Date: November 4, 1927
Location: Washington, D.C.
(Original document available here)
There haven’t been any decisions made about appointments.
The Attorney General has not consulted with me relative to the oil trial.
Senator Quezon and Senator Osmena – he is a member of the Senate – called on me yesterday with the Secretary of War to pay their respects. I was pleased to learn that Senator Osmena’s son, who is a student, I think, at Cornell, is very much improved. We talked rather generally about things in the Islands. They advised me that they had no particular person to recommend as Governor General and hoped that someone would be appointed who had a knowledge of affairs in the Islands, and some one with whom they could cooperate to carry on the government of the Islands. I suggested to them the desirability of having the legislature pass on the appropriations that have been recommended by the Governor General and also pass on the appointments that are pending, I believe, before their Senate. In that they agreed with me and said they were to be up here for perhaps a month or so. I told them I hoped I might be able to see them from time to time, as I was anxious to get all the information I could respecting the needs of the Islands and what we could do to better conditions there, that I was especially interested in good roads and a good system of education and in the agricultural development, that I thought it would be very helpful if they would confer with the Secretary of Agriculture to see what he might advise about sending an agricultural adviser who was familiar with tropical agriculture down to the Islands to help them in that respect. They agreed with me about that and I understand that is one of the things they are going to do. They reported that the economic conditions of the Islands were very good and they thought on the whole improving.
Here is a statement that says that three members of the Senate Committee on Mines have been in during the week, which is doubtless correct. Not any of of them have called on me relative to that subject, and not being a subject that I have taken up with them I don’t know what three members of the Senate that might be. Quite a number of them have been in, I don’t know yet what legislation I may ask for or recommend to the Congress. And, as I have said before in relation to my message, I rather think that it would be more appropriate for me not to undertake to give out in advance what I may be contemplating in that respect. Perhaps it is more courteous to the Congress that I should inform them first, rather than to make announcement through the press of what will be in my message.
The matter of having the West Point Football Team go to California has been taken up with the War Department and by them with the West Point Military Academy. The time to go out there, play a game, and come back, would be very close to two weeks, and with the work that the men in the Academy have to do in the way of study and so on, I am not able to get much encouragement from them that the time can be found for the members of the team to be away for so long a space.
Senator McNary was in a day or two ago, and I only had a chance for the very briefest conference with him. We both expressed our hope that there might be some bill devised for the assistance of farming interests. The Senator and others are working on that subject.
I have never fully determined about a civil bureau for the administration of the Philippines, General Wood mentioned that when he was in the Black Hills, but I was expecting to confer with him when he was on his way back, and so it was not very much developed. Some other people with whom I have spoken think it is a very good idea to leave the administration of the Philippines in the War Department, where it now is. I think under the bill that President Harding had prepared for the consolidation of departments it was to go into the State 01520 Department. My first thought was it might go into some other department, hut the more I have discussed it, the more I have come to the conclusion that it may he as well off where it is as any other place that it could be located.
I don’t know of any recent action that has been taken relative to the suggestion that came from France last spring about a treaty with that country to make our peace relations with them more certain and any warfare more improbable. That was to be taken up on the return of their Ambassador here and our Ambassador over there. Mr. Herrick, as you know, has been ill, and hasn’t been able to go back. I think he will be expecting to return in about three weeks. Then the matter will be ripe, I should judge, for further discussion.
There was one matter that I was going to speak about that is very nearly outlawed now. When the question was propounded to me relative to the suggestion of the U. S, Chamber of Commerce for a reduction in taxes in the amount of $550,000,000 or $400,000,000, I said that I did not think from what I knew then that it would be possible to have a reduction as large as that. I noticed the next day that in the headlines anyway it said I had favored a $300,000,000 reduction. I did not intend to give any figures, because I didn’t have any, and I think I stated at the time that the only way I could find out what reduction would be favored by me would be to fin d out what the Bureau of the Budget and the Treasury finally determined about our income and our probable expenses. As I say, that is so long ago that perhaps now it is outlawed. I wouldn’t want the idea to go out that I had favored $300,000,000. I suppose that was rather an inference from the fact that I said $350,000,000 or $400,000,000 would be too much. The Treasury has now made its statement before the Committee on Ways and Means of the House, so that determines what the administration will undoubtedly recommend.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge: Remarks by the President to Newspaper Correspondents
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