2o6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



by statute unconstitutional with reference to the new State Constitu- 

 tion, expressing no opinion on the point claimed by the railroads — 

 that this Constitution itself was contrary to the clause in the United 

 States Constitution in regard to imi^airing the obligation of contracts. 

 Coming up for re-election, Judge Lawrence was defeated, to the aston- 

 ishment of himself and everybody else, by a combination of farmers. 

 Emboldened by success, the farmers held nominating conventions, and 

 managed to elect several circuit judges, and county tickets in nearly 

 half the counties. A great mass-meeting was held at Springfield dur- 

 ing the session of the Legislature in that city, to urge upon it the 

 necessity of a new railroad bill. The Legislature, nothing loath, passed 

 the law of 1873, avoiding the point made by Lawrence against that of 

 1871 by providing for "reasonable" instead of "maximum" rates, 

 and making it the duty of the commissioners to draw up a schedule 

 of such rates. Provision was made that they be ideally unfit for the 

 task in the following section : "No person shall be appointed who is 

 in any way connected with any railroad company, or who is, directly 

 or indirectly, interested in any stock or bond." It is no wonder that 

 their schedule was as fearfully and wonderfully made as a United 

 States tariff list. The "Nation" called it "a crazy table of rates 

 drawn up by a mob of ignorant and excited politicians." The system 

 had one advantage, however, over a cast-iron set of maxima fixed by 

 statute. It could be modified or made inoperative as the information 

 of the commissioners grew, and this is what was done in Illinois. 

 Early in 1873 the "American Cheap Transportation Company "was 

 organized at the Astor House, and later in the year two other great 

 mass-meetings were held in Illinois. They accomplished only a great 

 waste of pyrotechnic eloquence. Demagogues and sharpers had taken 

 control, and the real movers had quietly dropped out. 



In spite of the assertions of Mr. C. F. Adams and others, it can be 

 shown that the Grange was not responsible for the Illinois legislation. 

 When the Constitution of 1870 and the law of 1871 were passed, the 

 Grange had scarcely a foothold in the State. The State Grange was 

 organized in March, 1872. The real organ of agitation was the " State 

 Farmers' Association," whose subordinate lodges were called " Farm- 

 ers' Clubs." Its president, W. C. Flagg, testified before the Windom 

 committee in 1873 that he was not a Granger, that his organization 

 was an open and political one, while the Grange was secret and non- 

 political, disavowing and preventing, as far as it could, any political 

 action. 



By 1874 seven States had passed so-called "Granger" laws, either 

 fixing maxima or providing for a commission to make out a schedule 

 of rates. The Iowa bill, on the former model, devoted twenty-six 

 pages to a classification of freight. But all this was surpassed in 

 Wisconsin. In 1873 there appeared in the State Senate a certain Pot- 

 ter, from Wautoma, Waushara County. It was said that his county 



