A  study  of  the  more  important  of  these  cases
against  combinations  under  the  Sherman  Act,


I


v/*


700  .VS  A  CANDroATE

shows  that  the  actions  were  so  brought  that  the
government  would,  at  best,  win  only  a  nominal
victory ;  and  that  the  decree  of  the  court  would
be  so  limited  by  the  allegation  of  the  complaint
as  to  leave  the  defendant  combination  in  a  posi-
tion, under  its  existing  form  or  by  an  easy  shift,
to  continue  its  wrongdoing.
As  stated  above,  when  Roosevelt  became
President  there  were  149  combinations  and
trusts,  including  railways,  the  entire  149  having
a  total  stock  and  bond  issue  of  only  $3,784,000,-
000.  When  he  left  the  White  House  there  were
10,020  of  these  monster  plants  in  combination,
including,  with  the  combined  railroads,  a  total
capitalization  amounting  to  the  enormous  sum
of  1(31,672,000,000  —  more  than  70  per  cent,  of
which  was  water.  The  power  of  these  combina-
tions was  so  extensive  and  so  completely  did
they  suppress  competition,  that  they  were  able
to  advance  prices  on  transportation,  and  on
the  products  of  the  mines  and  factories  to  enable
them  to  pay  dividends  on  this  fictitious  and
fraudulent  over-capitalization.
