A new party, the People's Party, which will be considered later, appeared in politics with success for the first time at the elections in 1890. Other important measures advocated and adopted by the Republicans in the Fifty-first Congress were more liberal Pension Laws (June 27, 1890), and the Sherman Anti-Trust Bill (June 26, 1890). The so-called Sherman Silver Act of July 14, 1890, was in reality a concession to the strong silver element which was appearing in both the great parties at this time, and which was to have so momentous an influence on political history in later presidential campaigns. This Act provided for the purchase of 4,500,000 ounces of silver bullion each month, to be paid for in paper money called Treasury Notes, redeemable on demand in gold or silver, and for the coinage of 2,000,000 ounces per month in dollars; after July 1, 1891, the silver was not to be coined, but might be stored in the Treasury and silver certificates issued. The purchasing clause of the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 was repealed. As the time approached for the presidential campaign of 1892 the political situation was peculiar. President Harrison was openly a candidate for re-election, but he was unpopular with many of the strong Republican leaders, who, as a matter of course, turned to Mr. Blaine, then Secretary of State. Mr. Blaine, however, on February 6, 1892, wrote Mr. Clarkson, Chairman of the National Republican Committee, declining to be a candidate, but his friends, notwithstanding, persisted in booming him. The country was astonished on June 4th, three days before the Convention, to learn that Mr. Blaine had resigned from the Cabinet. Did it mean that he was desirous of returning to private life, or of withdrawing his declination and entering actively into the fight for the nomination? Mr. Blaine did not explain, and the uncertainty was perplexing as the day for the Convention approached. In the Democratic Party the situation at first was equally uncertain as to who might be the nominee, but as the State Delegations were chosen, it was seen that Mr. Cleveland would again be nominated in spite of the opposition of Gov. Hill and the New York delegation. Public attention centered, in June, 1892, on Minneapolis and Chicago, where the Republican and Democratic Conventions were to be held. CHAPTER XVIII. CLEVELAND'S SECOND TERM. "Cleveland's (second) election created the disturbances that followed it. The fear of radical changes in the Tariff Law was the basis of them. That law caused the falling of prices, the stagnation of some industries, and the suspension of others. No doubt the fall in the value of silver and the increased demand for gold largely precipitated and added to the other evils." _John Sherman's Recollections._