The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-30
Holland Presents Attitude of Steel Corporation To-
 ward Pending Litigation
OLD VIRGINIA TOWN
 TAKES ON NEW LIFE
Du Fonts Are Taking Steps to
 Have One of Largest Plants In the Country At Williamsburg
By HOLLAND

By HOLLAND
 New York; March 29.-(SpecaL)- )-In the l manufacturing district of the south, of which Birmingham is the center, it is re- ported that some feeling of qualification prevailed when the announcement came | from Washington that the supreme court was not disposed to grant the plea of the department of justice for postponement l of the case of the United States Steel I corporation.
 | When Judge Gary caused public an- ! nouncement to be made of contemplated 1 expenditure this year by the United States 1 Steel corporation of possibly as much as 1 6O,000,00O for improvements and expan- sions and for the construction of tube manufacturing plant at Gary, it was ob- served that no mention was made of con- templated expenditures for purposes of 1 that kind in the Birmingham district. l It has been the impression of those who i, have been in touch with the management 1 of this corporation that the importance of expansions and improvements in the Birmingham district have not been over l looked. There have been some intima- tions, although of very informal and vague kind, which have justified the sus- picion that were all the conditions satis-
 
 large investment of new capital for i'm provement and expansion in the Birming- ham district.
 But the corporation did not feel justi- I fled in undertaking improvements of that kind until the supreme court has so de- cided as to affirm the decision of the lower court which was adverse to the | contention of the department of justice that this corporation was organized and | n fo6 in, 1rinl loti irr, Of bn tof. utes.
 I It was observed at the time the master | who was appointed by the court to take evidence was holding hearings in New York that the government laid special stress upon the ownership by the Steel corporation is operating and was organ iZed in violation of federal statutes, 1t would be necessary for the corporation I to part with the Tennessee company. For ! that reason, it is not deemed expedient | to make any investment of capital in the great iron and steel plant in the south. I On the other hand, in view of all the op- | portunties for enlarged business and for l foreign trade, especially by way of the | Panama canal, which will open to the mana cement of the Tennessee company, the Steel corporation is likely to expend, relatively speaking, as large an amount l for improvement in the Birmingham dis
 
 1 The refusal of the supreme court to grant the governments plea for post ponement of the case will. of course, ex- pedite the final decision of the court, and 1 this is the reason why in the Birmingham district the position taken by the supreme 1 court is a gratifying one.
 1 A SENTIMENTAL ASSOCIATION i When the DuPonts established great powder manufacturing plant at City 1 Point, Va. many recalled the fact that l this struggling village, now a consider able city, was the headquarters of Gen.
 eral Grant during the final campaign of 1 the civil war After the war ended the l community relapsed into it's former condi- ! tion of lassitude. Now within year and l a half and on account of the investment of very large capital in plants designed 1 for the manufacture of explosives the community bustleS with activity, a little l city is stablished there and it's atmos- phere is that of warlike preparation. 1 What occurred at City Point is to be i duplicated in the historic little city of 1 Williamsburg, Va. There, also, are vivid i associat tions not only of the civil war, but l of the war of the revolution. A little way ' from Williamsburg are still to be seen | the entrenchments which were dug by 1 Washingtons army shortly before the 1 surrender of Lord Cornwal'is and also the l entrenchments which were dug at the be- l ginning of the civil war.
 l On the plain east of Williamsburg stood 1 a stone fortress built bv the Confeder- l ates in the first year of the civil war. 1 Now the great powder company is estab- 1 fishing at Williamsburg one of the largest 1 plants for the manufacture of explosives l built anywhere in the United States. This investment is converting the quiet little l city of Williamsburg into an active, bust I ling community, although at present the plans of the company are known only to 1 it's mana cement. The establishment of an industry there. if it be done according /, to the lines which it is suspected the 1 company has adopted is likely to give | Newport News a city also created artill- cially and not by natural growth, strong rival in population.
 1 The selection of these sites in Virginia ] for the manufacture of explosives upon 8 large scale was chiefly due to facilities 1 for deep water navigation and also fol the economic transportation of ray ma | terial to the plants
 N. CAROLINA AND CALIFORNIA
 Statistics recently compiled by Rich ard H. Edmonds of Baltimore reveal al | (vo roll ,