THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 165 



CHAPTER VIII. 



RAILROAD LEGISLATION. 



Success of the Railroads in managing Legislatures Efforts to corrupt Con- 

 gress The Railroad Lobby at Washington How the State Legislatures are 

 managed A Case in Point The Camden & Amboy Monopoly and the 

 New Jersey Legislature Erie Legislation Exploits of the Erie Ring at 

 Albany The Story of a Check Book A Disappointed Legislature. 



WE have shown the efforts of the Railroads to cor- 

 rupt the courts of justice. We propose now to glance 

 at some of their exploits in the legislative bodies of the 

 country. 



Railroad companies are constantly asking new favors 

 of and fresh privileges from the representatives of the 

 people. They do not content themselves with resting 

 their claims upon their merits. They " work them 

 through" these bodies by unfair means. They keep a 

 corps of regularly employed secret agents at each State 

 capital, and at Washington, whose express duty is to 

 corrupt the representatives of the people and influence 

 their votes by unlawful means. 



The late developments in the Credit Mobilier investi- 

 gation are familiar to all. They show the persistent 

 and systematic manner in which the Pacific Railway 

 endeavored to corrupt the highest legislative body in 

 the land. The President of that corporation testified 

 under oath before a Congressional committee at the 

 same session, that he had contributed $10,000 toward 

 securing the election of a United States Senator from 



