of the necessity of meeting changing and
changed conditions of trade with new
methods, nor upon ignorance of the fact that
combination of capital in the effort to
accomplish great things is necessary when
the world’s progress demands that great
things be done. It is based upon sincere
conviction
that
combination
and
concentration should be, not prohibited, but
supervised and within reasonable limits
controlled; and in my judgment this conviction
is right.
He continued: “It should be as much the aim of those who
seek for social betterment to rid the business world of
crimes of cunning as to rid the entire body politic of crimes
of violence.” His conclusion was that
in the interest of the whole people, the nation
should, without interfering with the power of
the states in the matter itself, also assume
power of supervision and regulation over all
corporations doing an interstate business.
This is especially true where the corporation
derives a portion of its wealth from the
existence of some monopolistic element or
tendency in its business.
Roosevelt proposed that Congress establish a federal
agency with power to investigate the affairs of the great
corporations and that, if necessary, a constitutional
amendment could be used to create such an agency. By
1902 Roosevelt had used the Sherman Act to break up the
Northern Securities Company, affecting the interests of J.P.
Morgan, and subsequent suits had been brought against
Du Pont, the American Tobacco Company, and the
Standard Oil Company. Roosevelt strengthened the
Interstate Commerce Act with the Hepburn Act of 1906,
which increased the powers of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, particularly allowing it to inspect the financial
accounts of railways and extending its authority into new
spheres. Roosevelt’s successor, William Taft, prosecuted
trusts even more assiduously, the high point of this being