Democratic (constitutionalist) President Cleveland—without a constitutional amendment—signs the Commerce Act of 1887, creating the Interstate Commerce Commission, the first modern regulatory agency to be delegated powers legislative, executive and judicial in nature:
- Banning railroads from offering rebates to their best customers,
- Requiring that railroad charge “just and reasonable” rates;
- Regulating rates for distance hauled;
- And creating the Interstate Commerce Commission, with legislative, executive and judicial powers.
NOTES:
Richard Olney, general counsel for Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, wrote to his superiors assuring them
The Commission … is, or can be made, of great use to the railroads. It satisfies the popular clamor for a government supervision of the railroads, at the same time that that supervision is almost entirely nominal. Further, the older such a commission gets to be, the more inclined it will be found to take the business and railroad view of things. … The part of wisdom is not to destroy the Commission, but to utilize it.
- Although, the act does follow the definition of interstate commerce laid down in “Federalist #45,” Paragraph 12, the authority of the ICC is “not applicable to traffic [a legal term for goods, services, or persons in commercial “transit”] wholly within one State.”
[updated 5/2/2021]
Democratic President Cleveland signs the the Electoral Count Act, requiring that “any controversy or contest” regard the status of Presidential Electors be decided based upon “laws enacted prior to the day fixed for the appointment of the Electors.” This is to prevent the States from changing statutory procedure (substantive due process) after the selection process has already begun.
NOTE: This acts to reinforce the constitutional doctrine that forbids ex-post-facto statutes
[restored 3/27/2021]
Subsequent Events:
Authority:
Article II, Section 1 [Clause 2]
ccc-2point0.com/constitution-for-the-united-states
“Law of the Jungle”
ccc-2point0.com/preface
References:
Interstate Commerce Act, 24 Stat. 379, 383, 385 (1887).
Alfred H. Kelly and Winfred A. Harbison, The American Constitution: Its Origin and Development, revised version, (1948; New York: W.W. Norton, 1955), 548-49
Calvin D. Linton, ed., The Bicentennial Almanac: 200 Years of America, 1776-1976, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1975), 230.
David G. Savage and Henry Weinstein, “Justices Dust Off an 1887 Statute for Ballot Battle,” Los Angeles Times, 25 November 2000, A1.
Current U.s. National Debt:
