Any recognition of the large
corporations, any successful attempt to give them a legal standing as
authentic as their economic efficiency, amounts substantially to a
discrimination in their favor.
The whole official programme of regulation does not in any effective way
protect their competitors. Unquestionably these large corporations have
in the past thrived partly on illegal favors, such as rebates, which
would be prevented by the official programme of regulation; but at the
present time the advantage which they enjoy over their competitors is
independent of such practices. It depends upon their capture and
occupation of certain essential strategic positions in the economic
battle-field. It depends upon abundant capital, which enables it to take
advantage of every opportunity, and to buy and sell to the best
advantage. It depends upon the permanent appropriation of essential
supplies of raw materials, such as iron ore and coal, or of terminals in
large cities, which cannot now be duplicated.
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