Senators Sherman, Hoar, Edmunds, George, and Gray; these were the men
who made the present Sherman Anti-trust Law. They were the men who
made largely the financial and constitutional history of the United
States for the three decades following the Civil War. They brought
to the consideration of the trust problem an intimate knowledge of
constitutional law, an open, unbiased attitude toward property rights,
and a thorough devotion to the public interest. They gave long and
careful attention to the question, spending two years on this bill.
There was nothing hasty or ill-considered about their action. They
sought to end special privilege and put all citizens on the same basis
of free competition. Of all their great services to the nation none
probably equals in importance this bill, which may be called the Magna
Charta of industrial and commercial liberty.
The amendment of the Sherman Act may be an important public issue for
some time to come. If it were possible to assemble for this work a body
of men as able and as disinterested as the Elder Statesmen who framed
the original act, the interests of the public would be safe.