has received its greatest vindication; that the charge of inconsistency in the decisions of the Supreme Court is unjust and answered by considering that common law; that however little value my own conclusions may have, they may at least have some place as suggestions to those whose opinions have weight and value, I have felt justified in submitting my thoughts, knowing that it can do no harm, and hoping that it may do a little good.
Another consideration that must not be lost sight of, and that warrants every citizen's earnest consideration of this subject, is its danger to our splendid form of government. If that have a unique superiority, it is that ultimate power is vested in a body of men who but decide—not use. Tendency to selfish application is therefore reduced as it has never been in any other country. The keeping of that power there should, therefore, be the highest object of every lover of his country. But all history, from the Roman Emperors down, but demonstrates that any power under which monopolies spring to life or flourish is doomed. Never was Rhinegold so fatal to its possessors. What Zeno, what the absolute Tudors and Stuarts could not maintain in ignorant and despotic ages, can be no less a danger to any modern institution. Fortunately, the common law, and the Sherman Act interpreted by it, require no protection of monopolies by the Supreme Court in their enforcement of law; and it is fortunate and cannot be too well understood, as, were it required, it would inevitably destroy the most important and essential feature of our free government—America's greatest invention in government!
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