The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1925-03-19
COOLIDGE HAS BEEN THE
PRESIDENT FOR 10 MONTHS
During That Time He Has De-
voted Himself to Carrying
Out Harding's Policies

NHeH Gavin OOOIluSe assumed the
presidency in his own right yesterday
he took over direction of a govern
ment in which he already has left his
impress through 10 months service as
the successor through tragic circum-
stances to Warren G. Harding.
In these 10 months Mr.. Coolidge
has been engaged primarily in full
filling promise made to the Ameri-
can people in his first presidential
statement to carry out the Harding
policies. New problems, however,
have resulted in announcements
bearing plainly the label of Coolidge
policies.
Quietly, in a way which his friends
say is characteristic, Mr.. Coolidge
has charted the waters through which
during the next four years he pro-
poses to steer the ship of state. This
has meant hard work and a difficult
change from his comparatively quiet
life as Vice-President. His two years
as governor of Massachusetts stood
him in good stead, and he constantly
has put into use the experience
gained in the state house at Boston.
Within week after the funeral of
President Harding Mr.. Coolidge be-
gan a study of the functions and pos
sibilities of the governmental depart
ments and agencies. One by one he
called in the. members of the Hard
ing cabinet, which he had accepted
as his cabinet, and sought from them
an outline of the work of their de-
partments and information as to
pending problems. He did the same
with several of the larger bureaus
and with such independent agencies
as the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion, the Federal Trade Commission.
and the Tariff Commission. He spent
hours reading reports and recon-
foundations in his quest for informa-
-Aon.
He consulted frequently with mem
bers of Congress and others whom
he knew he could trust. His first ap-
pointment, that of c. Bascom Slemp,
of Virginia, to be his secretary, was
arrived at after study of a list of
three requested from Senator Curtis
of Kansas, Speaker Gillett and Secre-
tary Weeks. He early indicated a
knowledge that Congress would pre-
sent one of his major problems, and
Mr.. Slemp's appointment was partly
due to a desire to have liaison with
that body.
Several weeks before Congress as
sembled Secretary Mellon worked out
and made public his tax revision plan.
Congressional leaders in most cases
looked at it askance and said it could
not be put through, but Mr.. Coolidge
endorsed it whole heartedly, believ-
ing it to be for the best interests of
the country, and made it one of his
chief recommendations to Congress.
Frugality and economy, taught by
his boyhood days on a Vermont farm,
were emphasized always and are to-
day the cornerstone in his conception
of the whole governmental structure.
Finding the tacks of the presidency
pressing hard upon him, he formed
the habit, which he has since firmly
established, of assigning special work
to his cabinet advisers and holding
them responsible. Ills own motto,
"Do the days work." he made the
motto for every cabinet officer and
his friends say, "Woe betide that
cabinet official who attempts to loaf
on the job"
Desiring to assess the trouble in
the wheat regions of the northwest
and find remedies for it, he had Sec
retaries Wallace and Hoover call a
conference.
Desiring to appoint judge, he
asked his attorney general to investi-
gate the qualifications of various eli
gibles and make a recommendation
He may soon appoint a new prohibi-
ton commissioner and the chances
are ten to one he will appoint the
man recommended by Secretary Mel
Ion, whose department has jurisdic-
sion over prohibition enforcement.
! All the while Mr.. Coolidge was
maintaining a routine of daily life
outlined by physicians and found by
experience as best to keep him in
health. He quickly established the
custom of taking two daily walks of
half a mile each about the streets
near the White House, one before
breakfast and the other before din
ner. This practice he still follows,
rain or shine. Soon after he entered
the White House he essayed horse
back riding, but finding it took an
undue amount of time out of his
daily minimum, he installed in his