162 THE GREEN RISING 



taking a definite position upon public questions af- 

 fecting the interests of farmers. The phrase, "acting 

 together for our mutual protection and advance- 

 ment" might easily be interpreted in such a way as 

 to include advocating government regulation of 

 railroad rates, and the creation of state railroad com- 

 missions to adjust railroad charges, and to exercise 

 the influence of the Grange for or against all kinds 

 of legislation that was regarded as helpful or harm- 

 ful to farm enterprise. 



It was inevitable that the Granger organizations 

 would come into deadly conflict with the railroad 

 interests. The membership of the organization had 

 long felt that the railroads were largely responsible 

 for most of their economic distress. The Grangers 

 took their case with the railroads to the legislatures 

 of the several states. They demanded the creation 

 of railroad commissions to regulate railroad charges 

 and to supervise the administration of railroad ac- 

 tivities. The railroad organizations resisted the 

 efforts of the Grangers and denounced the policy 

 of railroad regulation as confiscatory and, therefore, 

 unconstitutional. But a number of states were in- 

 fluenced by the Granger organization to create rail- 

 road commissions with broad supervisory powers to 

 regulate railroad transportation policies. The con- 

 stitutionality of the so-called "Granger Laws" came 

 before the Supreme Court in 1877 and their validity 

 was upheld. The court took the position that the 

 several states possessed the power to regulate rates, 



