MR. MIDGLEY S ARTICLE. CONTINUED. 415 



cles by rail, and compel their transportation below actual 

 cost.&quot; 



Despite the admonitions of history, the demands for aggres 

 sive legislation increased in fierceness, until, under the un 

 controllable pressure of the &quot; Farmer s Movement,&quot; they cul 

 minated in the Illinois law against discrimination. In the 

 clamor for its passage, the calm voice of experience was un 

 heeded. Under the shadow of the Capitol an angry assem 

 blage dictated the provisions of a prescriptive law. In vain 

 a few independent members strove to stem the torrent. 

 Their appeals were drowned in the turbulent roar. &quot; Down 

 with the monopolies &quot; was the popular cry. To such a pitch 

 were the unthinking people wrought, that, in some sections, 

 the man who would have dared to extenuate the railroads 

 would have been lynched. The outgrowth of this spirit is 

 the Illinois law to prevent discrimination. 



Dispassionately regarded, does it not seem like a mockery 

 of justice? The corporations were impeached with &quot; high 

 crimes and misdemeanors,&quot; yet no opportunity was given 

 them to put in a defense. The avenues to public attention 

 were closed against them. ]STo influential journal dared to 

 espouse their cause, or accord them a fair hearing. The 

 warnings of men whose counsel directed the investment of 

 surplus capital were scouted and suppressed, while flaming 

 head lines announced the incendiary declamations of lily- 

 handed demagogues suddenly become &quot;hard-fisted patrons 

 of husbandry.&quot; And this monopoly of public attention was 

 an outcry against monopoly ! 



The Illinois railroad law is an anomaly. It is entitled, 

 &quot;An Act to prevent unjust discriminations/ etc., while its 

 application countenances unjust and prohibits just discrim 

 inations. This construction of it is easily indicated, which 

 is not a pleasing reflection for the Solons who sought to ren- 



