What was hepburn act

The law took several measures to prevent monopolistic behavior and expanded the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission ICC — the governmental body that was charged with the regulation of the railroads. The Hepburn Act, coupled with the Elkins Act, which was passed by the United States Legislature just three years prior, served to do just that. The law was part of the line of legislation enacted during the Progressive Era, which lasted from the s and into the s, that was geared toward limiting the power of the growing number of industrial monopolies.

The biggest problem in the railroad industry at the time of the Hepburn Act was the amount of power the oil companies had over the various companies. In reaction to the Senate's barrage of revisions, Berryman depicted the Hepburn Bill limping back to the House on crutches, hobbled and burdened by amendments. The bill also appears frightened - it knew the Constitution requires legislation to pass both houses of Congress in identical form before presentation to the President and that the House may not agree with the Senate's changes.

However, none of the Senate amendments fundamentally altered Roosevelt's vision of the bill, and thus the teddy bear - which represented Theodore Roosevelt in Berryman's cartoons - expresses his approval of the legislation. The Senate passed their amended version of the bill on May 20th and it went back to the House for concurrence.

After another month of conference committee negotiations, the Hepburn Rate Act became law on June 29, By the early s, public demand for effective national regulation of interstate railroad rates had grown enough to allow President Theodore Roosevelt to undertake a personal campaign to have new legislation passed.

The resulting Hepburn Act greatly enlarged the ICC's jurisdiction and forbade railroads to increase rates without its approval. This and similar acts laid the basis for the modern concept of consumer protection through government regulation. Learn More About Hepburn Act. Style: MLA. Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary. Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

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