158 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT 



Illinois was determined to maintain the policy of railroad regula- 

 tion by a commission with power to establish a schedule of 

 maximum rates, and that it would stand by the law of 1873 as 

 the best embodiment of that policy. 



In concluding this survey of restrictive railway legislation 

 in Illinois during the Granger period, it will be well to sum up 

 the part which the farmers of the state played in the movement. 

 It is clear that the demand for such legislation made its appear- 

 ance before the movement for farmers' organization got under 

 way. This early agitation resulted in the law of 1869, which 

 was totally inefficient as a solution of the problem, and then the 

 farmers began to take hold of the matter. In 1870 their influence 

 was a factor in securing provisions in the constitution which 

 laid the basis for effective legislation, and the Legislative 

 Farmers' Club seems to have had a part in securing the enact- 

 ment of the legislation of 1871, the most important feature of 

 which was the establishment of the railroad commission. Then 

 came the decision of the supreme court invalidating an essential 

 part of this legislation, and thereafter the farmers, by that time 

 thoroughly organized, played the principal role in the move- 

 ment. Their influence was openly exerted upon the legislature 

 by the Springfield convention of April, 1873, which was followed 

 quickly by the enactment of the railroad law of that year. In 

 the trying years which followed, the farmers' organizations 

 stood back of the efforts of the railroad commission to enforce 

 the law and their opposition was undoubtedly of great influence 

 in preventing the law from being repealed or modified before 

 it could be thoroughly tested, a thing which happened to the 

 Granger laws of several other states. On the whole, if we use 

 the term " Granger " as relating to organized efforts of the farm- 

 ing classes, it must be conceded that the phrase " Granger legis- 

 lation " is rightly applied to the railway laws enacted in Illinois 

 during this period. 



