumphant: The Growth, Rejection and Rebirth of a Vital American Force |date=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-503853-3}}</ref>{{rp|354}} The "long-and-short haul" clause of the 1887 act was strengthened to prohibit railroads from charging passengers more for a short trip, compared to a longer ride, over the same route unless specifically approved by the ICC.<ref name="Sharfman" />{{rp|217–219}}

The Act terminated the railroad companies' ability to give free or discounted rates to those who were employees or family of employees.

===Regulation of additional industries===
The act extended the authority of the ICC to regulate the [[telecommunications industry]], and designated [[Telephone company|telephone]], [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] and [[Wireless telegraphy|wireless]] companies as [[common carrier]]s.<ref name="M-E Act"/>{{rp|Sec. 1}}<ref name="Sharfman">{{cite book |title=Railway Regulation: An Analysis of the Underlying Problems in Railway Economics from the Standpoint of Government Regulation |last=Sharfman |first=Isaiah L. |year=1915 |publisher=La Salle Extension University |location=Chicago |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g-pCAAAAIAAJ&q=Mann-elkins&pg=PA216}}</ref>{{rp|216}}

===Commerce court===
The act created the short-lived [[United States Commerce Court]] for adjudication of railway disputes.<ref name="Sharfman" />{{rp|216}} Any appeals from commerce court decisions would go directly to the [[United States Supreme Court]], to increase the efficiency and speed of cases.<ref name="M-E Act"/>{{rp|Sec. 6}} This disallowed the railroad companies from dragging out long court cases. The Court presided until 1913, when it was abolished by Congress.<ref>U.S. Urgent Deficiency Act, [[63rd United States Congress|63rd Congress]], 1st session, ch. 32, {{USStat|38|208}}, October 22, 1913. Effective December 31, 1913.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Modern American Law |last1=Gilmore |first1=Eugene A. |last2=Wermuth |first2=William C. |year=1917 |publisher=Blackstone Institute |location=Chicago |chapter=III. The Various United States Courts and their Jurisdiction: The Commerce Court (Abolished) |pages=278–280 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Igs9AAAAIAAJ&q=%22commerce+court%22+abolished&pg=PA278}}</ref>

==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>

==See also==
* [[Elkins Act]] (1903)
* [[History of rail transport in the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{William Howard Taft|state=collapsed}}
{{Federal Communications Commission}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann-Elkins Act}}
[[Category:1910 in American law]]
[[Category:1910 in rail transport]]
[[Category:Progressive Era in the United States]]
[[Category:United States communications regulation]]
[[Category:United States federal transportation legislation]]
[[Category:United States railroad regulation]]