Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-07
SPOKESMAN" NOW
. CONGRESS TARGET
Mysterious White House
Takers Identity Suspected
by Irate Legislators.
BY ROBERT t. SMALL.

1t begins to look now as il the
White House spokesman may be the
issue in the next campaign. The
Democrats have been searching high
end low for an issue these many
months agone and at last they seem
TO think they have found one. The
Senate chamber has been ringing all
week with denunciationS of the
spokesman" and all his works.
Senators and Representative insist
that the White House spokesman" is
none other than President Coolidge
himself, but their statements cannot
be officially verified. Newspaper men
who quote the spokesman" so freely
and SO often are pledged not to reveal
the source of their information.
The Washington correspondents are
permitted TO see and to hear President
Coolidge twice a week. They are per
mitted TO submit to him, through his
secretary, certain questions in writ
ing. II the questions are not dealt
with by the spokesman" they are
not permitted to mention the fact that
such and such a question was asked
and received no response. The fact
that most of the statements from the
White House spokesman" appear
Immediately after the semi-weekly au-
diences of the President may have
conveyed the impression to Capitol
Hill that these statements came pretty
direct from the Chief Executives own
lips, but that is not the fault of the
trustworthy correspondents.
Can't Quote President.
For many long years it has been
the rule in Washington that Presi-
dents must never be quoted directly
by the newspaper men. 1t is not
considered correct for q caller to
quote the President or to repeat pre-
cisely what the President may have
stated during a conversation. Presi-
dents have insisted upon this pro
lection. They are responsible only
for official statements issued In an
official way or for letters which bear
their signature.
The Semiweekly conferences with
newspaper men now in vogue at the
White House We're started by Presi-
dent Harding, himself a newspaper
man. President Harding started out
by submitting himself to be inter
viewed, with the sole understanding
that he was not to be directly
quoted. In those days much use was
made of the phrase, 1T was learned
at the White House today" There
also We're statements that those close
to the President say SO and So"
Too Much Latitude.
Mr.. Harding soon found that the
interview system, with the bars let
down, allowed too much latitude for
questions which were asked solely
to embarraSs Time after time he
would chide the offenders among the
correspondents by saying, You
know that is not fair question. )"
After several experiences Of this sort
Mr.. Harding insisted that all ques-
lions be submitted in writing on slips
of paper. He would carefully go over
all these slips, and once he had
taken up a subject for discussion he
permitted additional verbal questions
TO make every point clear.
When Mr.. Coolidge succeeded to the
Presidency he continued the twice-a-
week conference with the newspaper
men and also continued the written
question system with still further re-
strictionS. Very often Mr.. Coohdge
has ignored all the questions submit
ted and has talked to the correspond
ents upon some subject which was
foremost in his mind Instead of sub
hitting himself to questioning, he has
seen the newspaper men to state GER
tain facts and opinions which later
have appeared in the public prints as
e,nanating from the White House
spokesman The spokesman has
come into being during the Coolidge
regime and evidently is intended as a
fixture.
Spokesman Quite Talkative.
When the spokesman" last week
warned the country against political
propa ganda" emanating from the floor
of the House and Senate several con-
gressional camelS' backs were broken
and there followed a violent eruption.
For many moons the Democratic Sena-
tors and Representative have had to
listen to statements from the White
House spokesman" without being able
to shoot al the President.
They have wanted to attack Mr..
Coolidge on several occasions, but
his written and official words have
been so comparatively few that target
material has been exceedingly scarce
Not so with the spokesman how
ever. He has had volubility which
no one would accredit to the silent
and sequestered President.
But now the "spokesman" is on the