WAR DEPARTMENT
      OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF
                    WASHINGTON
 
 
                                             January 14, 1942.
 
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT:
 
       Since December 7th, the following military movements
 have occurred:
 
Rail Movements (largely to the West Coast):
 
    572,000 troops, with armament and material 
    2,945,000 short tons of freight.
 
Ship Movements:
 
     380,000 troops
     265,000 ship cargo tons.
 
             All this has been handled quietly, without confusion,
largely due to the developmentduring the past two years of our
base port organization on the East and West coasts, with 
heirdepots for reservoirs of supplies; also, through the vacating
of cantonments in the Northeast which have been used as staying
areas to accommodate troops enroute for overseas convoys.
The Quartermaster General's section for coordinating rail
movements Pros met the test.
 
      The following comments regarding rail movements referred
to above were made by the President of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company:
 
          "I am hearing continuous praise of your Generals
and their assistants in the handling of all the problems
that come before our people.
 
       "The railroads have never had more cooperation thou.
   they are now getting out of the armed forces. At this time,
  in the last war, we were already on the way to congestion on the
  Atlantic coast. By this time, in this war, there is little or no
  congestion in sight.
 
     "The great thing that the armed forces have done is the
 establishment of the storage bases in the East, where it is
 possible to assemble, to store, and to dispatch