The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-09-22
Voluntary Dissolu ion OF
Monster Corpore ton
Is Reported.
TASK is TITANIC
In PROPORTIONS
New Government Demands and
Adverse Conditions of Business
Said to Be Responsible for
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS in
Direct Charge of
Negotiations.

New York. September 2l.-It was re-
that the matter of dissoiving and re-
organizing the United States Steel Cor
poration is receiving the earnest at
tention of the Department of Justice
and the legal represes OF the So
called billion dollar trust" There is
ground also for the assertion that the
Steel Corporation is making a strenu-
Gus effort to meet the demands of the
government but by reason of the COM
plexity OF the situation, little Roadway
has yet been made.
Informal conferences of prominent
steel officials were held during the
day, but no news of definite charac-
ter was obtainable from these sources.
Chairman Z. II. Gary declined to dis
cuss the status of affairs, and Francis
Lynde Stetson. the corporations gem
eral counsel. would neither affirm nor
deny the report that negotiations look
Ing to voluntary dissolution are in
contemplation.
To those who have followed the OPP
erations of the United States Steel
Corporation since its inception a de-
cade ago. the work of disintegrating
and reorganl2ing the largest industrial
combination ever Organized represents
task of titanic proportions. Many
of the subsidiaries which helped to
make up the corporation have lost
practically all semblsnce of their orig
inal selves and, it is believed, it would
be we'll nigh impossible to restore orig
inal equities.
Lnrge Part Water.
1t is matter OF common knowledge
that large part OF the $500. 1000, 900
common stock originally represented
little more than bonuses or water On
the other hand. 1t has been admitted
by government investigs tors that much
of this inflated value had been replaced
in recent years by moneys taken out
of sarnings. In fast. the report of the
Department of Commerce and Labor
practically has fixed upon a value of
$50 for the common shares because of
the millions put into new construction.
better ment. depreciation, etc
Quite apart from the legal obstacles
which are said to beset the path of
the United States Steel Corporation, II
is evident that trade conditions are
distinctly adverse. For the last three
months such new business as the COM
pany has received has been at marked
price concessions. This, of course, is
equally true of the many independent
SS'HpoAic Jul Tic ldlleE udQ QlS-
tinct advantage in the fact that their
wage schedules were generally lower
than those OF the big corporation.
limitations put out from various
quarters during the week point clearly
to "a liquidation of labor" in steel and
iron, beginning. pheraps. with the Steel
Corporation. Officials of the latter
company have issued no figures deal
ing with the extent of operations at
the more important plants, but advices
from Pittsburg, Chicago and Cleveland
indicate that business at those centres
is smaller at this time than at any
period since the first quarter of the
year.
The common and preferred shares of
the United States Steel Corporation
were subjected to a severe attack In
to-days stock market by reason of the
various rumors affecting tho corpara-
tion