In this cartoon, the figure on the left is wearing a
nightshirt labeling him as a "socialist." The figure on the right is
wearing a nightshirt labeling him as a "trust magnate." The slogan on the
bed's headboard, "Business Combination is Inevitable" reflected on argument in
defense of "the trusts." Socialists argued that capitalism
inevitably led to the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a small upper
class of people. Business leaders pointed out that firms grew as a result of superior
practices in a competitive market. Roosevelt, in his espousal of the "new
nationalism" essentially agreed. Wilson, in his assertion of the "new
freedom" was ambivalent. The Supreme Court in 1911 settled on a doctrine of
the "rule of reason" that allowed firms to be large if
they grew through reasonable and fair competitive practices.
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