Date: May 20, 1924
Location: Washington, DC
(Original document available here)
The immigration bill is being examined by the Department of Labor and the Department of State, to advise me about its workings. That is about all I can say about it at the present time. While that is going on, of course I haven’t determined about any other plan.
I don’t know as there is any comment I can make about the enactment of the bonus bill. I gave my opinion of the bill in my message that I sent to the Congress. Of course it will affect tax reduction, some this year and much more in the years to come, because as the national debt is paid off that would give an opportunity to decrease taxation. But with this addition of over $100,000,000 a year, of course, it will prevent that much tax reduction. I have stated quite a good many times my theory about the relationship of taxation to business. My special desire was to relieve business, and when I say business I mean the whole people of course, and relieve the people of every possible burden of taxation. Of course this doesn’t do that; it works in the opposite direction, and to that extent I am fearful of its effect on our economic condition. It takes so much more of the production of the people to pay the taxes. If the production is to be used for taxes, it can’t be used for the people themselves. The different Departments are taking immediate steps this morning, they started in yesterday, to carry out the provisions of the Act. The Secretary of War told me they would require about 1,000 additional clerks. Senator Lodge sent me word that Senator Swanson had moved to take up in Committee (Foreign Relations) the message of President Harding relative to the World Court, which I endorsed in my message and have endorsed several times since in speeches, and that he and some of the members of the Committee wanted to confer with me. I have asked them to come in and confer with me this evening. I don’t know what phase of it the Senator wants to take up. The question here asks what phase of the World Court will be considered. That I don’t know.
Mr. President, will the conference be over here?
No, it will be over in the House.
This being Cabinet morning I couldn’t very well have them come here this morning, and I disliked to ask several of the Senators to come away from the Senate Chamber this afternoon, so I set it for this evening, because he wanted to see me before Wednesday morning.
I have told the Secretary of State to accept the resignation of the Ambassador to Japan. There is no particular person under consideration for taking his place. There are several persons that I have in mind.
I haven’t any plan to leave Washington for a short rest after the adjournment of Congress. Perhaps if you can find some good place to go, we can go. I assume of course that you would go with me, but I haven’t any plan about it now. I thought all along that probably I could get along quite well here in Washington, as good as I could anywhere outside, so I have left it that way.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge: Remarks by the President to Newspaper Correspondents
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