The Transportation Act, 1920, commonly known as the Esch–Cummins Act, was a

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as ...

that returned

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s to private operation after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, with much regulation. It also officially encouraged private consolidation of railroads and mandated that the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to elimina ...

(ICC) ensure their profitability. The act was named after Rep.

John J. Esch John Jacob Esch (March 20, 1861 – April 27, 1941) was an American attorney and member of the United States House of Representatives from 1899 to 1921 serving as a Republican. Born near Norwalk, Wisconsin, he graduated from the University ...

and Sen.

Albert B. Cummins Albert Baird Cummins (February 15, 1850July 30, 1926) was an American lawyer and politician. He was the 18th governor of Iowa, elected to three consecutive terms and U.S. senator for Iowa, serving for 18 years. Cummins was a leader of the Progr ...

Background

The United States had entered World War I in April 1917, and the government found that the nation's railroads were not prepared to serve the war effort. On December 26, 1917, President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of P ...

had ordered that U.S. railroads be

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to priv ...

in the public interest. This order was implemented through the creation of the

United States Railroad Administration The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalisation, nationalized railroad system of the United States between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920. It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

ratified the order in the ''Railway Administration Act of 1918.''

Major provisions

* Terminated federal control of railroads from March 1, 1920. * Authorized the government to make settlements with railroad carriers for matters caused by nationalization, such as compensation and other expenses. * Directed the ICC to prepare and adopt a plan for the consolidation of the railway properties of the United States into a limited number of systems. ''See'' Ripley Plan to consolidate railroads into regional systems. * Granted authority to the ICC to set minimum shipping rates, oversee railroads' financial operations, and regulate acquisitions and mergers. * Established procedures for settling

labor dispute A labor dispute is a disagreement between an employer and employees regarding the terms of employment. This could include disputes regarding conditions of employment, fringe benefits, hours of work, tenure, and wages to be negotiated during ...

s between railroads and employees. A Railroad Labor Board was created to regulate wages and settle disputes.

Subsequent legislation

Title III of the Esch–Cummins Act, which pertained to labor disputes, was repealed in 1926 by the

Railway Labor Act The Railway Labor Act is a United States federal law on US labor law that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries. The Act, enacted in 1926 and amended in 1934 and 1936, seeks to substitute bargaining, arbitration, and medi ...

.Railway Labor Act, . Approved 1926-05-20. et seq.

Footnotes

* E.G. Buckland, "Three Years of the Transportation Act," ''Yale Law Journal,'' vol. 32, no. 7 (May 1923), pp. 658–675
In JSTOR
* A.B. Cummins
''The Transportation Act, 1920.''
n.c.: n.p., October 1922. * Colin J. Davis, ''Power at Odds: The 1922 National Railroad Shopmen's Strike.'' Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997. * W.N. Doak, "Labor Policies of the Transportation Act from the Point of View of Railroad Employees," ''Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science in the City of New York,'' vol. 10, no. 1 (July 1922), pp. 39–48
In JSTOR
* Frank H. Dixon, "Functions and Policies of the Railroad Labor Board," ''Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science in the City of New York,'' vol. 10, no. 1 (July 1922), pp. 19–28
In JSTOR
* Ben W. Hooper, "Labor, Railroads and the Public," ''American Bar Association Journal,'' vol. 9, no. 1 (Jan. 1923), pp. 15–18
In JSTOR
* Rogers MacVeagh, ''The Transportation Act, 1920: Its Sources, History, and Text, Together with Its Amendments to the Interstate Commerce Act...'' New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1923. * Edgar J. Rich, "The Transportation Act of 1920," ''American Economic Review,'' vol. 10, no. 3 (Sept. 1920), pp. 507–527
In JSTOR
*

Henry R. Seager Henry Rogers Seager (July 21, 1870 – August 23, 1930, Kiev, Russia) was an American economist, and Professor of Political Economy at Columbia University, who served as president of the American Association for Labor Legislation. Inspired by th ...

, "Railroad Labor and the Labor Problem," ''Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science in the City of New York,'' vol. 10, no. 1 (July 1922), pp. 15–18
In JSTOR
* T. W. van Metre, "Railroad Regulation under the Transportation Act," ''Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science in the City of New York,'' vol. 10, no. 1 (July 1922), pp. 3–12
In JSTOR
* Harry D. Wolf, ''The Railroad Labor Board.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927. * H.D. Wolf, "Criticisms of the Railroad Labor Board and an Evaluation of Its Work," ''University Journal of Business,'' vol. 5, no. 1 (Jan. 1927), pp. 1–34
In JSTOR
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esch-Cummins Act United States railroad regulation 1920 in American law United States federal transportation legislation 1920 in rail transport 66th United States Congress

Background

Major provisions

Subsequent legislation

See also

Footnotes

Further reading