226 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT 



favor of more radical measures, providing for conclusive rates 

 or for equal rates for equal distances, but all amendments were 

 shut off by the previous question and the bill passed the House 

 March 26, 1874, by vote of 121 to 115. L In the Senate, as has 

 been seen, the measure was referred to the Windom committee. 

 This committee reported it back late in the session with amend- 

 ments, but no action was taken. 



The failure of Congress to enact the McCrary bill into law 

 was followed by a lull in the agitation for federal control of 

 railroads. The Granger element in the western states seems 

 to have been more interested for the time being in efforts to 

 enforce the state laws, and the failure or repeal of most of these 

 laws naturally dampened the ardor of the advocates of restrictive 

 legislation. The agitation never disappeared entirely, however, 

 and occasional demands for federal action continued to come 

 from the West. Thus the Anti-Monopoly state convention 

 of Iowa, in June, 1874, demanded legislation both state and 

 national, to " secure the industrial and producing interests of 

 the country against all forms of corporate monopoly and extor- 

 tion." 2 The Iowa Republicans also, in July, 1874, asserted 

 that Congress possessed the power to regulate interstate com- 

 merce and should exercise it to prevent extortion and unjust 

 discrimination. 3 The state granges of the West and the Na- 

 tional Grange continued to discuss and pass resolutions on the 

 railroad question and to call for national legislation, 4 but the 

 order of Patrons of Husbandry was now rapidly declining in 

 numbers and in influence. The National Cheap Transportation 

 Association, likewise, held sessions in Richmond, Virginia, in 

 December, 1874, and in Chicago in December, 1875; adopted 



Journal, 383, 661; Congressional Record, 783, 1963-1968, 2044-2050, 2144-2164, 

 2171-2180, 2206-2209, 2230-2251, 2414-2437, 2459-2471, 249 1-2493, and appendix, 

 6, 38, 75, 99, J 37, 144, 149, 152, 161, 163, 169, 288, 495. 



1 The Nation, xviii. 211 (April 2, 1874) stated that the railroads paid no atten- 

 tion to the McCrary bill, because, if passed, it could not be enforced. See also 

 ibid. 17, 34, 87-89 (January, 8, 15, February 5, 1874). 



* American Annual Cyclopedia, 1874, p. 418. 



8 Ibid. 419. 



4 National Grange, Proceedings, viii. n, 85-90, 102, 107, 124, ix. 24, 40, 47, 58, 

 68, 152, 161, x. 12, 159 (February, November, 1875, November, 1876). 



