It has already been seen that the prevailing economic theory, _laissez faire_, was diametrically opposed to government regulation of the economic activities of the individual. According to this view, unrestricted industrial liberty would result in adjustment by business itself on honorable lines. Men whose integrity was such that they were in control of great enterprises, asserted an attorney for the Standard Oil Company, would be the first to realize that a fair policy toward competitors and the public was the most successful policy. Combination was declared to be inevitable in modern life and reductions in the price of many commodities were pointed to as a justification for leaving the trusts unhampered. Public opinion, however, was reaching the point where it was prepared to brush aside theoretical difficulties. President Harrison, Senator Sherman and others urged action. Large numbers of anti-monopoly bills were presented in Congress. The indifference of some members and the opposition of others was somewhat neutralized by the fiery zeal of such men as Senator Jones of Arkansas, who declared that the fortunes made by the Standard Oil Company did not represent a single dollar of honest toil or one trace of benefit to mankind. "The sugar trust," declared the senator, "has its 'long, felonious fingers' at this moment in every man's pocket in the United States, deftly extracting with the same audacity the pennies from the pockets of the poor and the dollars from the pockets of the rich." After much study of the mass of suggested legislation, Congress relied upon its constitutional power to regulate commerce among the several states and passed the Sherman Anti-trust Act, which received President Harrison's signature on July 2, 1890. Its most significant portions are the following: Sec. 1. Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is ... illegal. Sec. 2. Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other such person ... to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of misdemeanor.