Date: December 7, 1926
Location: Washington, D.C.
(Original document available here)
My general message is going down to the Congress today. My budget message will be presented the first thing tomorrow. A great many nominations are going in, most of them to fill permanent appointments where a vacancy has been filled during the recess.
Colonel Thompson has returned from the Philippines and has made me a report which I think will be available to the press within a short time. I am looking it over and quite naturally want to submit it to some members of the Cabinet to see what suggestions they might have to make in relation to it. I don’t think of anything else that I want to discuss this morning. I would like to see the members of the Gridiron Club Committee, if any of them happen to be here, that came to invite me to attend the Gridiron Club dinner .
There isn’t any foundation for any report that there is to be a change in our representation at Roumania. Dr. Culbertson represents us there very acceptably and I suppose he expects to stay there for the present. The only possibility that I know of for a change would be that he might be promoted to go somewhere else. I don’t know of any vacancy that is likely to bring that about. I haven’t decided on the appointment of members of the newly created Public Utilities Commission for the District of Columbia. I haven’t decided to approve that bill. It is another one of those bills that undertakes to tie the hands of the president as I understand it in making appointments, providing for a long residence in the District of Columbia. And it has the other, what to me I was going to say is an absurd provision, that virtually says the President shall, appoint no one that knows anything about the business and that anyone who has had any experience in the line that is to be taken up by these Commissioners is outlawed from being put on the Commission. Now, I very likely shall approve the bill, but I think it has those unfortunate provisions that tend to divest it of a good deal of its usefulness. I am having the bill examined to see what action I ought to take on it. I haven’t examined the bill in its entirety myself, but those are two things that did come to my attention in relation to it. Of course I agree that persons placed in responsible positions of this kind ought to be disinterested. I don’t suppose anyone would think of putting anyone on the bench that hadn’t had some experience in the study and practice of the law. But when it comes to the super vision of the Public Utilities, then it seems to be supposed that someone who has never had any experience in relation to them is the person that can adequately protect the public interests. So that I want to study the bill carefully before seeing what can be done in relation to it. I haven’t taken an apartment at any of the local hotels. Several of them have very kindly offered to make arrangements for the accommodations of myself and my people while the White House is undergoing repairs. They have been exceedingly kind in making the offers and several of them have quarters that could be used, but I know from the short time that I lived in a hotel after I became President that it is very difficult to arrange hotel quarters. Then I have all the White House staff that has to be kept together and taken care of, so that I feel that a private residence would be much more adaptable to my needs. There is also the question of possible entertainment which could usually be supplied better in a private residence. I am taking up with the War and State Departments the report of Colonel Thompson on the Philippines and expect to go over it again with Colonel Thompson. I think it may be ready to be made public the first half of next week. I have been so engrossed this week that I haven’t had an opportunity to give it the attention that I should like. I don’t think any invitation has been received yet to attend an economic conference at Geneva. I have seen some reports in the press relative to it, but I am quite sure that no report has come to me from the State Department.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge: Remarks by the President to Newspaper CorrespondentsÂ
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