It increased the amount of silver the government was required to purchase on a recurrent monthly basis to 4.5 million ounces.
[2][3] The Sherman Silver Purchase Act had been passed in response to the growing complaints of farmers' and miners' interests.
[6] Nonetheless, once agreement on the final version was reached in the conference committee, Sherman found that he disagreed with many sections of the act.
William McKinley, an Ohio Republican and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, worked with John Sherman to create a package that could both pass the Senate and receive the President's approval.
It became the second-largest buyer in the world, after the British Crown in India, where the Indian rupee was backed by silver rather than gold.
President Grover Cleveland summoned an emergency session of Congress on August 7, 1893, for the repeal of the act to prevent the further depletion of the government's gold reserves.