The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-01-04
MUST CON SERVE ROADS, RIGHTS
 URGES WILSON
Stockholders Must Receive Assurance From Gov ernment That Interests Will Be Safeguard ed, President Tells Congress Ex-
 tend Roads Equipment

or disturbed which it is not neces= sary to disturb. We are serving the
 public interest and safeguarding the
 public safety, but we are also regard
 ful of the interest of those by whom
 these great properties are owned and
 glad to avail ourselves of the experi-
 ence and trained ability of those who
 have been managing them. It is
 necessary that the transportation of
 troops and war materials of food and
 of fuel, and of everything necessary
 for the full mobilization of energies
 and resources of the country should
 be first considered but it is clearly in the public interest also that the or
 dinary activities and the normal in-
 dustrial and commercial life of the country should be interfered with and dislocated as little as possible, and the public may rest assured that . the interest and convenience of the
 private shipper will be as carefully served and safeguarded as it is pcssi- ble to serve and safeguard it in the present extraordinary circumstances. While the present authority of the executive suffices for all purposes of administration. and while. of course,
 all private interests must for the
 present give way to the public neces-
 sity, it is. I am sure you will agree
 with me. right and necessary that the
 owners and creditors of the railways,
 the holders of their stocks and bonds,
 should receive from the government an
 unqualified guarantee that their prop
 critics will be maintained throughout
 the period of federal control in as
 good repair and as complete equip
 ment as at present, and that the sev-
 eral roads will receive under federal
 management such compensation as is
 equitable and just alike to their own
 CTS and to the general public. I would
 suggest the average net railway op-
 erating income of the three years end
 ing June 30. 1917. I earnestly recom-
 mend that these guarantees be gwen
 by appropriate le--slation. and given
 as promptly as circumstances permit q need not point out the essential
 justice of such guarantees ana their Influence and significance as elements
 in the present financial and industrial
 situation of the country. Indeed,
 one of the strong arguments for aS-
 s,as11ing control of the railroads at tEis
 time is the financial argument It is
 necessary that the values of railway
 securities should be justly and fairly
 protected and that the large financial
 operation every year necessary in con- neetion with the maintenance, opera tien and development of the roads
 should, during the period of the war
 be wisely related to the financial op-
 erations of the government, Our first duty is, of course, to conserve the . common interest and the common safety and to make certain that noth- ing stands in the way of the success full prosecution of the great war fol liberty and justice, but it is an obliga- ton of public conscience and of pub : lie honor that the private interests VI t disturb should be kept safe from un f just injury, and it is of the utmost con 3 sequence to the government itself tha
 all great financial operations shoult I be stabilized and eo-ordinated with tn. - financial operations of the govern f ment. Ne borrowing should rul n athwart the borrowings of the fedora 0 treasury and no fundamental indus S trial values should anywhere be un - necessarily impaired. In the hands o : many thousands of small investors il : the country. as we'll as in nationa e banks, in insurance companies, in say l. ings banks, in trust companies, il y financial agencies of every kind, rail n way securities, tine sum total of whicl j. runs up to saERe 10 or II thousan l. millions, constitute a. vital part of tn l. structure of credit, and the unaues l. Lioned solidity of that structure mus e be maintained
 IS The Secretary of War and I easil e agreed that, in view of the man ,- complex interests which must be safe
 guarded and harmonized, as well . II because of his exceptional experienc '- and ability in this new field of go, l. ernmeltal action. the Hon. William ( -s McAdoo was the right man to assum d direct administrative control of tn