In fulfilling at this time the duty laid upon me by the Constitution of
communicating to you from time to time information of the state of the
Union and recommending to your consideration such legislative measures as
may be judged necessary and expedient, I shall continue the practice, which
I hope has been acceptable to you, of leaving to the reports of the several
heads of the executive departments the elaboration of the detailed needs of
the public service and confine myself to those matters of more general
public policy with which it seems necessary and feasible to deal at the
present session of the Congress.
I realize the limitations of time under which you will necessarily act at
this session and shall make my suggestions as few as possible; but there
were some things left undone at the last session which there will now be
time to complete and which it seems necessary in the interest of the public
to do at once.
In the first place, it seems to me imperatively necessary that the earliest
possible consideration and action should be accorded the remaining measures
of the program of settlement and regulation which I had occasion to
recommend to you at the close of your last session in view of the public
dangers disclosed by the unaccommodated difficulties which then existed,
and which still unhappily continue to exist, between the railroads of the
country and their locomotive engineers, conductors and trainmen.