The Federal Government Organization that was used to regulate the railroad, telephone and telegraph companies was the Intersate Commerce Commission.
The ICC was a regulatory agency created by the Intersate Commerce act of 1887. The original purpose of the agency was to regulate the railroads and truckings to ensure fair rates, eliminate rates discrimination and regulate other aspects of common carriers including telephone and telegraph companies and interstate bus lines. The commission had five members appointed by the President of the United States with the consent of the Senate and it was the first independent agency.
By the year 1906 the Congress expanded the authority of the ICC to regulate other modes of commerce but throughout the 20th century several of its authorities were transferred to other Federal agencies like in the year 1934 when the Congress transferred the telecommunications authority to the brand new Federal Communications Commission.
The objective behind the creation of this Commission was to regulate primarily the railroads because in the lates 1800s and begginings of the 1900s there was an anti railroad agitation in the west; this feeling was due to abused took by the railroads owners against the western farmers.
During the 1970s and 1980s Congress passed various deregulation measures wich diminished the ICC authority and finally on Decemebr of 1995 with most of the ICC´s powers eliminated the Congress abolished it and transferred the remaining athority to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.
Althought this the ICC served as a mode of regulatory agencies because of its objectivity, the members of the commission should have no economic ties with the industries they regulate and they were full time regulators during the time of their mandate.
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