RAILWAY LEGISLATION 139 



governor in his message to the adjourned session of the legisla- 

 ture. 1 Two bills by which it was proposed to consolidate and 

 revise all the laws relating to the regulation of railroads and 

 warehouses, were prepared by the commissioners and introduced 

 in the House in January, 1872, but the press of other business 

 prevented action upon them, 2 as also upon another bill which 

 proposed to strengthen the enforcement provisions of the acts 

 of 1871.3 



In the Senate at this session a bill was introduced by Senator 

 Vaughn for " An act to establish reasonable maximum rates of 

 charges for the transportation of freight on the different railroads 

 in this State." This bill, which proposed to classify the various 

 railroads and establish a fixed schedule of maximum rates for 

 each class, was referred to the railroad commission for an opinion. 

 The commission had already expressed its belief in the inadvis- 

 ability of an inflexible schedule and reported accordingly, but 

 Senator Vaughn pressed the bill to a vote in the Senate, which 

 resulted in its defeat, 19 to io. 4 An attempt was also made in 

 the Senate to pass a bill prohibiting members of the general 

 assembly from accepting passes. This was laid on the table 

 by the close vote of 14 to 13. 5 On the other hand, an attempt 

 was made to put a stop altogether to the movement for regulating 

 railroads by legislating the railroad and warehouse commission 

 out of existence. A bill to this effect was introduced by Senator 

 Harlan on February 12, but failed to reach a vote. 6 On March 

 20, 1872, Mr. Harlan followed up the attack by introducing a 

 resolution which cited the failure of the commissioners to enforce 

 the laws, their expense to the state " without ability to render 

 just compensation," and " respectfully requested " them to 



1 Senate Journal, 1871, ii. 5. 



2 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1871, p. 15, 1872, p. 12; House Journal, 1871, 

 ii. 338. The bills are given in full in Railroad Commission, Reports, 1872. 



3 House Journal, 1871, ii. 637, 674. 



4 Senate Journal, 1871, ii. 422, 462, 707, 728, 742, 758, 763-765, 776; Railroad 

 Commission, Reports, 1872, pp. 13, 148. A similar bill had been introduced at the 

 first session. See Senate Journal, 1871, i. 288, 322; House Journal, 1871, i. 272, 

 276, 393, 579, 619, 621. 



6 Senate Journal, 1871, ii. 77. 



6 Ibid. 461, 502, 707, 721, 744, 766. 



