Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-03

nome WILL bc tF1nHIlbTtcti anu o.'''V''''
nj heavy expense for months TO come.
The interest OH our war debt must, oi
course. fso paid and provision made for the
rrtiren,ent of the obligations Of the
government whirh represent It, But these
demands will, of course, fall much below
what continuation of military operations
would have cutaiicd and SIX billions Shoild
suffice to supply sound foundation tnf
the financial operations OF the year.
Owing to the delay in wire TRANSMISSION
a small mart of the text of the address
a, the closc--was necessarily omitted
from Every Evenings report. The al
dress however, is fully covered III the
summary.
FOR NAVAL. CoharRucTioN PLAN.
take it for granted that the Congrees
viii carry out the naval program
which was undertaken before we entered
tho war, The Secretary of the Navy has
submitted TO volir committees for aut hon-
zstion that part Of the program whtch
| covers the building plsns OF the next
three wears These plans have been pre-
pared along tho lines and IN accordance
with the policy which the Congress
! established moi under the exceptional
| conditions of Inc war. but with the m
| tentlon of adhcring tn definite mcthod
y
| recommend the uninterrupted pursuit ot
that noIicv. II would clearly he unwlsc
Ia, ~ tD attempt tn adjust our pro
grams 70 n future world policy as yet
undermined
| RAILROADS. a PROBLEM
Tho question which causes me thc
greatest concern ~ the question o' the
| policy 10 Lc adopted towards the raii,
roads ! frankly turn 10 you Tor oonns
upon Il have no confident Judgment
| ~ nv own. do not sec how any thought
full man can have who knows anything
Of the coinpleNty of the problem II IS
| n proi,lcin which must be studied, studied
immediately. and studied without blaH or
| prejudice Nothing can be gained ny nc
| coming partisans of any particular niah
OF settlement
II was necessary that tho admins
tration of the RAILWAYS should bc taken
over hv the government 50 long rs thc
u-r lasted II would have been I'M
| pn.s,hlc otherwise 10 establish and carry
J throuph under single direction the
| necessary pnonti4. II shipment II
| would havo been. impossible otherwise I"
! combine maximum production at ne
| factories and nincs and farms with tte
| maHlmum possible car supply - TAXI
/ the producte ~ the ports and marh''+
,mpoSSihlc to route troop smpncptS mo
| freight shipments without r"rari ~ ny
advantage or disadvantage oi the f"ih-
employed. impossible - snhofdlna''
when necessary, all questions q con
| ycnicnrc to thc public necessity I'm,
| ,s,<sibIc Ia gyc the necessary hnanclal
sunrori Ia The roads from tho puhifc
| treasury Tut All these noc's-Itl"a have
nov been served, and tho question :
What 4 hc,t for tho railroads ani Tor the
public IL fhr future
RAILROADS wEfH UNEQUAL I'd r.aN.
Exceptional circumstances end ~
cer+Ional methods ~ administration were
not needed to convince u. that the rMi'
roads were not equal 70 the immense
tasks of transportation imrlsed upon
them nv the rapid AMI cont i.nuouS Dc
vclopment Of the industries oi t ne country
Nc knew that already Nnd " knc"
that they wcrc unequal 20 4 partly he
cause their full C,r-op opcratlon was r ndef''
impossible hy Law and thor competition
nsdc obligatory. s0 that il haS been m
ross;ble ~ assign 10 them severally th'
traffic which could best he carried y
! th,lr respect vc lines y The interest 9
expedition and nstlonal economy
Nc may hope. ! believe, for the forms
conclusion IF Tie war hy treaty lv ~
,,rne ~Drng has come The q months Z
which the present control q the railway
is limited after iorma! proclamation {
peorc shall have been made viii hin q
the farthcst take II for granted ouiF !
the .lanuary of 1927 The tull eqnipmen
of the railways uh,ch the fcderal s.
rninistration lad planned could not 2
completed within any such period =
present law does not permit the use OF U
revenues Of the several roads for II
execution of such plans except by form
contract with their directors, some
whom MI consent while some VIII no
and therefore docs not afford suflclSI
authority 10 undertake improvement
upoa tito scale upon which It would /
necessary 70 undertake them Every al
proach to this difficult suh!ect-matter I
decision brings us face to face, therefor
with thus unanswered question: nat
II right that We should do with the raj
roads in the interest OF the pubic ana
fairness TO their ownersI
Let me say at once that ! have no 81
swcr ready The only thing that X Pc
fcrtly clear to me Is thai = Is hoi Ia
either 10 the public or 10 the owners
the railroads 10 leave the question ar
answered and that il viii presently bc
come nv duty to rclInquish control OF tn
roads even before the expiration OF Ia
statutor, period unless there should at
pear some cicay prospect IA the meant II
Of legislative solution. Their reIeat
would at least produce one element OF
solution. namely certainty and qulc
stunulat ION Of the private initIatlve
ArcGEgTroNs FoR CONTROL.
believe that 1t will be serviceablc f
me 10 set forth as explicitly as possible ii
alternative courses that he open to OF
choice We can simply release the roa'
and 70 back to the old conditions
private management, unrestricted cor
petition. and multiform regulation
both State and Federal authorities; or "
can 90 to the opposite extreme and estaf
, lish complete government control, accom-
panied, il necessary. by actual COVER!
. lnent ownership; or We can adopt u
intermediate course Of modified prlva'
control, under q more unihed and atilrmj
tivc public regulation and under sue
alterations of the law as viii perm
U:.stcful competition 10 be avoided and
considerable degree Of unification OF at
ministration 10 be effected, as, for e
. ample by regional corporations und'
which the railways Of defnabie are;
would be IN effect combined IN sing
systems
Ay0lu ON CONDITIONS.
The one conclusion that | am read
,,c4at r. nth confidence is that IL would /