Efforts toward uniformity were renewed in 1890, confined this time, however, to an attempt to merge the Official and Western Classifications. But the same jealous regard of local interests in each territory, especially with reference to the treatment of carload ratings, once more proved an insuperable obstacle. The trunk lines insisted upon such specially low charges on small shipments as would enable manufacturers and jobbers in the East to hold their markets in remote districts in competition with rivals in the Middle West. The issue raised in the New York Board of Trade case, previously discussed, led to the defeat of this plan. A notable revival of interest in uniform classification under governmental authority has taken place since the enactment of the Mann-Elkins amendments to the Interstate Commerce Law in 1910. An independent bill in Congress to authorize the enforcement of such a schedule failed. The railways were stimulated, however, to make a further attempt to solve the difficulty.[376] Protracted sessions during 1907-1908 by a conference of five representatives from different parts of the country, known as the Uniform Classification Committee, led to many concessions and compromises in favor of harmony. The committee expressed its belief that a uniform classification could be drawn up in time; but it emphasized the important point that all changes in classification must be accompanied by such advances or reductions in the distance tariffs as to insure the prevailing commercial adjustments.