Date: August 7, 1925
Location: Washington, D.C.
(Original document available here)
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I do not know when I can go up to Plymouth to make a visit to my father. It is possible I can get up the latter part of next week. I shall come back here after staying there a very few days.
I suppose that General Lord is coming up to talk with me about budget matters. When I am in Washington he comes in twice a week to confer with me about things in his department. He is making up the budget now undoubtedly to submit to me for my consideration and to recommend to the next Congress. Very likely he wants to confer with me about certain matters in relation to it.
I sent for the Attorney General to come up because I want to talk with him about some appointments of District Attorneys and Judges, and two or three pardon cases that I had here that I didn’t quite understand about. He was going to Vermont – I got a telegram from him the day before yesterday I think, that he was going to Vermont, so I asked him to stop off here. I didn’t have any other errand or any other matter to discuss with him.
I am not taking any action in relation to politics either in Illinois or Wisconsin. I don’t know anything about the political situation in Illinois. Of course I know that on account of the death of Senator La Follette there is a Senator to be elected in Wisconsin. That is about the extent of my information about it.
I don’t know of any statement that I can make relative to the coal situation.
I expect Secretary Hoover will be up tomorrow. He wrote to me that he had an invitation from people in San Francisco, I think, who are desirous that he should present it to me to come out there. I don’t think that there is very much possibility that I can go. I don’t know of any other business that he has. I haven’t seen him since he went west some time before I came up here. I imagine that there are general things in relation to his Department that he may want to talk over with me. I don’t imagine that he is coming to talk with me about the coal situation; neither have I discussed this with the Attorney General.
Question: When did you say General Lord is coming?
Answer: Monday. He leaves Sunday night and will be up here Monday morning.
Question: Do you think you could say anything about the fact that the negotiations ended so quickly between the operators and miners and it is now a month before the expiration of the scale?
Answer: I am not enough in touch with the situation, so that I could make any comment that would be sufficiently accurate in my own mind as to be helpful about it. I think everything has been said about it that could be in the press. That is my principal source of information.
Question: Mr. President, it appears that as it is a month before the scale ends that it would seem that these people would earnestly desire to compose their difficulties instead of fighting, and that they are still waiting for somebody to help them out.
Answer: I knew they had adjourned. Just what the purpose of the adjournment was, I don’t know, and if you want any information about it why I would look at the form of the adjournment. What was the form of it? What did they say about it? When were they going to meet again?
Question: Subject to call, Mr. President.
Answer: Well, I suppose that would mean that it was the expectation that they would be called together again. I don’t think any one would suppose that negotiations had now been broken off and that therefore there wouldn’t be any more negotiations, simply drift on until the end of the present contract and then all activities cease.
Question: Would it be possible to announce anything in connection with your discussion with the Attorney General – about the appointments?
Answer: I wanted to talk with the Attorney General about some District Attorney appointments and two or three, I think it is one or two appointments to be made to the Circuit Court, and one or two District Court Judges to be appointed.
Question: Any of those in New York?
Answer: I don’t think so.
Question: Are the pardon cases of any prominence?
No.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge: Remarks by the President to Newspaper Correspondents
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