The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1918-01-10
Nothing Altered.

to avail ourselves of the experience
and trained ability of those who have
been managing them. 1t is necessary
that the transportation of troops and
Of war materials, of food and of fuel,
and of everything that is necessary for
the full mobilization of the 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 indus
trial and commercial life of the coun-
try should be interfered with and dis
located as little as possible, and the
public may rest assured that the in.
terest and convenience OF the private
shipper will be as carefully served
and safeguarded as 1t is possible to
serve and safeguard 1t 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 pres.
ent give way to the public necessity
it is, l am sure you will agree with
me, right and necessary that the own
ers and creditors of the railways, the
holders of their stocks and bonds,
should receive from the Government
an unqualified guarantee that their
properties will be maintained through
out the period of Federal control in as
good repair and as complete equip
ment as at present, and that the sew.
eral roads will receive under Federal
management such compensations as
is equitable and just alike to their own.
ers and to the general public. l would
suggest the average net railway Oper.
ating income OF the three years ending
June 30, 1917. I earnestly recommend
that these guarantees be given by ap'
propriate legislation, and given a.
promptly as circumstances permit.
Justice of Guarantees.
81 need not point out that essential
justice of such guarantees and their
great influence and significance as ele,
ments in the present financial and in.
dustrial situation of the country. In.
deed, one of the strong arguments for
assuming control of the railroads at
this time is the financial argument. 1t
is necessary that the values of rail-
way securities should be justly and
fairly protected and that the large
financial operations every year neces'
sary in connection with the mainte.
nance, operation and development OF
the roads should during the period of
the war, be wisely related to the finan-
cial operations of the Government.
"Our first duty is, of course, to con-
serve the common interest and the
common safety and to make certain
that nothing stands in the way of the
successful prosecution Of the great
war for liberty and democracy, but it
is an obligation of public conscience
and of public honor that the private
interests we disturb should be kept
safe from unjust injury, and it is of
the utmost consequence to the Gov
ernment itself that all great financial
operations should be stabilized and CO.
ordinated with the financial operations
of the Government.
mo borrowing should run athwart
the borrowings of the Federal treas
ury, and no fundamental industrial val.
ues should anywhere be unnecessarily
impaired. In the hands of many thou
sands of small investors in the coun-
try, as we'll as in national banks, in
insurance companies, in savings banks.
in trust companies, in financial agen-
cies Of every kind, railway securities,
the sum total of which runs up to some
ten or eleven thousand millions, con-
stitute vital part Of the structure of
credit, and the unquestioned solidity
of that structure must be maintained.
McAdoo Assumes Duty.
1.-THE Secretary of War and l cas-
lily agreed that, in view of the many
complex interests which must be safe
guarded and harmonized, as we'll as
because of his exceptional experience
and ability in the new field of Gov
ernmental action, the Honorable VIM.
G. McAdoo was the right man to as
sumo direct administration control OF
this new executive task. At our re.
quest, he consented to assume the
authority and duties of organizer and
director general of the new railway ad.
ministration. He has assumed these
duties and his work is in active prog.
ress.
'It is probably too much to expect
that even under the unified railway
administration which will now be pos.
sible sufficient economies can be ef-
fected in the operation of the railways
to make it possible to add to their
equipment and extend their operation
facilities as much as the present ex-
traordinary demands upon their use
will render desirable without resorting
to the National Treasury for the funds.
If it is not possible, it will, of course,
be necessary to resort to the Congress
for grants of money for that purpose.
The Secretary of the Treasury will
advise with your committees with re-
gard to this very practical aspect Of
the matter. For the present, suggest
only the guarantees I have indicated
and such appropriations as are neces-
sary at the outset of this task. take
the liberty of expressing the hope that
the Congress may grant these prompt
ly and ungrudgingly. We are dealing
with great matters and will, am sure,
deal with them greatly"
Soldiers Help Fight Fire.
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