Pacific Telegraph Act of 1860

Citation
Pacific Telegraph Act of 1860, "An Act to Facilitate Communication between the Atlantic and Pacific States by Electric Telegraph," Ch. 137, U.S. Stat., 36th Cong., 1st Sess. (June 16, 1860) (full-text).

Overview
The Act was passed to subsidize a telegraph line that would complete telegraphic communication between the east and west coasts of the United States. It contained a network neutrality provision:

"messages received from any individual, company, or corporation, or from any telegraph lines connecting with this line at either of its termini, shall be impartially transmitted in the order of their reception, excepting that the dispatches of the government shall have priority. . .."