Industrial Commission
The Industrial Commission was a United States government body in existence from 1898 to 1902, to recommend changes in national industrial and economic policy and programs. The commission was established by an act of Congress and was composed of members of Congress and Presidential appointees.
Background and mission
[edit]The Panic of 1893 created substantial economic instability and uncertainty throughout the United States in the mid-to late 1890s. One response to this uncertainty was a proposal from the National Association of Manufacturers that Congress create a federal Department of Commerce and Industry. During the 1890s Congress declined to establish such a department, but it considered creating a commission to study the nation's economic situation. President Grover Cleveland vetoed a bill to establish the Industrial Commission. In 1898, after the election of President William McKinley, Congress again approved legislation for the commission, and McKinley signed the bill on June 18, 1898.[1][2]
The commission was charged with investigating railroad pricing policy, industrial concentration, and the impact of immigration on labor markets, and making recommendations to the President and Congress.[2][3]
Membership
[edit]The commission comprised 19 members, 10 of which were members of Congress and 9 appointed by the President. McKinley selected appointees from the business community and organized labor. Members included McKinley's Ohio running mate, Commissioner Andrew L. Harris (a Governor of Ohio and Civil War General) who served as Chair of the Agriculture Subcommittee.[4]
Recommendations, dissolution and aftermath
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In 1902 the commission issued produced a final report totaling about 1,000 pages in 18 volumes. Included among its many recommendations were a call for more extensive federal regulation of trusts, and that the financial records of national corporations and banks be subject to inspection at all times. The commission completed its business in 1902.[5]
Congress established the United States Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903.[6] President Theodore Roosevelt supported enforcement of the Sherman Antitrust Act and expanded regulation of trusts during his administration.[7] Legislative reforms included the Elkins Act (1903) and the Hepburn Act (1906), which expanded the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission in the regulation of railroads.[8][9]
See also
[edit]- Commission on Industrial Relations, also known as the Walsh Commission, established in 1912
References
[edit]- ^ "Panic of 1893". History; Origins: 1776-1913. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ a b North, S.N.D. (June 1899). "The Industrial Commission". The North American Review. 168 (511): 708. JSTOR 25119203.
- ^ "The Industrial Commission; Outline of the Investigations to be Made During the Sittings". The New York Times. 1898-11-16.
- ^ "The Industrial Commission; President McKinley Announces His Choice of Civilian Members". The New York Times. 1898-09-07.
- ^ "Industrial Report Finished; Federal Commission's Conclusions, Now in the Printer's Hands, Recommend Government Supervision of Trusts". The New York Times. 1902-01-24. p. 1.
- ^ United States. An act to establish the Department of Commerce and Labor. 32 Stat. 825 Approved February 14, 1903.
- ^ Miller, Nathan (1992). Theodore Roosevelt: A Life. New York: William Morrow & Co. pp. 365–366. ISBN 978-0-688-06784-7.
- ^ United States. Elkins Act, 57th Congress, Sess. 2, ch. 708, 32 Stat. 847, approved 1903-02-19.
- ^ United States. Hepburn Act, 59th Congress, Sess. 1, ch. 3591, 34 Stat. 584, approved June 29, 1906.
Further reading
[edit]- Durand, E. Dana (August 1902). "The United States Industrial Commission; Methods of Government Investigation". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 16 (4): 564–586. JSTOR 1882174.
- Ripley, William Z. (November 1901). "The Work of Trained Economists in the Industrial Commission". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 16 (1). JSTOR 1882906.</ref>