1 févr. 1886 - Fighting Back: Interstate Commerce Act; Wabash v. Illinois* (WXT, POL)

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Although achieving state regulations on commerce seemed like a victory for the grangers, this right only allowed states to regulate instate, short distance commerce. However, most grangers exported their crops long distances and over state boundaries. For this reason, most railroad companies were able to maneuver around the ruling of the Munn v. Illinois and just charge the same unjust rates for long haul trips. In fact in the court case of Wabash v. Illinois the courts recognized that the matter of regulating interstate commerce was an issue that could be tackled by individual states, rather, it is a national matter. Thus, it nullified the regulations grangers had fought for. In response, the grangers took up this issue to the federal government and got Congress to acknowledge the farmer’s struggle. In accord with the cries of the grangers, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1886 which demanded that railroads charge prices that were “reasonable and just.” In addition, the act established a regulatory agency known as the Interstate Commerce Commission of ICC. The ICC was meant to regulate discriminatory practice and prosecute those that imposed these unjust prices. The problem was that the ICC is that it benefited the railroads that it sought to regulate. The ICC took down all the railroads that were charging excessively for their long haul trips, but were also destroying the competition for other railroad companies, thus invoking the growth of a monopoly.

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