The picture illustrates the problems that farmers faced with the railroads in the late 1800s. They felt that the railroad companies were not treating them fairly or equally. The dissatisfaction stemmed from the fact that railroad companies would not give them rebates for shipping their products on the trains. Consequently, the interstate Commerce Act of 1887 created the Interstate Commerce Commission, a regulatory body in The United States, which was designed to prevent unfair business practices in the railroad industry. Thus, those small farmers who used railways to send goods across the country were assisted, especially in areas whith much competition in an attempt to publish rates, and to allow shippers to choose the lower rates. Nevertheless, the act did not grant the federal government the right to set rates, and as a consequence, where there was little or no competition, much higher rates could be charged by the railroad companies.