RAILWAY LEGISLATION 1 57 



ment of expenses. 1 This, however, failed by a large majority, 

 40 to 91 in the House, and an attempt to strike out section 3 

 of the law, the section which denned discrimination, was defeated 

 by the still larger majority of 25 to ioi. 2 At one time it looked 

 as if an attempt would be made to extend the application of 

 the principle of the law of 1873, for the House adopted a resolu- 

 tion instructing its railroad committee to prepare a bill to prevent 

 discrimination and extortion by the Pullman Palace Car Com- 

 pany and other companies running sleepers, and to fix maximum 

 rates. 3 Nothing further appears to have been done in this 

 direction, and though numerous bills of various sorts had been 

 introduced into both houses 4 the only railroad legislation enacted 

 at this session was a minor amendment of a technical nature 

 to one of the enforcement sections of the railroad act of i873. 5 



During the session of the twenty-ninth general assembly, 

 which met in 1875, the railroad commission was attacked on the 

 ground that it had instituted suits and used the names of persons 

 as aggrieved parties when the persons concerned had not re- 

 quested or desired any such action. 6 The commission admitted 

 the truth of the charges but declared that to make the prosecu- 

 tion of suits dependent on the initiative of the aggrieved parties 

 would nullify the law because the " fear of the exercise of the 

 power of corporations to inflict punishment would be sufficient, 

 in most cases, to deter those whose business is dependent upon 

 railway transportation from making public their grievances." 7 

 In this and in each of the next three general assemblies, which 

 met in 1877, 1879, and 1881, respectively, numerous bills were 

 introduced to change the railroad laws, some in the direction 

 of greater restriction and others for more lenient treatment of 

 the companies, but none of the proposed measures were enacted 

 into law. Gradually it was becoming evident that the state of 



1 Ibid. 849-851, v. 591-595; House Journal, 1874, pp. 31, 33, 56-58, 61, 79-81, 

 194; Senate Journal, pp. 178, 226, 333, 368-371, 396. 



2 House Journal, 1874, pp. 63, 194, 265. 3 Ibid. 297. 



4 Ibid. 95, 163; Senate Journal, 1874, pp. n, 204. 



5 Public Laws, 1874, p. 129. 



6 House Journal, 1875, PP- 4 2 S 621-628; Chicago Tribune, March 13, 1875. 



7 Railroad Commission, Reports, 1875, p. 18. 



