ad regulation; but it was ineffective, and
the commission under it had no practical power. I appointed the
committee of the House of Representatives of the Illinois Legislature
in 1873, of which John Oberly, of Cairo, Illinois, was a member,
and it was that committee that reported to the House the bill which
finally became a law, known as the Railroad and Warehouse Law of
1873. It is still the existing law in Illinois, and was for many
years regarded as one of the broadest and most far-reaching of
State enactments.

After I became Governor of the State, in 1877, I appointed a new
Railroad and Warehouse Commission under the new law, and naturally
took a deep interest in its work. During my term as Governor a
resolution was adopted by the General Assembly really looking to
the abolition of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission, but on its
face inquiring of me as Governor for information concerning the
cost of maintaining the Railroad and Warehouse Commission, and the
benefits, if any, of the commission, to the people of the State of
Illinois.

To this resolution I promptly responded in a message to the General
Assembly, dated February 17, 1879, which in part I take the liberty
of quoting here, because never afterwards in Illinois, so far as
I know, was there any movement to abolish the Railroad and Warehouse
Commission and repeal the Illinois Railroad and Warehouse Act.

After giving the pay and expenses of the board, I continued:

"To answer this portion of the resolution in a manner satisfactory
to myself would include a recital of the many attempts that have
been made in this and other countries to control railroad corporations
by legislation. In a paper of this kind such a reply can not be
made. I must therefore be satisfied with a glance at the advance
that resulted in the enactment of the railroad and warehouse laws
of this State.

"Since the passage of the laws creating the railroad and warehouse
commission, in 1871, Illinois has made very important advances
toward the solution of the railroad problem.

"The questions involved in this problem have not only been before
the people of this State, but in other States and countries.

"In England, after the railroad had become a fact, it was recognized
as a public highway. The right of Parliament to fix rates for the
transportation of passengers and freight by railroad corporations
was therefore asserted, and schedules of rates were put into their
charter