rol of the transportation
business. They have even paid the expenses of the organization, although
they have made every effort to make it appear as if the movement was a
voluntary one on the part of their employes. They are employing this
method in Texas and other States at the present time, in opposition to
the effort that is being made by the people to secure just and
reasonable treatment from the railroads.

That the chief executive of a State should be influenced in the
discharge of his official duties by such favors as passes, the freedom
of the dining- and sleeping-car, by the free use of a special car, or
even a special train, one is loath to believe; yet it is a fact, and
especially during political campaigns, that such favors are frequently
offered to, and accepted by, the highest executive officers, and it is
equally true that many of these officers often connive at the continued
and defiant violations of law by railroad officials. While the men who
manage large railroad interests do not always possess that wisdom which
popular reverence attributes to them, they certainly possess great
cunning, and expend much of their artfulness in efforts to win over
scrupulous, and to render still more servile unscrupulous executives.
The general railroad diplomate never omits to pay homage to the man in
power, to flatter him, to impress him with the political influence of
his company, to intimate plainly that, as it has been in the past, so it
will be in the future its determined policy to reward its friends and to
punish its enemies. If the executive proves intractable, if he can
neither be flattered, nor coaxed, nor bribed into submission, he does
not hesitate to resort to intimidation to accomplish his purpose. This
is by no means a rare occurrence. There are few public men who, if
determined to do their duty, have not been subjected to railroad insult
and intimidation. The author may be permitted to give an instance from
his personal experience. Soon after his inauguration as Governor of Iowa
a general officer of one of the oldest and strongest Western railroads
called at his office and importuned him with unreasonable requests. When
he found that he had utterly failed to impress the author with his
arguments, he left abruptly, with the curt remark that these matters
could be settled on election day, and he emphasized his statement by
slamming the door behind him.

A servile railroad press has always been ready to mis