Reviving the Sherman Act: The Northern Securities Case

Roosevelt and Corporations.

Theodore Roosevelt was no enemy of big business. However, he believed it was important to demonstrate that the federal government could enforce the law. Roosevelt did not want to go to court every time a corporation violated the law: that would be bad for the government and bad for business. It would be more effective, he believed, to have boards like the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate corporations. In 1903 his administration created a bureau of corporations, which he hoped would be able to regulate big business. Roosevelt also believed the federal government should have the power to charter corporations, which would give these regulatory boards more control over illegal practices. All of this was not because Roosevelt did not like corporations. He believed a bureau of corporations should set out clear rules, which all parties would understand before they created a corporation. This way the...

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