Pressure was placed on Congress to alleviate the business crisis through reinflation of the currency, pitting railroad promoters and the iron industry against Eastern bankers and the merchant elite, who favored a stable, gold-based currency. Although those favoring currency expansion won the day in Congress, which passed an Inflation Bill calling for a $46 million boost in output of National Bank notes that would raise the ceiling on unbacked currency back to $400 million, the legislation was vetoed by President Grant on April 22, 1874.