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.