William O. Douglas

“ If it is not insubstantial as a market for United States Steel, it certainly is not from the point of view of the struggling western units of the steel industry.
It is unrealistic to measure Consolidated's part of the market by determining its proportion of the national market. There is no safeguarding of competition in the theory that the bigger the national market the less protection will be given those selling to the smaller components thereof. That theory would allow a producer to absorb outlets upon which small enterprises with restricted marketing facilities depend. ”

“ I do not stop to consider the effect of the acquisition on competition in the sale of fabricated steel products. The monopoly of this substantial market for rolled steel products is in itself an unreasonable restraint of trade under § 1 of the Act. ”

“ Industrial power should be decentralized. It should be scattered into many hands so that the fortunes of the people will not be dependent on the whim or caprice, the political prejudices, the emotional stability of a few self-appointed men. The fact that they are not vicious men but respectable and social minded is irrelevant. ”

“ Those outlets, though statistically unimportant from the point of view of the national market, could be a matter of life and death to small, local enterprises.
The largest market which must be taken for comparison is the market actually reached by the company which is being absorbed. ”

“ That alone is sufficient to condemn the purchase. Its serious impact on competition and the economy is emphasized when it is recalled that United States Steel has one-third of the rolled steel production of the entire country. [5] The least I can say is that a company that has that tremendous leverage on our economy is big enough. ”