w sugar, affixing a bounty to the production of sugar in the
United States. But in 1892 the Democrats again acquired power, electing
Mr. Cleveland and controlling the Senate. In 1894 they passed the
Wilson-Senate Tariff Act, greatly reducing rates in general, and
free-listing the important commodities of wool, salt, and lumber. Raw
sugar was now taxed again, and the bounty upon its production abolished.

[1873]

The revenue question in this campaign was not a little complicated by
the existence of numerous and powerful Trusts, which anti-protectionists
believed to be fostered by our high tariff. The Trust System arose about
1876, and in the course of a few years almost every great enterprise in
the land was carried on under the form of a trust. The principal
corporations or men engaged in an industry would enter into combination,
more or less informal, for the regulation of production and prices.
Usually the result was an elevation of prices, and where the trust
constituted a necessary monopoly this rise might be indefinitely
perpetuated. High tariff as well as low tariff newspapers made great
outcry against these monopolies. The latter urged that a reduced tariff,
forcing these businesses more into competition with corresponding
producers abroad, was the only thing needful to break their solidarity
and consequent power. Advocates of high tariff denied this.

[1878]

The old silver dollar, "the Dollar of the Fathers," had, until 1873,
never ceased to be full legal tender, although it had since 1853 been
too valuable as compared with the gold dollar to circulate much. In 1873
a law was passed demonetizing it, and making gold the exclusive form of
United States hard money. The new German Empire did the same this very
year. There at once began a great apparent depreciation of silver in
comparison with gold at the historic ratio. For a long time this change
involved no decrease in the value or purchasing power of silver even in
the form of bullion, but consisted rather in a rise of the value of
gold.

In view of this, as all the Government bonds outstanding in 1873 had
been made payable in coin, it was as good as universally believed in
most sections of the Union that the demonetizing of silver, if persisted
in, would work hardship to taxpayers in liquidating the national debt. A
bill was therefore brought forward, and in 1878 passed, restoring to the
silver dollar its full legal tender character. In this legislation,