Page:Earle, Does Price Fixing Destroy Liberty, 1920, 014.jpg

14 ''government and by the general principles of the Common Law protecting the inalienable rights of life, liberty and property. * * * The necessities which gave birth to the Constitution, the controversies which preceded its formation, and the conflicts of opinion which were settled by its adoption, may properly be taken into view for the purpose of tracing to its source any particular provision of the Constitution, in order thereby to be enabled to correctly interpret its meaning."''  See also: Pollock vs. Farmers Loan and Trust Co., The Knight case, The Standard Oil case, The Craig case, and Rhode Island case.

It will be remembered that, as will be shown in detail later, an unremitting struggle had been going on, at least from the time of, between the English people, on the one hand, and the , known as "," and, finally, the Crown asserting a prerogative, to determine whether trade should be carried on, and prices fixed in a free competitive market, or whether this liberty to trade should or could be controlled by  and control either by combinations of men or the Government itself; and that by the Statute of James I the victory was definitely determined in favor of the people, and that which they had always contended was essential to their freedom.