Date: May 8, 1925
Location: Washington, D.C.
(Original document available here)
I have a couple of rumors. One is that the President is searching for a man to reorganize the Veterans Bureau and that General Hines is leaving. The other one is a question as to what I can say about the report that General Hines is about to retire from the head of the Veterans Bureau and that Colonel Arthur Woods is going to succeed him.
I was thinking that perhaps this rumor was a mistaken rumor, and that they meant Major Haynes, the prohibition enforcer – which reminded me a little of a story that Governor Sproul told when he came up to Northampton to celebrate with the neighbors my election as Vice President. He spoke about some experience he had with some of his friends in Pennsylvania. He went out somewhere to make some inquiries about a spaghetti factory, asked a man on the street if he knew where the spaghetti factory was, and the man said “no”. Then the man followed him up the street a ways and said “perhaps you mean the noodle factory.” And he said, well perhaps it was the noodle factory. And the man said “Well, I don’t know where that is either.” Perhaps the rumor didn’t apply either to General Hines of the Veterans Bureau of Major Haynes of the Prohibition Department. I am glad to see here the commendation of Commander Drain of the American Legion, who said this morning that the Legion and the Bureau had never been working in closer harmony than at present. I don’t know where the rumor could have started and it has no foundation in fact, so far as it relates to anything in my mind. I am very sure that General Hines is going to stay there and continue in his present situation.
I don’t know of any comment that I can make on the address of Ambassador Houghton. Anything that could be said in elucidation of it I should think would be merely repeating the language of the address. I am making some effort not only at the Naval Academy, but at West Point, to encourage a little further education in aviation. You already have the report of Secretary Wilbur relative to what is proposed at Annapolis. Apparently they give considerable instruction, according to their ideas, at West Point – 58½ hours I think they told me, but the general feeling is that they are not giving so much instruction in aviation as would be desirable. Some of the members of the Senate reported to me that they thought they didn’t give any instruction there, though it turns out that they do give some. I am going to try to encourage them to make a careful investigation and see if a little more education in that direction wouldn’t be helpful.
That seems to be all the questions that you have for the day.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge: Remarks by the President to Newspaper Correspondents
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