The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-06
ATTACK ON
 MIR. GUTHRIE Lewis Nixon CriticiSeS { the Attorney. NEW LINE OF QUESTIONS Schwab'SLawyerMakeS Con-
 plete Change of Front.
NEW LINE OF QUESTIONS
to Show That Plants of the Consolidated Company Were
 Not Accurately Valued When
 Brought Into the Combine.

New York, Nov b.-The features of to- days sesion of the hearing in the United States Shipbuilding case were the bitter attack made by Lewis Nixon upon VII. liam Guthrie. counsel for the defendant and representative of the interests ot Charles M. schwab. for his methods of cross-examination, leading questions by MT. Untermeyer counsel for the complain ants. as to the absence of competition be- tween the Bethlehem Steel Company and the Carnegie plant of the United States Steel Corporation in government contracts for armor plate; and the entire change of front of MT. Guthrie, who heretofore had aimed to bring out the fact that the value of the constituent plants of the United States Shipbuilding Company was not over estimated.
 Guthrie's New Tactics.
 Today MT. Guthrie adopted a line of questioning designed to show that the estimates of values were made by the promoters. vendors and others interested or inexpert appraisers and were practi- cally without weight .n determining the exact value of the plants and the assets of the consolidation.
 MT. Nixon was on the stand all day. His cross-examination was finished and the redirect examination partially com pleted.
 At the opening of the afternoon session he presented personal protest, in which he declared Mir. Guthrie, in consultation with Max Pam, had adopted line of questioning designed to place him in a false and discreditable position regarding the sale of the plant to the shipbuilding consolidation.
 Nixon's Angry Protest.
 The protest was angry and bitter in tone and inttmated that Mir. Guthrie had been unfair in asking him to answer from memory questions about the f- nances of his company without opportun- ity to look up the details while Guthrie had had the benefit of full investigation of the figures.
 By agreement of the counsel, the pro- test was stricken from the record. but Mir. Nixon thereafter. during the hearing insisted that if he was to answer ques- tions he should be allowed to make the necessary explanations.
 Besides asking MT. Nixon about the or- Ganization of the shipbuilding company, the valuations put on the constituent companies and the methods by which 1t was reached, MT. Guthrie took up the al- legged withholding of dividends by the Bethlehem company, an action which, ac- cording to the charges of Receiver Smith, contemplated the wrecking of the com pany
 Guthrie placed in contrast Mir Nixon's attitude in demanding by letter to Pres ident McIlvane, of the Bethlehem com pany, that the Bethlehem directors de- clare a dividend to save the shipbulding company and later at the subsequent meeting of the Bethlehem directors in acquiescing in resolutions declaring 1t in- expedient to declare to such dividend Mir Nixon was at the time a director in bath the Bethlehem and the United States Shipbuilding companies.
 How Nixon Voted.
 He also brought out that Nixon had voted for the resolutions for the expen- ditures for the betterments of the Bethle- hem plant This was the means, so Re- ceiver Smith charges. by which earnings were diverted from dividends to needless 
 Guthrie took up figures from the finan- cial reports of the Bethlehem company to show It's inability to pay dividends. MT. Untermeyer, from the same reports. attempted to show that the expenditures for betterments and new material were excessive and that the company might well have declared a dividend had 1t been 30 desired. He was questioning Nixon about the trip of examination made by and Carnegie officials to deter mine means of improving the Bethlehem plant when the hearing closed for the day.
 The redirect examination of MT. Nixon will be resumed tomorrow afternoon and Charles NJ Schwab may be placed on the stand later in the day.