<P> The act worked to keep rates and railroad revenue up on routes where competition existed . It did this by attempting to force publicity about rates and make rebates and discrimination illegal . (' Discrimination' meant lower rates for certain customers, e.g. politicians, large customers, sharp bargainers, long haul shippers, shippers in competitive markets, low season travelers .) Railroads saw that competition made it hard to pay their stockholders and bondholders the amount of money promised to them, and competition was therefore "bad ." </P> <P> The act also created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), the first independent regulatory agency of the US government . As part of its mission, the ICC heard complaints against the railroads and issued cease and desist orders to combat unfair practices . While the ICC was empowered to investigate and prosecute railroads and other transportation companies that were alleged to have violated the act, its jurisdiction was limited to companies that operated across state lines . Over time the courts would further narrow the agency's authority, and in 1903 congress established the Department of Commerce and Labor and its Bureau of Corporations to study and report on wider industries and their monopolistic practices . By 1906, the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of a railroad company in fifteen out of the sixteen cases over which it presided . </P> <P> The commission later regulated many other forms of surface transportation, including trucking and bus transportation . Congress abolished the ICC in 1995 (see Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act) and many of its remaining functions were transferred to a new agency, the Surface Transportation Board . </P> <P> Congress passed a minor amendment to the Act in 1903, the Elkins Act . Major amendments were enacted in 1906 and 1910 . The Hepburn Act of 1906 authorized the ICC to set maximum railroad rates, and extended the agency's authority to cover bridges, terminals, ferries, sleeping cars, express companies and oil pipelines . The Mann - Elkins Act of 1910 strengthened ICC authority over railroad rates and expanded its jurisdiction to include regulation of telephone, telegraph, and cable companies . The Valuation Act of 1913 required the ICC to organize a Bureau of Valuation that would assess the value of railroad property . This information would be used to set freight shipping rates . </P>

The interstate commerce act of 1887 and the populist movement of the 1890s were both reactions to