Laissez_Faire

The Government did violate the principles of laissez faire in some respects. They did over bound their authority in railroad land grants. By giving railroads most of the land around the tracks they allowed the railroads to sell the land for more money and make a bigger profit. They didn't control interstate commerce even though they passed laws to regulate it but never enforced them. This allowed the tycoons of big business to regulate how much they pay and how much others have to pay. But the government also interfered with rallies and strikes by sending in the national army. Which caused peaceful riots to turn into violent ones. The grand railroad barons become filthy rich by getting land grants from the government and then selling the land for huge profits. They also were able to control the price of tickets because they owned the land the rails were on so the government had no say what so ever. The government finally stepped in much later and took the land back and steadied the prices across the country. This is an example of the government not paying attention to laissez faire. If they did follow laissez faire they would have made the rail roads pay for the land and would have controlled the prices of tickets for the whole time. This also leads into my next subject of interstate commerce. Interstate commerce was used for transporting materials between the states. The bigger companies who had more money and power were able to control how much they payed per shipment and how much their competitors payed. This caused many up and coming businesses to go out of business before they had a chance. The government passed laws to regulate it but never enforced the laws. The government also stepped in on many important riots that at first were peaceful but once the army stepped in it became a very violent riot. The railroad strikes are a great example. At first the workers just asked for better wages and less working hours per week but the government sent in the national army which caused the workers to become furious and burned down 39 buildings. Another example was the AFL riot in Hay market was another riot that turned violent. When cops began beating the group of protesters who remained after the rally, a bomb was set off which caused the cops to arrest the seven leaders and hung three of them before the govern pardoned the remaining three, one of the four remaining committed suicide before they were excused. The government should be allowed to interfere on some parts of our business and lives but others they should leave alone. I do believe they over stepped their bounds at times during this 35 year period but they had to other times. The stepping in during the railroads reign was needed to steady the tycoons. And then they should have followed through on they're rules for interstate commerce and also they should have stayed back a little on the riots.