The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-03
Government Motion to Post pone Antitrust Cases
 Not Agreeable
SOLICITOR GENERAL
 EXPLAINS IN BRIEF REASON OF REQUEST
Defendants at Bar Claim Uncertainty of Future De- cision Will Injure
 Business

Washington, January ?. Attorney General Gregory to day asked the supreme court to defer argument on the seven large antitrust suits pending, including the International Harvester, United Shoe Ma chinery and the Steel corpora tion cases, until the next term of court.
 explained, was taken because the gov | ernment desires cooperation from tho business interests of the country. The suits are those of the government against the United Shoe Machinery company, the International Harvester company, the United States Steel cor poration, Eastman Kodak company, the American Can company. the Quaker 1 Oats company and the Corn Products Refining company.
 GOVERNMENTS POSITION 'In order that the government in this time of stress may not meet with compe- tition from private enterprises in it's financial operations" said the govern ment's brief filed in connection with the motion, "a9d the flotation of its loanss the treasury department has been con strained to urge that all private financing | on large scale shall be avoided so | far as at all possible.
 "It is quite clear that the dissolutions which are sought in the pending case 1 will require financial operations on large scale If they are to be genuine and effective Important as the remedy sought in these cases is believed to be, l it must give place for the moment to the paramount needs of the hour
 NOTICE OF OBJECTION
 Attorneys for the steel corporation and shoe machinery company cases gave no- tice that objections to the governments motion would be made, ande the court granted them until Friday to file their briefs in opposition. The motion to con- tnue other cases was granted by the court.
 In opposing the governments motion the steel corporation contends that a de- cision should be rendered in the suit lagainst it as soon as possible, as delay is unfair to the corporation, it's stock holders and employees.
 l NO UNCERTAINTY WANTED
 "The corporation has been compelled to make and is now making large invest ments in additional plant facilities and otherwise to meet the requirements of I4t.z filed with the court These expenditures may result in great embarrassment and loss to the corporation in case it is dis solved. It ought not, therefore. to be re- auired to continue them in state of un- certainty as to it's future longer than is absolutely necessary.
 The foreign business of the corporation will obviously require great activity and laige expenditures immediately upon the close of the war. These could hardly be
 undertaken with threat of dissolution hanging over the corporation.
 The record shows that over 32,000 em- poyes have become stockholders of the corporation at the time the testimony was taken and that under the corpora tion's profit-sharing plan thousands more were investing in it's stock every year. al This process ought not to be allowed to go on indefinitely with no one knowing . what the future of the stock Is to be or whether it Is to have any future. SHOE MACHINERY JOINS al The memorandum suggests that should i, dissolution be ordered the government :, could prevent interference with it's
 finance plans by postponing the date f when the dissolution order becomes ef-
 fective
 Il Representatives of the Shoe Machinery company also filed memorandum oppos- ing the governments motion. contending that even if dissolution was ordered, the refinancing operations of the company
 would in no way interfere with the finan- cial operations of the government. It
 also asserted that the company is great