(_Address to the Congress, January 4, 1918_)
Gentlemen of the Congress,--I have asked the privilege of addressing
you in order to report that on the 28th of December last, during the
recess of Congress, acting through the Secretary of War, and under
the authority conferred upon me by the Act of Congress approved
August 29, 1916, I took possession and assumed control of the railway
lines of the country and the systems of water transportation under
their control. This step seemed to be imperatively necessary in the
interest of the public welfare, in the presence of the great tasks of
war with which we are now dealing. As our experience develops
difficulties and makes it clear what they are, I have deemed it my
duty to remove those difficulties wherever I have the legal power to
do so.
To assume control of the vast railway systems of the country is, I
realize, a very great responsibility, but to fail to do so in the
existing circumstances would have been much greater. I assumed the
less responsibility rather than the weightier.