their difficulties
with the Railroad by the work of a single commission; that they
had counted upon a long, continued campaign of many years, railway
commission succeeding railway commission, before the desired low rates
should be secured; that the present Board of Commissioners was only the
beginning and that too great results were not expected from them. All
this he contrived to mention casually, in the talk, as if it were a
foregone conclusion, a matter understood by all.

As the speech continued, the eyes of the ranchers around the table were
fixed with growing attention upon this well-dressed, city-bred young
man, who spoke so fluently and who told them of their own intentions. A
feeling of perplexity began to spread, and the first taint of distrust
invaded their minds.

"But the good work has been most auspiciously inaugurated," continued
Lyman. "Reforms so sweeping as the one contemplated cannot be
accomplished in a single night. Great things grow slowly, benefits to
be permanent must accrue gradually. Yet, in spite of all this, your
commissioners have done much. Already the phalanx of the enemy
is pierced, already his armour is dinted. Pledged as were your
commissioners to an average ten per cent. reduction in rates for the
carriage of grain by the Pacific and Southwestern Railroad, we have
rigidly adhered to the demands of our constituency, we have obeyed the
People. The main problem has not yet been completely solved; that is
for later, when we shall have gathered sufficient strength to attack the
enemy in his very stronghold; BUT AN AVERAGE TEN PER CENT. CUT HAS BEEN
MADE ALL OVER THE STATE. We have made a great advance, have taken a
great step forward, and if the work is carried ahead, upon the lines
laid down by the present commissioners and their constituents, there
is every reason to believe that within a very few years equitable and
stable rates for the shipment of grain from the San Joaquin Valley to
Stockton, Port Costa, and tidewater will be permanently imposed."

"Well, hold on," exclaimed Annixter, out of order and ignoring the
Governor's reproof, "hasn't your commission reduced grain rates in the
San Joaquin?"

"We have reduced grain rates by ten per cent. all over the State,"
rejoined Lyman. "Here are copies of the new schedule."

He drew them from his valise and passed them around the table.

"You see," he observed, "the rate between Mayfield and Oakland, for
instance, has been reduced by