One response to this uncertainty was a proposal from the National Association of Manufacturers that Congress create a federal Department of Commerce and Industry.
During the 1890s Congress declined to establish such a department, but it considered creating a commission to study the nation's economic situation.
[2][3] The commission was charged with investigating railroad pricing policy, industrial concentration, and the impact of immigration on labor markets, and making recommendations to the President and Congress.
Included among its many recommendations were a call for more extensive federal regulation of trusts, and that the financial records of national corporations and banks be subject to inspection at all times.
[7] President Theodore Roosevelt supported enforcement of the Sherman Antitrust Act and expanded regulation of trusts during his administration.