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...