Complex sentence: The issue of the tariff worked to the Republicans' advantage in 1888, but the legislative revisions of the past four years made imported goods so expensive that now many voters favored tariff reform and were skeptical of big business.
Split into simpler sentences: The issue of the tariff worked to the Republicans' advantage in 1888. The legislative revisions of the past four years also made imported goods so expensive that now many voters favored tariff reform and were skeptical of big business.