The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-12-03


 dustrial development which may con- be expected if we act now and sweep all Interrogation points away.
 I take 1t for granted that the Con- gross will carry out the naval pro gram which was undertaken before we entered the war. The Secretary of the Navy has submitted to your com mittees for authorization that part of the program which covers the building plans of the next three years. These plans have been prepared along the lines and in accordance with the policy and in accordance with the policy which the Congress established, not under the exceptional conditions of the war, but with the intention of adhering to a definite method of de- velopment for the navy. I earnestly recommend the uninterrupted pursuit of that policy. It would clearly be unwise for us to attempt to adjust our programs to a future world policy as yet undetermined.
 The question which causes me the greatest concern is the question of the policy to be adopted toward the rail- roads. I frankly turn to you for counsel upon it. I have no confident judgment of my own. I do not see how any thoughtful man can have who knows anything of the com plexity of the problem. It is a prob lem which must be studied, studied immediately and studied without bias or prejudice. Nothing can be gained hIy hoPnr1oiyor OF rtia lar plan of settlement.
 Problem of Railroads.
 It was necessary that the admin1s- tration of the railways should be 1 taken ever by the government so long as the war lasted. It would have been ! impossible otherwise to establish and carry through under a single direc- | ton tho necessary priorities of ship ment. It would have been impossi- | ble otherwise to combine maximum | production at the factories and mines and farms with the maximum possi- | ble car supply to take the products to the ports and markets; impossible to route troop shipments and freight 1 shipments without regard to the ad- vantage or disadvantage of the roads employed; impossible to subordinate, | when necessary, all questions of con- venience 10 the public necessity; inn l possible to give the necessary finan- cial support to the roads from the | public treasury. But all these neces- sities have now been served, and the question is, what is best for the rail- roads and for the public in the future. Exceptional circumstances and ex- ceptional methods of administration were not needed to convince us that I the railroads were not equal to the immense tasks of transportation inn posed upon them by the rapid and continuous development of the indus tries of the country. We knew that already. And we knew that they were unequal to it partly because their full cooperation was rendered impossible by law and their competition made obligatory, so that it has been impossi. ble to assign to them severally the traffic which could best be carried b7 their respective lines in the interest of expedition and national economy. i We may hope, I believe, for tht formal conclusion of the war bv treaty by the time spring has come The twenty-one months to whict the present control of the railway, is limited after formal proclamation Of peace shall have been made vii run at the farthest, I take it fol granted, only to the January of 1921 The full equipment of the railway which the Federal Administration hat planned could not be completed with in any such period. The present lay does not permit the use of the reyen ues of the several roads for the exc cutton of such plans except by forma contract with their directors, some O whom will consent while some will no and therefore does not afford sufh cfent authority to undertake improve ments upon the scale which it woult De necessary to undertake them Every approach to this difficult sub Ject matter of decision brings us fac to face, therefore, with this unanswer ed question: What is 1t right that " :, should do with the railroads, in tn interest of the public and in fairnes to their owners? Let me say at ono , that l have no answer ready. Tn z z only thing that is perfectly clear to m Is that 1t is not fair either to tn public or to the owners or tae rar,
 
 roads to leave the question unans wered and that it will presently be 2 come my duty to relinquish control C the roads, even before the expiratio of the statutory period, unless ther " should appear some clear prospect i the meantime of a legisIacive solution = Their release would at least produc y one element of a solution, namer certainty and a quick stimulation ( - private initiative.
 = l believe that 1t will be serviceab Q for me to set forth as explicitly {
 possible the alternative courses thi o lie open to our choice. We can srn U ply release the roads and go back = the old conditions of private manag s ment, unrestricted competition ar '- multiform regulation by both Sta