By the twentieth century, however, the hypnotic spell of the private
enterprise creed over at least the middle and lower economic classes was
beginning to weaken. The American public was developing a sullen and by
no means silent antipathy--in some sections seemingly congenital--to the
great national corporations. The storm had burst first upon the
railroads; and when in 1906 the Hepburn Act gave the Interstate Commerce
Commission definitely increased powers over the railroads, with
commendable logic the express companies were coupled with the railroads
in the scope of the law. All express tariffs had to be filed with the
Commission. No change could be made in a tariff except after thirty
days' notice. A uniform system of accounts could be and soon was ordered
by the Commission. The Commission was given access to all the books and
records of the companies. And, of especial significance, upon complaint
express rates could be fixed by the Commission, subject to review by
Federal courts.
The Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 went even further. Among its other
provisions, the burden of proof on rates was shifted to the express
companies and the Commission was given power to initiate, of its own
volition, express rate rulings which not much later became subject to
review only by the Supreme Court of the United States. Power over the
classification of express traffic was also specifically given to the
Commission. The Commission immediately utilized its new powers to
inaugurate a searching investigation of every aspect of the express
business, with the result that on February 1, 1914, there went into
effect a reduction in rates amounting to an average decrease of about
16%, together with a new system for calculating such rates, the country
being divided for that purpose into five zones. The newly prescribed
rates were stated and arranged after a fashion simple enough to be
readily understood by any tyro. All direct and indirect rebates were
abolished. Articles of food were to go at three-fourths the new rates.
The classification of merchandise was radically simplified. (Already in
1913, a further act of Congress had made discrimination against shippers
a criminal offense punishable by fine or imprisonment.)