[1907]
Popular opinion ascribed three reasons for the panic of 1907. The first
of these was the attitude of the President toward certain great
corporations. It is true that his attacks bared some of the most deeply
rooted evils which have always been at the bottom of our
panics--dishonesty in the administration of great aggregations of
capital. Great were the lamentations and doleful the predictions of what
would happen should the President not change his policy of enforcing the
laws. The railway opponents of the President were sure the panic came
from the Hepburn Bill, which was passed early in 1906. If this had been