Done by the President, through New on D. Baker, Secretary of War, in the District of Columbia this 22d day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eighteen and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and forty-third. [SEAL.] WOODROW WILSON. By the President: FRANK L. POLK, Acting Secretary of State. NEWTON D. BAKER, POSSESSION AND CONTROL OF AMERICAN RAILWAY EXPRESS COMPANY. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. POSSESSION AND CONTROL OF A CERTAIN TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. WHEREAS the organizations for the conduct of the express business over numerous systems of transportation which have been duly placed under Federal control, and pertaining to such systems of transportation, have been consolidated into the American Railway Express Company which has been made the sole agent of the Government for conducting the express business, with the result that the entire transportation system of said Express Company has been necessarily in substance and effect placed under Federal control, and WHEREAS it is desirable, in order to administer to the best advantage the transportation business and operations of the American Railway Express System to make it specifically clear by this Proclamation that the President has the possession, use, control and operation of the entire transportation system of the American Railway Express Company, Now, THEREFORE, I, WOODROW WILSON, President of the United States, under and by virtue of the powers vested in me by law do hereby, through Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, take possession, and assume control at 12 o'clock noon on the 18th day of November, 1918, of that certain system of transportation called the American Railway Express Company and all of its appurtenances and property of every kind or nature, directly or indirectly, owned, leased, chartered, controlled, or used in the conduct of, or in connection with, its express business. It is hereby further directed that the possession, control, operation and utilization of said express transportation system hereby by me undertaken shall be exercised by and through William G. McAdoo, heretofore appointed Director General of Railroads, with all the powers conferred upon him by the said Proclamations of December 26, 1917, and March 29, 1918, respectively, together with all and singular the powers conferred upon the President by the Act of Congress entitled, "An Act to Provide for the Operation of Transportation Systems while under Federal Control, for the Just Compensation of their Owners, and for Other Purposes," approved March 21, 1918. The said Director General of Railroads may perform the duties hereby imposed upon him, so long and to such an extent as he shall determine, through the Board of Directors, officers and employees of the said American Railway Express Company, under the contract already made, and dated the twenty-sixth day of June, 1918, between the said Director General of Railroads and said American Railway Express Company, and until and except so far as said Director General shall from time to time by general or special orders otherwise provide, the Board of Directors, officers and employees of said Company shall continue the operation thereof in the usual and ordinary course under such contract. From and after 12 o'clock noon on said 18th November, 1918, the said transportation system shall conclusively be deemed within the possession and control of said Director General without further act or notice. In WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. DONE by the President, through Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, in the District of Columbia, this 16th day of November, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and eighteen, and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and forty-third. WOODROW WILSON, [SEAL.] By the President: ROBERT LANSING, Secretary of State. NEWTON D. BAKER, Secretary of War. (No. 1497.) ORDER OF RELINQUISHMENT. WHEREAS in the exercise of the war power by proclamation dated April 11, 1918, the President of the United States through Benedict Crowell, Acting Secretary of War, took possession and assumed control as of the thirteenth day of April, 1918, of the following systems of transportation and appurtenances thereof, to wit: Clyde Steamship Company, a corporation of the State of Maine; Mallory Steamship Company, a corporation of the State of Maine; Merchants and Miners Transportation Company, a corporation of the State of Maryland; and Southern Steamship Company, a corporation of the State of Delaware; consisting of steamships, tugs, lighters, barges, ships, boats, and marine craft of any and every kind or description and all the tackle, appurtenances to and appliances thereof, together with all wharves, docks, warehouses, and other property of every kind or nature, real or chattel, owned, leased, chartered, controlled, or used by said companies or either of them in conducting or in connection with said transportation systems to the end that such systems be utilized for the transfer and transportation of troops, war material, and equipment, to the exclusion as far as may be necessary, of all other traffic thereon, etc., the said possession, control, operation, and utilization to be exercised by and through the undersigned William G. McAdoo, Director General of Railroads; and WHEREAS the emergency which made such exercise of the war power necessary and desirable has by reason of the signing of an armistice with the enemies of the United States ceased, and the use of the transportation systems aforesaid is no longer necessary for the transfer and transportation of troops, war material, and equipment or otherwise for the war purposes of the Government: Now, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM G. McADOO, Director General of Railroads, by virtue of the power conferred upon me by the President of the United States, do hereby relinquish from Federal control effective December 6, 1918, at 12:01 a. m., the said Clyde Steamship Company, Mallory Steamship Company, Merchants and Miners Transportation Company, and Southern Steamship Company, together with all of the steamships, tugs, lighters, barges, ships, boats, and marine craft of any and every kind or description and all the other tackle, appurtenances, wharves, docks, warehouses, and other property as described and set forth in the proclamation of the President, dated April 11, 1918, as aforesaid, and restore the same to the possession of their respective owners. For accounting purposes, this order may be treated as effective December first at 12:01 a. m. Given under my hand as Director General of Railroads, this fifth day of December, 1918. W. G. McADOO, Director General of Railroads. OPINION SUSTAINING THE AUTHORITY OF W. G. MCADOO, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF RAILROADS, RE GENERAL ORDERS 18 AND 18-A, AND THEIR VALIDITY UNDER THE FEDERAL-CONTROL ACT APPROVED MARCH 21, 1918, AND THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF SAID ACT, BY HONORABLE JACOB TRIEBER, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS, SITTING IN THE EASTERN DIVISION OF THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI. In the District Court of the United States for the Eastern Division of the Eastern District of Missouri. NELLIE WAINWRIGHT, ADMINISTRATRIX, ETC., Plaintiff, V. No. 4893. PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY, Defendant. The plaintiff on May 6, 1918, instituted this action to recover damages under the employers' liability act for the death of her husband, alleged to have resulted from injuries sustained on December 26, 1917, while in the service of the defendant and while both were engaged in interstate commerce. The defendant filed a plea in abatement, alleging as causes: 1. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, defendant herein, is a common carrier now under control of the United States Railroad Administration. 2. The plaintiff herein, and the deceased, John Wainwright, resided at the time of the accrual of the cause of action stated in the plaintiff's petition in the city of Pittsburgh, State of Pennsylvania. 3. That the place of trial, to wit: City of St. Louis, State of Missouri, is far removed from the place where the plaintiff was injured and resided at the time of the accrual of this action, to wit: City of Pittsburgh, Pa.; that the trial of this suit in the city of St. Louis, Mo., will necessitate the summoning of men, to wit: Engineman N. Carlson, Fireman W. J. Corbett, Conductor W. Baker, and Brakeman J. Wainwright, now operating trains in points distant from the place of trial and keep them for a considerable period of time from said work of operating trains, all of which will greatly prejudice the interests of the Government in maintaining railroad traffic for war purposes. And the defendant further states that the above specifications of facts, enumerated above, constitute to all intents and purposes a case of abatement under General Order No. 26, promulgated by the United States Railroad Administration on May 23, 1918, and Gen |