1902 Theodore Roosevelt - TRUSTBUSTER

J. Pierpont Morgan was an American financier and banker who dominated the corporate finance and industrial consolidation at the turn of the 19th century.  By 1901 he had become the most powerful man on Wall Street.  In that year, he helped to form the railroad trust, Northern Securities Company.   Then in 1902, the attorney general set out to sue Northern Securities company for breach of Sherman anti-trust .   President Theodore Roosevelt had set out to break up the trusts and return power to the little guy, and he was going to use JP Morgan to set the example.  JP Morgan argued he should have been given the chance to restructure Northern Securities himself, but Roosevelt's administration was not out to fix the Trusts, but to destroy them.   Morgan was furious that any politician would tell him how to run his companies and contested the decision taking it all the way to the supreme court.  In the end the supreme court held up Roosevelt's decision and Northern Securities was officially resolved. 

 Roosevelt stated that he was not against big business altogether.   He was just against big business that hurt the people and believed there were good trusts and bad trusts.  He set out to destroy the bad trusts and put regulations that would keep the good trusts in restraint.   Roosevelt used the justice department to initiate 44 lawsuits against major corporations for violating antitrust laws.  His prosecutions spanned  industries from Railroads to Meat packers, to Big Steel and Wall Street.  Roosevelt initiated more lawsuits than any previous president, earning him the nickname of "TRUSTBUSTER". 

In his 1902 address to congress, President Roosevelt explained his actions.  This was not a state problem, it was an interstate problem and the federal government had the right and should take action.  His aim was "not to do away with corporations", but rather to "do away with any evil in them". He was not attacking "wealth", but rather "misconduct". 

"Experience has shown that under our system of government the necessary supervision can not be obtained by State action. It must therefore be achieved by national action. Our aim is not to do away with corporations; on the contrary, these big aggregations are an inevitable development of modern industrialism, and the effort to destroy them would be futile unless accomplished in ways that would work the utmost mischief to the entire body politic. We can do nothing of good in the way of regulating and supervising these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds that we are not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth. The capitalist who, alone or in conjunction with his fellows, performs some great industrial feat by which he wins money is a welldoer, not a wrongdoer, provided only he works in proper and legitimate lines. We wish to favor such a man when he does well. We wish to supervise and control his actions only to prevent him from doing ill."

Therefore Roosevelt, urged congress to use the power to regulate "interstate business".   This power in Roosevelt's mind gave congress authority to put a "restraint upon national commerce" and to eradicate all its evils.

"The power of the Congress to regulate interstate commerce is an absolute and unqualified grant, and without limitations other than those prescribed by the Constitution. The Congress has constitutional authority to make all laws necessary and proper for executing this power, and I am satisfied that this power has not been exhausted by any legislation now on the statute books. It is evident, therefore, that evils restrictive of commercial freedom and entailing restraint upon national commerce fall within the regulative power of the Congress, and that a wise and reasonable law would be a necessary and proper exercise of Congressional authority to the end that such evils should be eradicated."

Roosevelt wanted congress to use this power to prevent monopolies, and trusts from practicing their evils of unjust discrimination and destroying of competitors.

"I believe that monopolies, unjust discriminations, which prevent or cripple competition, fraudulent overcapitalization, and other evils in trust organizations and practices which injuriously affect interstate trade can be prevented under the power of the Congress to "regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States" through regulations and requirements operating directly upon such commerce, the instrumentalities thereof, and those engaged therein."

First, Roosevelt, was asking congress to new laws to help fight the Trusts.  Even if these new laws required the constitution to be amended.

"I earnestly recommend this subject to the consideration of the Congress with a view to the passage of a law reasonable in its provisions and effective in its operations, upon which the questions can be finally adjudicated that now raise doubts as to the necessity of constitutional amendment. If it prove impossible to accomplish the purposes above set forth by such a law, then, assuredly, we should not shrink from amending the Constitution so as to secure beyond peradventure the power sought."

Second, Roosevelt was asking congress to make further appropriations to help him and the justice department enforce the anti-trust laws.

"The Congress has not heretofore made any appropriation for the better enforcement of the antitrust law as it now stands. Very much has been done by the Department of Justice in securing the enforcement of this law, but much more could be done if the Congress would make a special appropriation for this purpose, to be expended under the direction of the Attorney-General."

References

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). Theodore Roosevelt: Second Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29543 [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

Biography. (2018). J.P. Morgan - Fight Against Roosevelt. [online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/jp-morgan-9414735/videos/jp-morgan-fight-against-roosevelt-29734979798 [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

Biography. (2018). J.P. Morgan - Fight Against Roosevelt. [online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/jp-morgan-9414735/videos/jp-morgan-fight-against-roosevelt-29734979798 [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

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