regulation, had the anti-machine Senators been organized to give
effective resistance to the machine. Perhaps the sanest of this
criticism, certainly the most reasonable, is from a gentleman who was a
close observer of the work of the session. He says:

"The course of the railroad rate bill from my point of view looked
somewhat different in many details, at any rate, from your account of
it. I cannot bring myself to think that it was defeated by any chance at
the hands of a friendly Legislature. I think that what chances there
were were mostly added to the number of votes the bill got and that the
attitude of men like Walker and Estudillo on that bill was fundamental
and to have been expected from the start. Of course what you say about
the woeful lack of organization amongst the individual men was only too
apparent. That phenomenon reaches back still deeper and is based upon
the quality of human nature which exerts itself more persistently and
more energetically and with soldier-like rhythm of compact organization
when private selfish interests are involved, than when the general
interest and somewhat vague uncentered end of public welfare is
concerned."

But in spite of this very reasonable view, from a very reasonable
gentleman, the fact remains that in the Committee on Corporations,
Walker stood out against the machine on this very issue, and that in the
direct primary fight both Walker and Estudillo stood out against the
machine to the end. Had the anti-machine element been organized, the
Stetson bill and not the Wright bill would in all probability have been
passed.