Date: May 20, 1927
Location: Washington D.C.
(Original document available here)
Some suggestions have been made relative to a successor to Roy Morse, who is the United States District Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. They are under consideration. No decision has yet been made.
I want to go to review the fleet on the 4th of June. I haven’t fully determined about it.
There have been some suggestions made to me about an early session of the next Congress. But that matter hasn’t developed far enough so that I have come to any conclusion about it. I think some of the Southern representatives have made some suggestion of that kind for a session, perhaps the first of November.
I have not received any resignation from General Andrews, either recently or at any other time.
I haven’t decided yet about my location for the summer, and I can’t tell just when I shall get away. Of course, I have to be here for the semi- annual meeting that is held under the auspices of the Bureau of the Budget, which is on the 10th, as I recall it.
Press: 11th.
President: 11th, thank you. And then there are some other things that may detain me for some time after that.
I don’t know as there is any comment I can make on the resolution that some representatives of Porto Rico brought in yesterday relative to their desire to have Governor Towner continue in office. Of course, I was pleased to receive the information that he was giving general satisfaction to the local government of the Island. I don’t just know why the delegation should be sent up here for the purpose set out in their resolution, but considering the fact that some of our officeholders are not averse to visiting Porto Rico on occasion perhaps it is not difficult to imagine that officeholders in Porto Rico would not be averse to coming up here. It is very much more pleasant to have them come telling me that they are contented with the situation as it exists, than it is to have them come making complaints about their government. Perhaps their visit may be taken as an indication of a very happy condition on the island, indicating satisfaction on their part with the general way that their government is proceeding. I suggested to them that it is always necessary to use care in the raising and expending of the revenue of the government. The resources of the Island are limited, of course. They have been embarking on a considerable policy of public improvements, the building of a rather ambitious capitol or state house, the construction of a system of highways, increasing their educational facilities, all of which calls for a considerable outlay of money. I suggested to them also the great desirability of a general knowledge on the Island of the English language, They are under an English speaking Government and are a part of the territory of an English speaking nation. I thought that it would be very much easier for them to understand us, and for us to understand them, if they had a good working knowledge of the English language. While I appreciated the desirability of maintaining their grasp on the Spanish language, the beauty of that language and the richness of its literature, that as a practical matter for them it was quite necessary to have a good comprehension of English.
I do not understand that the policy of railroad consolidation has been given any definite check by the Interstate Commerce Commission because they have rejected two merger proposals, one known as the Van Sweringen case something more than a year ago and the other the Loree case that was decided quite recently. I understand that the Van Sweringens have filed a new petition, probably in accordance with the opinion that was rendered in their first case. I am not familiar with the details of the Loree merger, or of the decision that was made, so that I could judge whether the decision indicates it would be impossible to make the merger that was suggested or whether it merely means that there must be a change in the details. I have indicated in my messages to the Congress and on other public occasions my interest in the promotion of railroad mergers that were just and fair, thinking that the policy of consolidations was one that was of benefit to the public. Of course, each one of these cases has to be determined on its own merits, but I hope that the decision that has been made in the Loree case will further clarify the rules that the Interstate Commerce Commission wish to follow in the making – approval – of consolidations.
I don’t know as there is any special comment that I can make on the attempt of Captain Lindbergh to fly from New York to Paris, other than one of great interest in it that I feel in common with what I think is pretty much that of all Americans, my best wishes for his success.
The Attorney General has returned and I understood from him this morning in talking with him at the Cabinet meeting that he would have some recommendations to make either today or tomorrow relative to filling several vacant judgeships.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge: Remarks by the President to Newspaper Correspondents
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