the measure proposed and the free
coinage of silver I preferred the former, and voted for the bill
and, thus, with others, became responsible for it.

Contrary to the expectation of the friends of silver it steadily
declined in market value. The compulsory purchase of the enormous
aggregate of fifty-four million ounces, or 2,250 tons Troy, each
year, did not maintain the market value of silver, but it steadily
declined so that the silver purchased each year entailed an annual
loss of more than $10,000,000.

When the result became apparent I was anxious to arrest the purchase
of silver, and I never could comprehend why anyone not directly
interested in the mining of silver could favor a policy involving
so heavy a loss to the people of the United States. Long before
the second election of Mr. Cleveland I advocated the repeal of what
became known as the "Sherman act," and heartily supported and voted
for the repeal he recommended.

In the previous Congress I had introduced a bill "to declare
unlawful, trusts and combinations in restraint of trade and
production," but no action was taken upon it. On the 4th of December
I again introduced this bill, it being the first Senate bill
introduced in that Congress. It was referred to the committee on
finance, and, having been reported back with amendments, I called
it up on the 27th of February, and said that I did not intend to
make any extended remarks upon it unless it should become necessary
to do so. Senator George made a long and carefully prepared speech,
from which it appeared that while he favored the general purpose
of the bill he objected to it on the ground that it was not
constitutional. This objection was shared by several Senators.
I subsequently reported from the committee on finance a substitute
for the bill, and on the 21st of March made a long speech in support
of it in which I said:

"I did not originally intend to make any extended argument on the
trust bill, because I supposed that the public facts upon which it
is founded and the general necessity of some legislation were so
manifest that no debate was necessary to bring those facts to the
attention of the Senate.

"But the different views taken by Senators in regard to the legal
questions involved in this bill, and the very able speech made by
the Senator from Mississippi [Mr. George] relative to the details
of the bill, led me to the conclusion that it was my duty, having
reported the bill f