Date: August 16, 1927
Location: Rapid City, SD
I don’t know of anything definite that I could say at this time relative to tax reduction. I think you will recall that I suggested to the last Congress that we could reduce taxes some at that time. Congress concluded that they would not do so. What the prospects will be for tax reduction when the next session of Congress opens it wouldn’t be possible to state at the present time.
Question: I didn’t get that?
President: It wouldn’t be possible to state what the prospects will be for tax reduction when Congress opens at this time. It is evident that there will be something of a surplus. Of course, if the matter was to be left entirely to me I could state what could be done. Congress always has a good deal of a disposition to spend money, and the amount of tax reduction of course is dependent on the spending program. It would be possible to reduce taxes if Congress wished to refrain from increasing the expenditures of the Nation.
There is nothing new developed in the naval program. Of course, it is now apparent that it would have been very much wiser for Congress to have adopted my suggestion when the suggestion was made at the conference with certain members of the Naval Committee of the House, that they pass a bill authorizing the construction of 10 cruisers. If that had been done I should have been in a position to put into the present budget an appropriation for starting such work immediately. They chose to take the other course, of not authorizing any new cruisers, but making an insignificant appropriation for beginning work on 3 cruisers that had already been authorized. The result of that as it has turned out is to delay the building program of the Navy.
There is no development relative to a possible special session of the Congress.
Quite naturally, I haven’t had time to canvass the situation very carefully relative to a successor to General Wood. I am advised by the War Department that the present Vice Governor, as I already knew, is a very competent man able to carry on the work there very acceptably, so that it was not thought that there was any necessity for haste in choosing a successor to General Wood. It is a situation which needs to be canvassed very carefully before a decision is made, so that I do not expect to do very much about it other than think it over before I return to Washington. When I reach there, I will have a chance to confer with the Insular Department official s and others relative to what should be done.
I am not aware of any principle which has developed in the Mexican situation. The same problems confront us there that have for some time. I have made no decision about visiting Yellowstone Park. I had some inquiries made to see what would be required as to time, what accommodations could be secured, transportation, and so on. The building up of our Air Service is going on in accordance with the five-year plan adopted by the Congress. There is no particular change contemplated in that direction. The law was passed in the session which began in. 1925 and ended in 1926, and wasn’t fully put into effect until last year during the session of 1926-1927, so that it did not get fully underway until the present time and the result of that is that in the present budget the project being fully under way requires a somewhat larger appropriation than had been required when it was starting out and not fully developed. Of course, it was a matter or business routine to provide in the budget for all the naval projects authorized by the Congress, because we had started work on all the projects and that work of course should continue. There is no new work, I think, that has been authorized by Congress on which construction has not already begun. That being the case, we hate started to construct and of course the construction should be carried on.
I think I remarked the other day that undoubtedly, I shall have plenty of opportunities to work, some real and a good many fanciful. My college has just chosen a President, a young man as college presidents go, very promising, and I doubt very much if they are contemplating making any change. I should presume that the United States Steel Corporation would need an executive head during the next year and a half, which would probably prevent their waiting for my services, even though they thought that was desirable.
General Pershing was at Cheyenne visiting his father-in-law, Senator Warren, and on his return East thought he would pay me a visit. I haven’t seen him since he went to France early in the Spring to represent the Battle Monuments Association, of which I think he is Chairman, and very likely he thought he would like to report to me some of the results of his observations there on the condition of the work. Mr. Gallagher and Mrs. Gallagher are personal friends of Mrs. Coolidge and myself and very kindly send us a turkey for Thanksgiving. They were in this section of the country and we would like very much to have an opportunity to reciprocate.
Question: With trout?
President: The trout are not biting very well. The water is so high and so
muddy that it isn’ t possible to fishing the usual locations.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge: Remarks by the President to Newspaper Correspondents
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