sults fall far short of compensating the palpable
evils charged to the account of trusts and monopolies. Their tendency
is to crush out individual independence and to hinder or prevent the
free use of human faculties and the full development of human character.
Through them the farmer, the artisan, and the small trader is in danger
of dislodgment from the proud position of being his own master, watchful
of all that touches his country's prosperity, in which he has an
individual lot, and interested in all that affects the advantages of
business of which he is a factor, to be relegated to the level of a mere
appurtenance to a great machine, with little free will, with no duty but
that of passive obedience, and with little hope or opportunity of rising
in the scale of responsible and helpful citizenship.

To the instinctive belief that such is the inevitable trend of trusts
and monopolies is due the widespread and deep-seated popular aversion in
which they are held and the not unreasonable insistence that, whatever
may be their incidental economic advantages, their general effect upon
personal character, prospects, and usefulness can not be otherwise than
injurious.

Though Congress has attempted to deal with this matter by legislation,
the laws passed for that purpose thus far have proved ineffective, not
because of any lack of disposition or attempt to enforce them, but
simply because the laws themselves as interpreted by the courts do not
reach the difficulty. If the insufficiencies of existing laws can be
remedied by further legislation, it should be done. The fact must be
recognized, however, that all Federal legislation on this subject may
fall short of its purpose because of inherent obstacles and also because
of the complex character of our governmental system, which, while making
the Federal authority supreme within its sphere, has carefully limited
that sphere by metes and bounds that can not be transgressed. The
decision of our highest court on this precise question renders it quite
doubtful whether the evils of trusts and monopolies can be adequately
treated through Federal action unless they seek directly and purposely
to include in their objects transportation or intercourse between States
or between the United States and foreign countries.

It does not follow, however, that this is the limit of the remedy that
may be applied. Even though it may be found that Federal authority is
not broad enough to fully r