cause of any dereliction or failure on their part, but
only because there were some things which the Government can do, and
private management cannot. We shall continue to value most highly the
advice and assistance of these gentlemen, and I am sure we shall not
find them withholding it.

It had become unmistakably plain that only under Government
administration can the entire equipment of the several systems of
transportation be fully and unreservedly thrown into a common service
without injurious discrimination against particular properties; only
under Government administration can absolutely unrestricted and
unembarrassed common use be made of all tracks, terminal facilities
and equipment of every kind. Only under that authority can new
terminals be constructed and developed without regard to the
requirements or limitations of particular roads. But under Government
administration all these things will be possible--not instantly, but
as fast as practical difficulties, which cannot be merely conjured
away, give way before the new management.

AS LITTLE DISTURBANCE AS POSSIBLE

The common administration will be carried out with as little
disturbance of the present operating organizations and personnel of
the railways as possible. Nothing will be altered or disturbed which
is not necessary to disturb. We are serving 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. It 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 energies and
resources of the country, 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
interfered with and dislocated as little as possible, and the public
may rest assured that the interest and convenience of the private
shipper will be carefully served and safeguarded as it is possible to
serve and safeguard it in the present extraordinary circumstances.

COMPENSATION SHOULD BE GUARANTEED

While the present authority of the Executive suffices for all
purposes of administration, and while, of course, all private
interests must for the present give way to the public nec