Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. IV.djvu/196

158 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS after that; and as soon as quiet had been restored the judge proved his freedom from personal prejudice by asking the receiver to put the strikers back upon the pay-roll as fast as suitable places could be found for them. A third notable decision was that in the Addy- ston Pipe & Steel company case. This was a gov ernment suit to break up a cast-iron pipe monopoly. Efforts to enforce the anti-trust law had up to that time been spasmodic, with few broad results. One suit had been dropped because the complainant joined the combination he was attacking; in an other the prosecution failed to make clear the interstate character of the defendant s business; in a third there was unquestionably a combination, but lacking the monopolistic feature; in a fourth the offenders were freight-carriers, and the decision would not necessarily cover the conduct of pro ducers uniting to control prices; in others the re lief prayed for was temporary, and so on. Hence, signal value attached to Judge Taft s decision, which reviewed the whole history of this typical trust, including a combination whose effectiveness depended on its restraint of trade ; a system where by products manufactured in a few states were dis posed of in many, constituting interstate commerce ; secret scheming which publicity would defeat, con stituting conspiracy ; and collusive bidding for pub lic contracts, constituting fraud. It was so com-