US Presidency
1923

The best method for selecting public servants is the merit system. PUBLIC BUILDINGS Many of the departments in Washington need better housing facilities. Some are so crowded that their work is impeded, others are so scattered that they lose their identity. While I do not favor at this time a general public building law, I believe it is now necessary, in accordance with plans already sanctioned for a unified and orderly system for the development of this city, to begin the carrying out of those plans by authorizing the erection of three or four buildings most urgently needed by an annual appropriation of $ 5,000,000. REGULATORY LEGISLATION Cooperation with other maritime powers is necessary for complete protection of our coast waters from. pollution. Plans for this are under way, but await certain experiments for refuse disposal. Meantime laws prohibiting spreading oil and oil refuse from vessels in our own territorial waters would be most helpful against this menace and should be speedily enacted. Laws should be passed regulating aviation. Revision is needed of the laws regulating radio interference.