The circle would have been broken, if, for instance, the granting of illegal rebates had been effectively prohibited; but as a matter of fact they could not be effectively prohibited by the public authorities, to whom either the railroads or the large shippers were technically responsible.

A shipper of oil in Cleveland, Ohio, would have a difficult time in protesting against illegal discrimination on the part of a railroad conducting an inter-state business and organized under the laws of New York.

No doubt he could appeal to the Federal government; but the Federal government had been, for the time being, disqualified by many different causes from effective interference.

In the first place there was to be overcome the conventional democratic prejudice against what was called centralization.

A tradition of local control over the machinery of transit and transportation was dominant during the early period of railroad construction.