mark the formal entry of the Federal government upon a course of action imposing a grave responsibility upon its administrative agents. An understanding is needed, henceforth, not of the general principles of governmental control but rather of the application of that control to concrete instances of real or fancied abuse. The need of an annotated, quasi-official literature is insistent. By gathering together in convenient form this series of papers and documents it is confidently hoped that progress toward an understanding of one of our most troublesome public questions may be in some degree facilitated. Both for the purpose of saving space and in order to avoid the appearance of discontinuity in the text, it has seemed best to eliminate many footnotes from the four hundred pages of new material added to this edition, as well as oftentimes to leave out all indication of solid omissions in the reading matter. The technical student under such circumstances is warned always to turn to the original article or document for detailed citations. Acknowledgment is due to the editorial boards of the Political Science Quarterly, the Economic Journal, the Yale Review and the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and in even greater measure to the authors of the several papers herein reprinted, for permission to make use of their material in this enterprise. In every instance a most hearty acquiescence in the project has been expressed, for the which I cannot be too grateful. Without such assent the meagre original contributions of the editor would have made but a sorry show. To my former teacher at Columbia, President Goodnow of Johns Hopkins; to my former assistants at Harvard, Professors Tosdal and Dewing, and, with a peculiar sense of personal attachment, to my old friend Dr. Francis Walker, I wish especially to acknowledge indebtedness. This volume as it appears is largely the work of professional colleagues and friends. It is earnestly to be desired that the editor's endeavors may serve to direct attention anew to the value and interest of their contributions. WILLIAM Z. RIPLEY CONTENTS PAGE II. THE WHISKEY TRUST. (A legal trust.) By J. W. Jenks III. THE WIRE-NAIL ASSOCIATION OF 1895-96. (And other iron and steel pools.) By Charles E. Edgerton V. COMBINATION IN THE Steel IndUSTRY. U. S. v. U. S. Steel VI. U. S. STEEL CORPORATION FINANCE. (Capitalization and THE U. S. STEEL CORPORATION'S BOND CONVERSION. (Im- prudent financing.) By Edward S. Meade and others 228 VIII. THE TOBACCO MONOPOLY. (Recent industrial and financial IX. THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY. (A clean, XI. THE UNITED STATES LEATHER COMPANY. (Corporate reor- XII. THE UNITED STATES SHIPBUILDING COMPANY. (Financial Barlow XX. THE LAW CONCERNING MONOPOLISTIC COMBINATIONS IN CON- XXI. THE BRITISH COMPANIES ACT OF 1900. By Montague INTRODUCTION THE maturally falls into five more or less HE historical development of the so-called Trust Problem clearly defined periods. The revival of industry following the long depression of 1873-1879 began the modern development of large-scale production. Corporations embodying the principles of limited liability, delegated management and indirect ownership became increasingly prominent after 1880. The first period in our trust history may be said, therefore, to extend from about this time until 1887. It was characterized by a steady increase in the size and number of large-scale industrial units. Various pools and the Standard Oil Trust foreshadowed the future. The decade from 1887 to 1897 forms the second period. It was the time of the trust in the strict legal sense. Standard Oil Trust success since 1882 invited imitation in the two important industries of distilling and sugar refining. The progress of monopoly was such that an outbreak of state antitrust laws from 1889 to 1893 indicated how fully public interest had turned from the regulation of railroads to that of industrial monopoly. It was assumed, in fact, that the railroad question had been in a large measure settled by the enactment of the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887. As instanced later in this brief review, the entire failure of the trust expedient, however, in furnishing a legal basis for monopoly led to various other devices, notably pooling. And the continuation of industrial depression, during the four years to 1897, rendered constructive development unlikely. The third period, from 1897 until the Northern Securities decision in the spring of 1904, was largely influenced by the phenomenal prosperity which began in the former year and culminated in 1902. The organization of combinations in various branches of iron and steel manufacture, |