molasses, coffee, tea, and hides imported from any country
imposing on American goods duties, which, in the opinion of the
President, were "reciprocally unequal and unreasonable." This more
equitable result is to be ascribed wholly to Blaine's energetic and
capable leadership.

Pending the passage of the Tariff Bill, the Senate had been wrestling
with the trust problem which was making a mockery of a favorite theory
of the Republicans. They had held that tariff protection benefited
the consumer by the stimulus which it gave to home production and by
ensuring a supply of articles on as cheap terms as American labor
could afford. There were, however, notorious facts showing that certain
corporations had taken advantage of the situation to impose high prices,
especially upon the American consumer. It was a campaign taunt that the
tariff held the people down while the trusts went through their
pockets, and to this charge the Republicans found it difficult to make a
satisfactory reply.

The existence of such economic injustice was continually urged in
support of popular demands for the control of corporations by the
Government. Though the Republican leaders were much averse to providing
such control, they found inaction so dangerous that on January 14, 1890,
Senator John Sherman reported from the Finance Committee a vague but
peremptory statute to make trade competition compulsory. This was the
origin of the AntiTrust Law which has since gone by his name, although
the law actually passed was framed by the Senate judiciary committee.
The first section declared that "every contract, combination in the form
of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce
among the several States, or with foreign nations, is hereby declared to
be illegal." The law made no attempt to define the offenses it penalized
and created no machinery for enforcing its provisions, but it gave
jurisdiction over alleged violations to the courts--a favorite
congressional mode of getting rid of troublesome responsibilities. As a
result, the courts have been struggling with the application of the law
ever since, without being able to develop a clear or consistent rule
for discriminating between legal and illegal combinations in trade and
commerce. Even upon the financial question, the Republicans succeeded
in maintaining party harmony, notwithstanding a sharp conflict between
factions. William Windom, the Secretary of the Treasury, had p