Case of the Monopolies Some of Its Results and Suggestions

Authors

Sydney T. Miller

Abstract

Apparently the monopolistic idea is as old as the history of man. That great and good man, Job, may be counted as the earliest recorded "trust-buster," if we read between the lines of his story, and Solomon said, "He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him; but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it." Doubtless, by exhaustive search, we could find some record of attempts to monopolize during each century from Biblical days to the time of printing, and as surely there must have been a countermovement. But not until the last five hundred years of English history have the pros and cons crystallized in such a way as to be of intelligent use to us. In legal records, the "Case of the Monopolies" is the first meeting, head-on and with a clear field, of the monopolists and anti-monopolists, and it therefore seems worthy of close scrutiny. If we uncover the reasons for this particular quarrel we shall find something like this: Monopoly.

Recommended Citation

Sydney T. Miller, Case of the Monopolies Some of Its Results and Suggestions, 6 Mich. L. Rev. 1 (1907).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol6/iss1/2