The Washington herald., 1918-01-05
Text Of Presidents Address
To Joint Session of Congress
49, Asking Railway Legislation

thrown into a common service with
out injurious discrimination against
particular properties. Only under
government administration can an
absolutely unrestricted and unem-
barrassed common use be made of
all tracks, terminals. terminal facil-
|ities and equipment of every kind.
Only under that authority can new
terminals be constructed and devel-
oped without regard to the require
rnsnts or limitations of particular
roads. But under government admin
istration all these things will be pos
sioie-not instantly, but as fast as
practical difficulties, which cannot be
merely conjured away, give way be-
Tore the new management.
The common. administration will be
carried out with as little disturbance
OF the present operating organiza-
tions and personnel of the railways
as possible. Nothing will be altered
or disturbed which It Is not necessary
to disturb. We are serNng the public
interest and safeguarding the public
safety, but we are also regardful of
the interest of those by whom these
great properties are owned and glad
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 ener-
gies and resources of the country
! should be first Considered, but It is
| clearly in tha public interest also that
the ordinary activities and the nor
NAL industrial and commercial life
Of the country should be interfered
with and dislocated as little as pos
sible, and the public may rest as
!, sured that the interest and con-
venience of the private shipper will
be as carefully served and safeguard
| ed as 1t is possible to serve and safe
guard it in the present extraordinary
circumstances.
should Receive Guarantee.
While the present authority OF
the executive suftices fer all pur-
poses Of administration, and while
| of course all private interests must
for the present give way to the pub
| lie necessity, it is, l am sure you
| will agree with me. right and
| necessary that the owners and
creditors of the railways, the hold
@rs of their stocks and bonds,
should receive from the govern
ment an unqualified 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 re-
ceive under Federal management
| such compensation as is equitable
| and jusI alike to their owners and
10 the general public. l would sug-
gest the average net railway op-
| Grating income Of the three years
| ending June 80, 1917. / earnestly
recommend that these guarantees
be given by appropriate legislation.
| and given as promptly as circum-
stances permit.
1 need not point out the essential
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 ar
guments for assuming control of
the railroads at this time is the fin
arclal argument 1t is Necessary
that the values of railway securi-
ties should be justly and fairly pro-
tected and that the large financial
operations every year necessary in
CDnrec son with the maintenance,
opcrstion and development of the
roads should, during the period of
the war. be wisely related to the
financial operations of the govern
ment. Our first duty is, of course.
to conserve the commoR interest
and the common safety and to make
certain that nothing stands in the
way of the successful prosecution
cf the great war TO- liberty and
justice; but it is also an obligation
Of pufic conscience and of public
honor that the private interests we
disturb should be kept safe from
unjust injury, and it is of the ut
mos- consequence to the govern
ment itself that all great financial
operations should be stabilized an1
CO .o~dinated with the financisI
operations of the government
should Preserve Values.
No borrowing should run athwart
ury, and no fundamental industrial
values should anywhere be unneces-
sarily impaired. In the hands of
many thousands of small investors
in the country, as we'll as in national
banks, in insurance companies, in
savings banks. in trust companies, in
financial agencies of every kind, rail-
way securities. the sum total of which
runs up to some ten or eleven thou
sand millions, constitute a vital part
of the structure of credit. and the
unquestiOned solidity of that struc-
ture must be maintained.
The Secretary of War and I easily
agreed that, in view of the many
complex 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. the Hon. William q.
MCAdoo was the right man to assume
direct 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 duties
and his work Is in active progress.
1t is probably too much to expect
that even under the unified railway
administration which will now be pos