Two years later (1890) the Republicans, being in power both in Congress and in the White House, enacted the McKinley Tariff Law, which placed the rates on many imports even higher than the war tariffs had done. Apparently the people were not prepared for such a radical measure. The election of 1890 gave the Democrats control of the lower house of Congress, Mr. McKinley even failing of election in a district supposed to be protectionist. Two years later (1892) the Democrats captured the presidency as well as Congress. They then set about to enact a tariff law along the lines they had been advocating for a half century. The result was the Wilson Tariff Act, which in many respects resembled the old "Abominations" act of 1828. It pleased nobody, for it was merely a bundle of inconsistencies, made so by the desire of many members of Congress to secure protection for the goods produced in their respective districts and free trade for the goods consumed there. Even President Cleveland refused to sign the bill, permitting it to become a law without his signature.

Circumstances combined to make the Wilson Tariff unpopular. The people believed that it was largely responsible for the Panic of 1893, and two years later they elected Mr. McKinley and a Republican Congress pledged to revise the tariff rates upward. Accordingly in 1897 the Dingley Tariff Law was enacted with even higher rates than those in the McKinley Act. The prosperity that followed, a majority of the people attributed for a time to the Dingley Act. By 1908, however, the rank and file of the protectionists had misgivings as to the influence of such high rates on industry. They began to suspect that the tariff was largely responsible for the high prices, which were coming to be burdensome. Sensing this feeling, the Republican platform of that year declared for a revision of tariff rates. Being successful they set about to carry out their promises. The result was the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Law of 1909, which, while it reduced many rates, did not prove satisfactory to those who had a sincere desire to see the tariff materially modified.