Age of Railroads

1. What problems did employees of the railroad companies face?
      
     Railroad employees faced numerous problems. The railroads payed all of their employees poorly, the working conditions were often terrible and dangerous and accidents and diseases injured and killed thousands of men each year. In addition the railroads controlled not only the work lives of the employees but also their personal lives. 
 
2. What was it like to live as a Pullman employee in the town of Pullman?


     The town of Pullman provided for almost all of a workers' basic needs. The citizens of Pullman resided in clean, well built brick houses and apartment buildings. The buildings had at least one window in every room which was considered a luxury for people who live in a city. There were also town services and facilities including doctors, shops, and an athletic field. However, under the surface the resident employees were not happy as they were strictly controlled in every way by the railroad. For example,  they were not allowed to pass anytime on their front steps or to drink alcohol. This tightly controlled environment and Pullman's refusal to lower rents after cutting his employees pay led to a violent strike in 1894. 

3. Who was involved in Crédit Mobilier, and what was the purpose of this company?   


    Credit Mobilier was made up of stock holders in the Union Pacific railroad who in 1864 created a construction company calling it Credit Mobilier. Stock holders included well known and respected federal officials such as Vice President Schuyler Colfax and congressman James Garfield, who later became president. The stock holders created the company out of a desire for control and monetary profit. They gave the company a contract to lay track at two to three times the actual cost and pocketed the profits.    

4. In what ways did the railroad companies use their power to hurt farmers?


     Railroads used their powers in a number of ways that especially effected farmers. The railroads miss used government land grants by selling them to other businesses, rather than to settlers as the government had planned. The railroads also made formal agreements to fix prices in order to keep farmers in their dept. Also, they charged different costumers different rates. They often demanded more money for short hauls-as there was no other carrier- than they did for long hauls.
 
5. Why didn’t the decision in the Munn v. Illinois case succeed in checking the power of the railroads?

     The case of Munn v. Illinois gave the states the right to regulate the railroads for the benifit for farmers and consumers. It also established the federal government's right to regulate private industry to serve the public interest. However, the railroads continued to fight and in 1886 the supreme court ruled that a state could not set rates on interstate commerce.

6. Why didn’t the Interstate Commerce Act immediately limit the power of the railroads?

     The Interstate Commerce Act, passed in 1887, re-established the right of the federal government to supervise railroad activities and created a five member interstate commerce commission (ICC) for that purpose. However, the ICC had problems regulating railroad rates as the railroads continued to resist and there was a long legal process. A heavy blow to the commission came in 1897 when the supreme court ruled that it could not set maximum railroad rates. Not until 1906, did the ICC get the power it needed to be effective.