Evening star., 1923-08-15
Politics at Large
BY N. O. MESSENGER.

are favorable to q high degree and
which must, indeed. be most graft
flying to him. He received instantly
/ and, what Is more to the point, spon-
taneously the support of republicans
of different factions with pledges to
stand by him and help in the con-
duct of the government under his
administration.
| The favorable expressions In the
public press have been marked and
voluminous. They appear to reflect
the opinion of the man in the street,
as any one can testify. for who has
not heard such utterances, in the ver-
nacuiar, as He seems to strike
people pretty well. don't you think?"
and HE is making a good impress
| sion from the first"
X X Il y
The new President undoubtedly
made hit with a corps of Washing
ton correspondents at the first gem
eral conference with the corps yes
| terday. There were a hundred and
| fifty or more correspondents of pa
pers all over the country. gathered
around the Presidents desk in the
White House. He looked them over
quizzically, as If wondering how he
would get along with the bunch"
! old bell-wether of the flock. Gus
J. karger of the Cincinnati Times
Star. announced that the under
| standing with the writer's is that the
never quoted. directly or indirectly.
but that the information derived
| from the President is to be treated so
as to show that 1t Is authoritative.
4 Dr. n-t IA Il II
this understanding to prevail in the
future.
Then for half an hour he talked
freely and frankly about the prob
| lens, foreign and domestic. ahead of
| the administration. His manner was
engaging, possessing nothing of the
| reserve or chilliness which so often
has been attributed to him. There
was no attempt at effect, no evasion
or dissimulation-it might have been
Calvin Coolidge of the Vermont farm
| talking to his friends.
| He won them from the start. When
ping from his auditors attested their
appreciation.
X + X X
Here Is the kind OF support Presi-
dent Coolidge is receiving from men
in public life and in Congress. Rep
| resentatives Martin Madden of Illinois.
/ chairman of the House committee on
appropriations, and of course one Of
the most potential and influential
men in Congress, got back from Eu-
rope yesterday. Talking to friends he
said, Tomorrow / am going to call
on President Coolidge and assure
him Of my support. There will be no
| qualification with II, either; l am
coming into camp. horse, foot and
dragoon,' and hold up my end of
the task of carrying on the govern
ment." The end which the chairman
which originates all the supply, bills
| Of the government, supports is no
small one to carry, either.
! II * X
Immediately upon the death Of
! President Harding there were all
! kinds of reports about possible cabi-
! rest by unequivocal statements in
! high quarters. 1t is known that
! President Coolidge requested all the
cabinet members with whom he could
get in touch to remain with him, and
| ii is also knowA from authoritative
! statements that all of them desire to
| remain. and will do so. There Is no
qualification of for the present"
either. Secretary Mellon of the Treas
ury Department. who is en- route
/ home from Europe, is counted upon
! in cabinet circles to follow suit of
his colleagues.
! President Coolidge knew all of
them more intimately than probably
any other Vice President had known
! the cabinet. During all the regime
| of President Harding he had ssat in"
! at the cabinet meetings, literally rub
J bling elbows with the members. and
was acquainted with their character
! istics and temnerarnentS.
/ X X II
| People who come in contact with
| President Coolidge are cognizant of
! several traits of character which are
! calculated to appeal to the average
| citizen. One is an innate modesty
which holds him back from self-as-
sertion, This does not mean timid-
ity. but on the contrary firmness,
| based on IL self knowledge of his own
merit and worthiness of the motives
which actuate him. He does not have
| to push himself forward. Another
/ trait is simplicity and lack OF osten,
! tation. Another is frankness and
! another is firmness. He will be a
! hard man to shake from position
| once taken after mature Judgment,
and 1t is also certain that ne Will
take no position on an important is
4
liberation.
| In talking with the rank and file,
! It would seem that already there are
Impressions of the countTy's new
Chief Executive which people who
| have never met him are gaining
! about him, as a result of his utter
ances and his conduct since the turn
of Fate's wheel elevated him to the
| presidency. A kind of psychological
! snapshot is being taken of him.
| A politician who dropped into re-
publican national committee head
! quarters yesterday said: This man
Coolidge is going to be a great cam
paigner In his own right. If he runs
for the presidency. I have been read
ing his speeches. and I never saw so
! speeches are fairly alive with them.
| All you fellows will have to do Will
/ be to put 'em on postcards and flood
| the country-an epigram fresh every
! hour"
| Friends of President Coolidge con-
cerned in his nomination, and there is
not the slightest doubt in any ones
mind that he will be candidate for
the nomination, are anxious to get the
sense of the west; whether there will
be disaffection Of republicans on sec
t,onal grounds. President Coolidge. 1t
is said by politicians, is sure to be re-
garded as a distinctly New England
product
| What they would like to ascertain
as soon as possible is whether sec