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 prepared a bill of the type known as a "straddle."
It offered the advocates of free coinage the right to send to the
mint silver bullion in any quantity and to receive in return the
net market value of the bullion in treasury notes redeemable in
gold or silver coin at the option of the Government. The monthly
purchase of not less than $2,000,000 worth of bullion was,
however, no longer to be required by law.
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