The Merchants of Death - Ludwig von Mises Institute

DU PONT—PATRIOT AND POWDER-MAKER 35
one hundred competitors were bought out and sixty-four of
these were immediately discontinued. This narrowed the
field very considerably, leaving only such companies as were
either affiliates or allies. How ruthless this process of elimination
was may be seen from the description of one who
was in a position to know, Hiram Maxim. He writes: "The
Phoenix Company undertook to buck the Du Ponts in the
powder business. They were just about as wise as the little
bull who bucked a locomotive—there was no more left of the
Phoenix Company than there was of the little bull." 5
The result of this monopolistic policy may be seen in the
fact that by 1905 Du Pont controlled the orders for all
government ordnance powder. Having established this monopoly,
Du Pont turned again to price-fixing. Hitherto prices
had been quoted locally or regionally. They were one thing
in the East, another in the West, still another in the South.
Now, however, national prices were established from which
there was no deviation.
About this time Du Pont encountered another obstacle.
The Federal government had passed the Sherman antitrust
laws in 1890, and in 1907 it finally got round to taking
a look into the activities of the Du Pont Company. It filed
suit against the company in 1907, charging it with a violation
of the Sherman Law. But the government was in a
quandary. It proposed to restore conditions to what they
had been before Du Pont began its monopolistic activities.
Du Pont, however, had wiped out most of its competitors
by purchase, so that it was impossible to restore the status
quo ante. The government did manage to set up two great
independent companies as a result of its suit.
During the World War Du Pont supplied 40 per cent of