dictum which completely justified Roosevelt's action.

In the fall of 1907 the United States was in the grip of a financial
panic. Much damage was done, and much more was threatened. One great New
York trust company was compelled to close its doors, and others were
on the verge of disaster. One evening in the midst of this most trying
time, the President was informed that two representatives of the United
States Steel Corporation wished to call upon him the next morning. As he
was at breakfast the next day word came to him that Judge Gary and Mr.
Frick were waiting in the Executive Office. The President went over at
once, sending word to Elihu Root, then Secretary of State, to join him.
Judge Gary and Mr. Frick informed the President that a certain great
firm in the New York financial district was upon the point of failure.
This firm held a large quantity of the stock of the Tennessee Coal and
Iron Company. The Steel Corporation had been urged to purchase this
stock in order to avert the failure. The heads of the Steel Corporation
asserted that they did not wish to purchase this stock from the point of
view of a business transaction, as the value which the property might be
to the Corporation would be more than offset by the criticism to which
they would be subjected. They said that they were sure to be charged
with trying to secure a monopoly and to stifle competition. They told
the President that it had been the consistent policy of the Steel
Corporation to have in its control no more than sixty per cent of
the steel properties of the country; that their proportion of those
properties was in fact somewhat less than sixty per cent; and that the
acquisition of the holdings of the Tennessee Company would raise it
only a little above that point. They felt, however, that it would be
extremely desirable for them to make the suggested purchase in order to
prevent the damage which would result from the failure of the firm in
question. They were willing to buy the stocks offered because in
the best judgment of many of the strongest bankers in New York the
transaction would be an influential factor in preventing a further
extension of the panic. Judge Gary and Mr. Frick declared that they were
ready to make the purchase with this end in view but that they would not
act without the President's approval of their action.

Immediate action was imperative. It was important that the purchase, if
it were to be made, should be announce