In the late 1800s, the first state government reform legislation regarding railroad practices addressedrates for shipping and storing grain.
The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 is a United States federal law introduced to regulate the railroad industry, especially, its monopolistic practices. The Act required reasonable and just railroad rates, but did not empower the government to fix specific rates. It also required that railroads publicize shipping rates and prohibited short haul or long haul fare discrimination, a type of price discrimination against smaller markets, particularly farmers in Western or Southern Territory compared to the Official Eastern states