Evening star., 1925-04-17
COOLIDGE SPEAKS
FREER TO PRESS
System of Anonymity, How
ever, Puts Responsibility
for Stories on Writers.
BY the Associated Press.

BN the AesOClalcu fTeNs.
President Coolidge is becoming more
and more CommunicatiVe-at least TO
the press-yet so far as the country
is concerned he maintains a charac-
teristic silence.
The process by which the President
discusses a number of subjects vital
and otherwise, but is protected from
direct quotation, is one that has under
gone a somewhat intensive develop
ment under the Coolidge adminiStra-
ton. Lately there has been striking
evidence of a renewed interest IN IL
not only in America but abroad. Mr..
Coolidge hasn't exactly been misquot-
ed, but various differences have been
drawn and impressions broadcast
from the information he gives TO the
press, and the White House has taken
the position that it is not responsible
for anything except that which ii ottl-
Cially authorizes in writing.
Twice a week--Tuesday and Fri
days-the correspondents gather at
the White House and are received by
the President. The questions are
written out by the newspaper men on
slips of paper and passed in to the
Presidents S desk as the correspondents
file in the room. Mr.. Coolidge takes
up the questions one by one and he
may ignore some of them or answer
them. Nobody knows what questions
are handed by everybody else, so
there is no opportunity to ascertain
what significance there is in disre-
garding certain queries.
Answers Are Comprehensive.
The President speaks at length very
often. His answers are usually clear
and comprehensive and he does not
deal in antiquities, so the corre-
-f.N,,C,
But they are not at liberty to tell the
American people that the information
they print came from the President.
They must attribute ii all to "a White
House spokesman or say that the
President is represented as believing,
etc" If they should happen to pub
lish an impression received from the
President and that impression creates
embarrassment. for the President, the
White House reserves the right to
deny that the impression was given
at all. A case in point was the recent
episode in which the correspondents
received the impression that the Presi-
dent was taking Ambassador Jusserand
TO tasktfor making a speech about the
French debt instead of telling his
views TO the debt commission.
Press Given Blame.
This was followed by an official
statement from the White House
denying that Mr.. Coolidge had dis
Cussed Ambassador Jusserand's speech.
The fact was the French Ambas-
sadOr had talked with the Debt Com
mission and he appealed to the De-
partment of State, thinking that an
injustice was done him. So the White
House hppeased the Ambassador by
blaming the press.
The newspaper men, however, know
that these are the risks they take in
writing anything about President
Coolidge. They may report what infer
nation is given them yet if they are
asked for the source of their in
formation or the authority for their
statement they are not at liberty to
hold the White House responsible
Nor has it been possible to secure
confirmation from the. White House
on impressions given by the President
in other directions.
The policy oftthe President has been
carried through To nsost44ef the Gov
ernment departments. The press can
print what it pleases and if the idea
doesn't sit we'll with the public, or if
a mistake has been made or an in
discretion expressed, the responsibility
is wholly that of the press. The
Government declines to assume any.
All the conversations between the
President and the newspaper men are
taken down stenographically and
kept as a matter of record. Most
of the correspondents take notes, too,
so that it is the exception rather
than the rule to find inaccurate re-
porting.
Inaccuracies Are Rare.
The custom of having the newspaper
men interview the President at stated
intervals began under Mr.. Taft. Pres
ideut Wilson permitted direct ques-
tionS without the formality of having
them submitted in writing and signed
by the individual correspondents. Mr..
Harding continued this for awhile and
then asked that the questions be writ
ten. Frequently, however, he volun-
teered information which was not
asked, and he also authorized many
Of his answers to be published as COM
ing directly from him. President Cool
idge has never authorized anybody to