Evening star., 1923-11-27
IERSENESS T0BE
C()0L|DGE'S STYLE
Message to Congress VIII
Be Stripped of vefbosity
and Evasiveness.
By FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.


To dodge no issue and to placate no
faction-that has been the purpose OF
President Coaltdge. this writer IL au-
thoritatively informed. In formuiat-
ing his maiden message 70 Congress.
Whatever the message, It win not b
lacking in dlrectness. That It viii be
brief. the President has already fore
shadowed. That II will be terse. straight
from the shoulder and utterly devoid OF
evasiveness Will presently be reveal
ed. A parsonage who has had inti-
mate access to Mr.. Coolidge during
the final hours Of the messages prep
aration says 1t viii prove 70 be q
, ''Madisonian production" It was
James Madison who wrote the Amer
lean Constitution. the worlds model
OF great principles .conciseiy, express
ed. Calvin Coolidge's habits. both of
thought and utterance. are said by
, authorities to be more like those OF
President Madison than any subse-
Quent occupant of tho White House.
with perfect eauuaninity. He is
aware of the unprecedented expect
ancy with which his message IS await.
ed. There has been nothing quite
like II in our presidential! history
| Usually a new Presidents f1rst mes j.
sage excises national interest be.
cause of some specific question or
policy. The country waited on
Abraham Lncoln's initial communal
cation TO Congress because OF the
slavery issue. 1rover Clevelands
opening message excited public in
terest because OF tariff reform and
| ciVi! Service affairs William Nc.
! EiHleE'e Iist ..iItCsG 80 House and
/ Senate dwelt primarily on the gold
standard, and the country was
an1ious with regard TO his message
Following reelection in 1900 because
our colonial policy. following the
tSpanish war, was upperinost in the
public mind. In 1915. following his
| ire-eiection, woodrow Wilson's mes.
sage to Congress had the nation hold
Ito know whether we were xotng Il
continue to be kept out OF war o,
not.
No such simple situation confront.
calvin Coolidge. Not on one or tive
1 Outstanding issues are the people oi
from him. 1t Is On a dezen, If moi {
| score. Of Important questions. tha,
1 they await light and leading from III,
| President Mr.. Coolidge is conscIou,
OF the tactical disadvantage at which
ms mnititude OF expectations place:
! h1m But he ts not upset or over.
whelmed by II. Within the pas
twenty-four hours the President. re-
ferring to the ordeal he Is about ts
! lace. has dismissed II with a simple
UNAFFECTED: I'm going to do the bes
! "A prac.tced political hand like Cal
| win Coolidge, who has been contfnu
ously in public life for twenty.fiv.
| Years, Knows exactly what next weel
means for him. He knows that he mes
ny I'M
| person or through the written wore
probably Will make or break him poitf
1 icaiiy. Not within the memory OF tn,
living generation has President had q.
be enduring glory for Calvin Cool
idge In happily turoed phrase o
that communication gloxa,
that viii stick In the popular mem
ory and be platform In itself. o,
the other hand, there may be som
passage loaded with dynami,e"-,
thought, an ression. an epigram
matte fourish-which might spell po
| litical doom.
On one point the President ha
made up his mind irrevocably. H
appreciates that his honeymoon
is over and that the country no,
has right to expect him TO TAX
! n stand all along the line. He I
| grateful for the wave Of good vii
and forbearance vouchsafea him dur
ih5 ShC Pdct iOuI T1OEInS. IN re
1 turn Tor II he intends that the peo
pie shall known, when he delivers hi
message shortly after noon, that Ca,vi
Coolidge categorically Is for this an
against that. He viii have remove
all vertigo OF doubt as to his posi-
tion on virtually every issue o
paramount importance now befor
the country. The writer Is assures
in quarters thoroughly qualffied I
know. that there win be no yestig
OF lodging. pussy footing, side
1 stepping or any OF the other arttfice
that might tempt a politician q
such a time. Frankness, straight
forwardnese and brevity-those ar
the things with which Calvin Cool
idge purposes ha1l-marking th
document which means so much 70
him personally, for the republics:
| party, for the United States--an
1 perhaps for the whole world.
| Copyright. 1927