whose duty it is to see that all charges for the
transportation of passengers and freight are "reasonable and just," and
that no special rates, rebates, drawbacks, or unjust discriminations are
made for one shipper over another. In 1888 a second Chinese Exclusion
Act prohibited the return of any Chinese laborer who had once left the
country. That same year a Department of Labor was established and put in
charge of a commissioner. His duty is to "diffuse among the people of
the United States useful information on subjects connected with labor."

%544. Political Issues since 1888%.--Thus by the end of Mr.
Cleveland's first term many of the demands of the workingmen had been
granted, and laws enacted for their relief. These issues disposed of, a
new set arose, and after 1888 financial questions took the place of
labor issues.

%545. The Surplus and the Tariff.%--These financial problems were
brought up by the condition of the public debt. For twenty years past
the debt had been rapidly growing less and less, till on December 1,
1887, it was $1,665,000,000, a reduction of more than $1,100,000,000 in
twenty-one years. By that time every bond of the United States that
could be called in and paid at its face value had been canceled. As all
the other bonds fell due, some in 1891 and others in 1907, the
government must either buy them at high rates, or suffer them to run. If
it suffered them to run, a great surplus would pile up in the Treasury.
Thus on December 1, 1887, after every possible debt of the government
was met, there was a surplus of $50,000,000. Six months later (June 1,
1888) the sum had increased to $103,000,000.

Unless this was to go on, and the money of the country be locked up in
the Treasury, one of three things must be done:

1. More bonds must be bought at high rates.

2. Or the revenue must be reduced by reducing taxation.

3. Or the surplus must be distributed among the states as in 1837, or
spent.

%546. The Mills Tariff Bill.%--Each plan had its advocates. But the
Democrats, who controlled the House of Representatives, attempted to
solve the problem by cutting down the revenue, and passed a tariff bill,
called the Mills Bill, after its chief author, Mr. R. Q. Mills of Texas.
The Republicans declared it was a free-trade measure and defeated it in
the Senate.

%547. The Campaign of 1888; Benjamin Harrison, Twenty-third
President.%--In the party platforms of 1888 we find, therefore, that
three i