Things were going swimmingly with the Stetson bill, when the machine
lobby awoke to the fact that something was wrong in the Senate. There
was at least some indication that the Senate would pass an effective
railroad regulation measure.

And then, before the advocates of the Stetson measure could tell exactly
what was happening, the railroad regulation measures were taken from the
Judiciary Committee and placed in the hands of the Committee on
Corporations.

A glance at the personnel of the two Committees at least suggests why
this was done.

The members of the Judiciary Committee were Willis, Wolfe, Wright,
McCartney, Savage, Boynton, Anthony, Burnett, Cutten, Estudillo,
Martinelli, Roseberry, Stetson, Thompson, Curtin, Cartwright, Caminetti,
Miller, Campbell.

The nine Senators whose names are printed in Italics, when the issue
came to vote on the floor of the Senate, voted against the Stetson bill
and for the Wright bill; nine of the ten whose names are printed in
ordinary letters voted for the Stetson bill and against the Wright bill.
The tenth, Roseberry, was absent, but when he found that the vote had
been taken, stated that had he been present he would have voted for the
Stetson bill and against the Wright bill.

Furthermore, Estudillo, who finally voted for the Wright bill, did not
approve the measure and voted for it because he feared the absolute rate
feature of the Stetson bill to be unconstitutional.