River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1918-01-10

sible to serve and safeguard it in the
present extraordinary circumstances.
Wants Investors Protected.
While the present authority Of the
executive offices for all purposes of adj
ministration, and while Of course, all
private interest must for the present
give way to the public necessity, it is,
| am sure you will agree with me,
right and necessary that the owners
and creditors of the railways, the hold
ers of the stocks and bonds, should re-
ceive from the government an unquali-
fed guarantee that their properties
will be maintained throughout the
period of federal control in as good
repair and as complete equipment as
at present, and that the several roads
will receive under federal management
such compensation as is equitable and
just alike to their owners and to the
general public. I would suggest the
average net railway operating income
of the three years ending June 80,
1917. | earnestly recommend that
these guarantees be given by appr0-
pirate legislation and given as prompt
ly as circumstances permit.
Move Is Mere Justice.
l need not point out the 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 strongest arguments
for assuming control of the railroads
at this time is the financial argument.
It is necessary that the values of rail
way securities should be justly and
fairly paid and that the large financial
operations every year necessary in
connection with the maintenance, OPP
Grafton and development of the roads,
should, during the period of the war,
be wisely related to the financial OPP
erations of the government.
Conserve Common Safety.
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 justice, but it is
an obligation of public conscience and
of public honor that the private inter
ests we disturb should be kept safe
from unjust injury, and it is of the
utmost consequence to the government
itself that all great financial operations
should be stabilized and coordinated
with the financial operations of the
government No borrowing should run
athwart the borrowings of the federal
| treasury, and no fundamental indus
! trial values should anywhere be un-
necessarily impaired. In the hands Of
many small investors in the country,
as we'll as in national banks, in insur-
ance companies, in saving banks, in
trust companies, in financial agencies
of every kind, railway securities, the
total of which runs up to some $10,-
| 100000 or $11 1000, 100000, consti-
tute a vital part of the structure Of
credit, and the unquestioned solidity
| of that structure must be maintained.
McAdoo Is Agreed Upon.
The secretary of war and I easily
agreed that, in view of the many COM
pick interests which must be safe
guarded and harmoniZed, as well as
because of his exceptional experience
and ability in this new field of govern
mental action, William G. McAdoo,
was the right man to assume direct adj
ministrative control of this new eX-
ecutive task. At our request he con-
scented to assume the authority and
duties of organizer and director gen.
eral of the new railway administra-
ton. He has assumed those duties
and his work is in active progress.
| It is probably too much to expect
that even under the unified railway adj
ministration which will now be pos
sible, sufficient economies can be af-
| fected in the operation of the railways
| to make it possible to add to their
equipment and extend their operative
facilities as much as the present ex-
traordinary demands upon their use
will render desirable without resorting
to the national treasury for funds.
Congress Must Provide.
! It is not possible. It will of course,
be necessary to resort to- the con-
gress for grants of money for that pur-
pose. The secretary Of the Treasury
will advise with your committees with
regard to this very practical aspect of
the matter For the present, l sug-
gest only the guarantees / have 1nd1-
Gated and such appropriations as are
necessary at the outset of this task.
| | take the liberty of expressing the
hope that the congress may grant
these promptly and ungrudgingly. We
are dealing with great matters and
will, am sure, deal with them greatly.