Wisconsin,
a majority of the members of the Senate favored the railroads
and, fearing to show their hands, attempted to defeat the proposed
legislation by substituting the extremely radical Potter Bill for the
moderate measure adopted by the Assembly. The senators found themselves
hoist with their own petard, however, for the lower house, made up
largely of Grangers, accepted this bill rather than let the matter of
railroad legislation go by default. The rates fixed by the Potter Law
for many commodities were certainly unreasonably low, although the
assertion of a railroad official that the enforcement of the law would
cut off twenty-five per cent of the gross earnings of the companies was
a decided exaggeration. Relying upon the advice of such eminent Eastern
lawyers as William M. Evarts, Charles O'Conor, E. Rockwood Roar, and
Benjamin R. Curtis that the law was invalid, the roads refused to obey
it until it was upheld by the state supreme court late in 1874. They
then began a campaign for its repeal. Though they obtained only some
modification in 1875, they succeeded completely in 1876.

The contest between the railroads and the farmers was intense while
it lasted. The farmers had votes; the railroads had money; and the
legislators were sometimes between the devil and the deep sea in
the fear of offending one side or the other. The farmers' methods of
campaign were simple. Often questionnaires were distributed to all
candidates for office, and only those who went on record as favoring
railroad restriction were endorsed by the farmers' clubs and committees.
An agricultural convention, sometimes even a meeting of the state
Grange, would be held at the capital of the State while the legislature
was in session, and it was a bold legislator who, in the presence of his
farmer constituents, would vote against the measures they approved.
When the railroads in Illinois refused to lower their passenger rates
to conform to the law, adventurous farmers often attempted to "ride for
legal fares," giving the trainmen the alternative of accepting the low
fares or throwing the hardy passengers from the train.

The methods of the railroads in dealing with the legislators were
most subtle. Whether or not the numerous charges of bribery were
true, railroad favors were undoubtedly distributed among well disposed
legislators. In Iowa passes were not given to the senators who voted
against the railroads, and those sent to the men who vote