Trust+Busting

Trust Busting Through the YearsExamining the Progressive Trust Busters, Taft and Roosevelt

The Industrial Era was a time of great progress, but at what cost? Captains of industry or robber barons, trusts were large business entities that largely succeeded in controlling a market. They were bad for businesses, essentially becoming a monopolies that controlled the economy and often the political world of the United States. These trusts, were swept away starting in the progressive’s beloved President Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and the Republican splitting President Taft’s presidency of political reform. Now we all know about Roosevelt’s famous square deal, his consumer protections (Pure Food and Drug Act, Meat Inspection Act), and railroad regulation, but what of his trust-busting? Roosevelt was our nation’s first trustbuster. Roosevelt increased his popularity dramatically by being the first president to enforce the Sherman Antitrust Act since 1890. His goal was to break up the Northern Securities Company, a railroad monopoly. Roosevelt even took on the famous Standard Oil company. Along with these, he took antitrust action against over 40 large trusts. Though Roosevelt’s antitrust stance was firm and clear, he did not blindly attack all trusts. He was sure to make distinctions between trusts that efficiency and low prices dominated a market, helping the economy, and the “bad trusts” that harmed the public. The nation’s Second Trust Busting president was again a republican. Some may know President William Howard Taft as nation’s fattest president, but more importantly he was the second trust buster. He had served as secretary of war for President T. Roosevelt. Taft continued, for the most part, Roosevelt’s policies. Taft doubled Roosevelt’s trust busting activity. He ordered the prosecution of many antitrust cases. therein lied the first great conflict between Taft and his predecessor. Taft ordered the prosecution against U.S. Steel. President Theodore Roosevelt had previously approved a merger of this company. Roosevelt saw this as an open attack on his integrity. This was to be the first of many disagreements between the two. Later on, Taft further angered Roosevelt and other Progressives by raising the tariff on imprts, firing Gifford Pinchot, and supporting the House Speaker, Joe Cannon. Though these disagreements were quite offensive to the Progressive party, Taft took two Progressive measures that were of great importance to legislation. During his presidency in 1910, the Sixteenth Amendment authorized the U.S. government to collect an income tax. Progressives were great fans of this new tax that applied to only the very wealthy. In fact, this reform was proposed as early as 1812 by the Populists. He passed the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910, granting the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to suspend new railroad rates and oversee telephone, telegraph, and cable companies. This act was extremely harmful to monopolies and trusts. The act was a great triumph for the supporters of trust busting. The Progressive Era of 1901-1918 saw not one, but two presidents willing to take on the dominating trusts and monopolies of the time-a great contrast to the Laissez Faire policies of the Gilded Age. After years of laissez faire, regulation was finally on the rise.