第87章

Fewwilldisputethefactthatthepresentsituationisnotsatisfactory，andcannotbeputonapermanentlysatisfactorybasisunlessweputanendtotheperiodofgropinganddeclareforafixedpolicy，apolicywhichshallclearlydefineandpunishwrong-doing，whichshallputastoptotheiniquitiesdoneinthenameofbusiness，butwhichshalldostrictequitytobusiness。Wedemandthatbigbusinessgivethepeopleasquaredeal；inreturnwemustinsistthatwhenanyoneengagedinbigbusinesshonestlyendeavorstodorightheshallhimselfbegivenasquaredeal；andthefirst，andmostelementary，kindofsquaredealistogivehiminadvancefullinformationastojustwhathecan，andwhathecannot，legallyandproperlydo。Itisabsurd，andmuchworsethanabsurd，totreatthedeliberatelawbreakerasonanexactparwiththemaneagertoobeythelaw，whoseonlydesireistofindoutfromsomecompetentGovernmentalauthoritywhatthelawis，andthentoliveuptoit。

Moreover，itisabsurdtotreatthesizeofacorporationasinitselfacrime。AsJudgeHooksaysinhisopinionintheStandardOilCase：

“Magnitudeofbusinessdoesnotaloneconstituteamonopoly……thegeniusandindustryofmanwhenkepttoethicalstandardsstillhavefullplay，andwhatheachievesishis……successandmagnitudeofbusiness，therewardsoffairandhonorableendeavor[arenotforbidden]……[thepublicwelfareisthreatenedonlywhensuccessisattained]bywrongfulorunlawfulmethods。”Sizemay，andinmyopiniondoes，makeacorporationfraughtwithpotentialmenacetothecommunity；andmay，andinmyopinionshould，thereforemakeitincumbentuponthecommunitytoexercisethroughitsadministrative(notmerelythroughitsjudicial)officersastrictsupervisionoverthatcorporationinordertoseethatitdoesnotgowrong；butthesizeinitselfdoesnotsignifywrong-doing，andshouldnotbeheldtosignifywrong-doing。

Notonlyshouldanyhugecorporationwhichhasgaineditspositionbyunfairmethods，andbyinterferencewiththerightsofothers，bydemoralizingandcorruptpractices，inshort，bysheerbasenessandwrong-doing，bebrokenup，butitshouldbemadethebusinessofsomeadministrativegovernmentalbody，byconstantsupervision，toseethatitdoesnotcometogetheragain，saveundersuchstrictcontrolasshallinsurethecommunityagainstallrepetitionofthebadconduct——

anditshouldneverbepermittedthustoassembleitspartsaslongasthesepartsareunderthecontroloftheoriginaloffenders，foractualexperiencehasshownthatthesemenare，fromthestandpointofthepeopleatlarge，unfittobetrustedwiththepowerimpliedinthemanagementofalargecorporation。Butnothingofimportanceisgainedbybreakingupahugeinter-Stateandinternationalindustrialorganization/whichhasnotoffendedotherwisethanbyitssize/，intoanumberofsmallconcernswithoutanyattempttoregulatethewayinwhichthoseconcernsasawholeshalldobusiness。NothingisgainedbydeprivingtheAmericanNationofgoodweaponswherewithtofightinthegreatfieldofinternationalindustrialcompetition。Thosewhowouldseektorestorethedaysofunlimitedanduncontrolledcompetition，andwhobelievethatapanaceaforourindustrialandeconomicillsistobefoundinthemerebreakingupofallbigcorporations，simplybecausetheyarebig，areattemptingnotonlytheimpossible，butwhat，ifpossible，wouldbeundesirable。TheyareactingasweshouldactifwetriedtodamtheMississippi，tostopitsflowoutright。Theeffortwouldbecertaintoresultinfailureanddisaster；wewouldhaveattemptedtheimpossible，andsowouldhaveachievednothing，orworsethannothing。ButbybuildingleveesalongtheMississippi，notseekingtodamthestream，buttocontrolit，weareabletoachieveourobjectandtoconferinestimablegoodinthecourseofsodoing。

ThisNationshoulddefinitelyadoptthepolicyofattacking，notthemerefactofcombination，buttheevilsandwrong-doingwhichsofrequentlyaccompanycombination。Thefactthatacombinationisverybigisamplereasonforexercisingacloseandjealoussupervisionoverit，becauseitssizerendersitpotentformischief；butitshouldnotbepunishedunlessitactuallydoesthemischief；itshouldmerelybesosupervisedandcontrolledastoguaranteeus，thepeople，againstitsdoingmischief。Weshouldnotstriveforapo