A supreme moment of history has come.
The eyes of the people have been opened and they see. The hand of God is
laid upon the nations. He will show them favor, I devoutly believe, only
if they rise to the clear heights of His own justice and mercy.
GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION OF RAILWAYS
[Address delivered at a joint session of the two Houses of Congress,
January 4, 1918.]
GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS:
I have asked the privilege of addressing you in order to report to you
that on the twenty-eighth of December last, during the recess of the
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 own 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.
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