TheIndustrial Commission was aUnited States government body in existence from 1898 to 1902, to recommend changes in national industrial and economic policy and programs. The commission was established by an act ofCongress and was composed of members of Congress and Presidential appointees.

ThePanic of 1893 created substantial economic instability and uncertainty throughout the United States in the mid-to late 1890s. One response to this uncertainty was a proposal from theNational Association of Manufacturers that Congress create a federal Department of Commerce and Industry. During the 1890s Congress declined to establish such a department, but it considered creating a commission to study the nation's economic situation. In 1897 PresidentGrover Cleveland vetoed a bill that would have established the Industrial Commission.^[1] In 1898, after the election of PresidentWilliam McKinley, Congress again approved legislation for the commission, and McKinley signed the bill on June 18, 1898.^[2][3]

The commission was charged with investigating railroad pricing policy, industrial concentration, and the impact ofimmigration onlabor markets, and making recommendations to the President and Congress.^[3][4]

The commission comprised 19 members, 10 of which were members of Congress and 9 appointed by the President. McKinley selected appointees from the business community and organized labor. Members included McKinley'sOhiorunning mate, CommissionerAndrew L. Harris (a Governor of Ohio andCivil WarGeneral) who served as Chair of the Agriculture Subcommittee.^[5]

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In 1902 the commission completed its business and issued a final report totaling about 1,000 pages in 18 volumes. Included among its many recommendations were a call for more extensive federal regulation oftrusts, and that the financial records of national corporations and banks be subject to inspection at all times.^[6]

Congress established theUnited States Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903.^[7] PresidentTheodore Roosevelt supported enforcement of theSherman Antitrust Act and expanded regulation of trusts during his administration.^[8] Legislative reforms included theElkins Act (1903) and theHepburn Act (1906), which expanded the jurisdiction of theInterstate Commerce Commission in the regulation of railroads.^[9][10]

• Commission on Industrial Relations, also known as the Walsh Commission, established in 1912

• Defunct agencies of the United States government
• Economic history of the United States
• Industrial history of the United States
• Presidency of William McKinley
• Progressive Era in the United States
• United States national commissions

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