The fundamental rule of the law of torts as it was applied by the courts of the nation in the early years of the twentieth century was a simple one: if a person were without fault for causing another to suffer some injury or damage, he could not be blamed for it, and if he were blameless, he could not be held responsible, that is, made to pay for something he did not do. Such reasoning had been solidly rooted in contemporary standards of morality and fairness and would not begin to change, however, until it became apparent that the standards themselves were losing their relevance in the face of overwhelming social and economic transformation. In 1912, for example, when the giant Chicago meatpacking firm Armour and Company defended itself against a New York resident who had been poisoned by...