316 HISTORY OF THE GRANGE MOVEMENT; OR, 



Every farmer will doubtless remember the expecta- 

 tions that were held out to him, when the road upon 

 which he is principally dependent was seeking the 

 right of way and subscriptions towards defraying the 

 cost of its construction. How he dreamed of the days 

 which were to come when he could send his grain 

 cheaply and rapidly to market. But alas, those dreams 

 were never realized. The road once built, the rates 

 were based upon a scale to meet the financial needs of 

 its managers, and the farmers' interests were never con- 

 sidered. The road was built to make money for its 

 stockholders, and the farmer must pay its tolls or his 

 crops could not reach the market. The inducements 

 and promises made by the corporations at the outset 

 were never fulfilled. 



When the civil war burst upon the country in 1861, 

 the Western farmers were among the first sufferers. 

 Their Southern market was closed entirely against 

 them, and their great avenue to the sea, the Missis- 

 sippi river, was lost to them. Corn fell rapidly in 

 price until it reached ten cents per bushel. At this 

 rate no one could afford to pay the cost of sending it to 

 market, and it being cheaper than coal, vast quantities 

 were consumed in the West for fuel. But as the war 

 progressed, the needs of the Government and the 

 Eastern States created a strong demand for Western 

 corn, and the price of that grain rose in the Eastern 

 markets. The Western farmers at once began to ship 

 their corn East, hoping to make up some of the losses 

 they had sustained. No sooner had the demand sprung 

 up, however, than the railroads at once advanced their 

 tolls, and the money that should have gone to repay 

 the farmers' losses was secured by them by reason of 



