Show wl BE PROTECTED PRESIDENT WILSON ASKS CON GRESS TO ELIMINATE FINANCIAL uncertainty plans but little disturbance in opera alon of railroads heads of rail ways praised for response to nations needs washington lh wide appeal for immediate action in alie face of demands tor nation wide relief and allm of financial uncertainty diesl dent allson nt 12 30 on I 1 alda janu ary 4 outlined before congress ats railroad legislative program the president arrived at the capitol shortly before 12 30 and as escorted to the speakers rostrum of the house chamber the presidents address follows gentlemen of the congress Con gresa I 1 have asked the privilege of addressing in order to report to son eliat on the twenty eighth of december last dur ing the recess of the congress acting through the secretary of war and under the conferred upon me by the act of congress approved au gust 29 1910 I 1 tool possession and assumed control of the railway lines of the country and the of water transportation under their control this step seemed to be impel a alvel necessary in alie interest of the public welfare in the presence pie sence of the great tasks of war with which we aie now dealing As our own experience develops difficulties and makes it clear what they are I 1 have deemed it my duty to remove those difficulties wherever I 1 have the legal power to do so to as sume control of the vast railway terns of the country Is I 1 realize a very great but to fall to do so in the existing circumstances would have been much greater I 1 assumed the less responsibility rather than the weightier I 1 am sure that I 1 am speaking the mind of all thoughtful amerl cans when I 1 say that it Is our duty as the representatives of the nation to do everything that it 13 necessity necess iry to do to secure the complete mobilization of the whole resources of america bl as rapid and effective means as can be found transportation supplies all alie arteries of mobilization unless it be under a single and unified direction the whole process of the nations action Is embarrassed railway heads praised it was in the true spirit of america and it was right that we should first try to effect the alon under the voluntary action 0 those who in charge of the great railway lea and we did ti it atie directors of alie falln ays responded to the need promptly and generously alie group of railway becu thes who were cli arged with the task of actual ordination coordination co and general dl performed difficult du ties with patriotic zeal flud marked as was to have been expected and did I 1 believe everything that t was possible for them to do in the circumstances it I 1 hae taken the task out of their hands it has not been because of an dereliction or failure on part tat only because there were some things which the goern ment can d and management cannot we shall continue to alue most highl the adilee and of theae gentlemen and I 1 am sure we ahall not find them it little disturbance in operation it had become unmistakably plain that only under government adman can lie entire equipment of the several 8 stems of transportation be fully and thrown into a common aenice without injurious discrimination against particular giop artles ert les only under government administration can absolutely unrestricted and unembarrassed common use be made of all tracks terminals facilities and equipment of aery kind only under that authority can new terminals be constructed and devel aped begird to the requirements or limitations of particular raids rut under goi eminent adman all these things wilt be pos elble not instantly but as fast as practical difficulties cannot be merely conjured away ghe way be fora the new management alie common administration will be carried out with as little disturbance of alie operating organizations and of the railway as pos elble will be altered or als turbid rhth it Is not necessary to als we are the public la and the public safety but we are also regardful of lie interest of cliwe 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 it Is that tha transportation of troops and of var materials of food and of fuel and of everything that is necessary mobilization of resources 0 the country should be first considered but it is clearly in the public interest also that the ordinary activities and the industrial and commercial life of the country should be interfered with aud deslo bated as little as possible anil the pub lie may rest assured that alie interest and convenience of the private shimpei will be as carefully served and safeguarded as it Is possible to serve and safeguard it in the present bihary circumstances V title the present authority of the executive suffices for all purposes of administration and while of course all private interests must for alie present give way to the public necessity it s I 1 am sure vou will agree with me right and necessary alint the owners and creditors of the railways the bold ers of their stocks and bonds should from the government an un qualified guarantee that their proper ties will be maintained throughout tin period of federal control in as good repito and complete equipment as at present and several roads will receive under federal management lucli compensation as Is equitable and just alike to their and to the gen oral public I 1 would suggest the average net railway operating income of the three bears ending june 30 1917 asks guarantees 1 I earnestly recommend eliat these guarantees be given by appropriate legislation and given as promptly as dr cum stances permit 1 I need not point out the essential justice of such guarantees and their great influence and significance as ele ments in the present financial and industrial du situation of the country in deed one of the strong arguments for assuming control of the railroads at this time Is the financial argument it Is necessary that the values of railway securities should be justly and fairly protected ind that the large financial operations every v ear necessary in connection with the maintenance operation and development of the broadi sli during the period of the war be wisely related to the financial operations of the government our first duty is of course to conserve the common interest and the common safety and to make certain that stands in the way of the successful prosecution of the great war for libi arty and justice but it Is also an gatlon of public conscience and of pub lie honor that the private interests we disturb should be kept safe from un i just injury and it is of alie utmost consequence to thy government itself tint all great financial operations 1 be stabilized and coordinated co with the financial operations of the government no borrowing should run t the borrowings of the federal treasury and no fundamental industrial values should any v here be unnecessarily impaired in alie hands of many thou sands of small investors in the country as well as in national banks in ansur ance companies in savings banks in trust companies in financial agencies of everi 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 blut structure must be maintained reason for mcadoo the secretary of war ad I 1 casalv agreed that in lew of the mini coin eidex interests which must be site guarded and as well a because of his exceptional experience and in tills new flold of govern mental action the lion 0 was the right man to assume direct administrative control of this nev task at our request he consented to assume the authority and duties of organizer and director general of tho new railway administration lie haj assumed those duties and his work Is in acelie progress it Is probably too much to expect that even under the unified railway administration which will now be pos elble sufficient economies can be ef footed in the operation of the ral falln ln to make it possible to add to their equipment and extend their operative facilities as much as the present e upon their us wilt render desirable without ang to alie national treasury for the funds if it Is not possible it will of course be necessary to resort to congress for grants of money for that purpose the of the treasury adilee with lour with regard to this very practical as hect of the matter for the present I 1 suggest onh the guarantees I 1 have in and such appropriations as are necessary nt the outset of the task I 1 tal e the liberty of expressing the hope that the may grant these promptly prompt li and ungrudgingly vis are dealing grent matters and will I 1 am sure deal with them greata |