Connecticut western news., 1918-01-17

con1ured away. give way before the new management
 "The common administration will be carried out with as little disturbance of the present operating or unizations and personnel of the railways us pos slhlc. Nothing will he altered or dis turbed which 1t is not necessary to dis turb. We are serving the public inter est and safeguarding tlTe public safety, hut We are also regardful of the inter est of those by whom these great prop critics are owned and glad to avail our selves of the experience and trained ability of those who have been mnnng- ing them.
 Shippers Interest Guarded.
 Tt Is necessary that the transporta- tion of troops and of war materials, of food and fuel and of everything that is necessary for the full mobilization of the energies and resources of the coun- try should be first considered, but it is clearly in the public interest also that the ordinary activities and the normal industrial and commercial life of the country should be lnterfered with and dislocated as little as possible, and the public may rest assured that the inter- est and convenience of the private shipper will be as carefully served and safeguarded ms 1t is possible to serve and safeguard 1t In the present ex- traordinary circumstances.
 While the present authority of the executive suffers for all purposes of administration, and while, of course, all private interests must for the pres ent give way to the public necessity, 1t is, I am sure you will agree with me, right and necessary that the owners and creditors of the railways, the hold CTS of their stocks and bonds, should receive from the government an un- qualified guarantee that their proper ties will be maintained throughout the period of control In as good repair and as complete equipment as at present and that the several roads will receive under federal management such com pensation 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 30, 1917. earnestly recommend that these guarantees be given by appropriate legislation, and given as promptly as circumstances permit.
 "I would call attention to the essen tial justice of such guarantees and their great influence and significance as clements in the present financial and industrial situation of the coun- try. Indeed, one of the strong argu- ments for assuming control of the rail- roads at this time is the financial ar gument. 1t Is necessary that the values of railway 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, for the period of the war, be wisely related to the hnan- cial operations of the government War Must Come First.
 "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 1t is an obligation of public conscience and of public hcnor that the private inter ests we disturb should be kept safe from unjust injury, and 1t Is of the utmost consequence to the government itself that all great financial opera tions should be stabilized and co-ordi- mated with the financial operations of the government.
 "No borrowing should run athwart the borrowings of the federal treas ury, and no fundamental industrial values should anywhere be unneces- sarily impaired.
 "ln the hands of many thousands of small investors In the country, as-weII as in national banks, In Insurance companies, in savings banks, In trust companies, In financial agencies of every kind, railway securities, the sum total of which runs up to some ten or eleven thousand millions, constitute a vital part of the structure of credit, and the unquestioned solidity of that structure must be maintained. "The secretary of war and I easily agreed that, In view of the many com pleX interests which must be safe guarded and harmonized, as we'll as because of his exceptional experience and ability in this new field of govern mental action, Hon. William c. Mo Adoo was the right man to assume di- rect administrative control of this new executive task. At our request he consented to assume the authority and duties of organizer and director general of the new railway adminis- tration. He has assumed those du- ties and his work Is in active prog ress.
 Tt is probably too much to expect that even under the unified railway administration which will now be pos sible sufficient economies can be eff