Evening star., 1953-01-16
By jones Y. Newton

By jones Y. Newton
President Truman's last day
in WaShington-neXt Tuesday,
will include ceremony, a lunch,
probably nap and then the ride
to Union Station to catch the
train back to his home in Inde-
pendence, Mo.
( The ceremony will include the
ride to the Capitol with Presi-
dent-elect Eisenhower and the
traditional inaugural rites there
Then, ex-PreSident Truman
will go to the Georgetown home
OF Secretary of State Acheson
and lunch with members of his
Cabinet. AfterWard. he probably
will take a nap in the apartment
of his appointment secretary,
| Matthew j. Connolly, 2400 Six
teenth street N W..
He then will ride to the station
to catch the $50 pm. Baltimore
and Ohio train for home Mrs.
Truman and their daughter,
Margaret, will be with the Presi-
dent most of the day. He has
accepted Gen. EisenhoWer's offer
of the special presidential rail
car, the Magellan, for the trip
to independence. 1t will be at
tached to the regular B. & o.
train
Farewell to Newsmen.
Mr.. Truman revealed those
plans as he bade a formal fare
well to reporters yesterday at his
final news conference as Chief
Executive 1t was an eaSy-going,
chatty conference, marked chiefly
by good humor on the part of
the President. 1t was one of the
best-attended meetings with the
press any President has held.
Nearly 800 correspondents were
there, and it lasted longer than
usual.
The President said it was his
324th news conference. He added
another statistic. He had taken
LOOP morning walks since taking
office in April, 1945. AS a part
ing touch, he shook hands with
many of the newsmen.
The President used the occa-
sion to make a plea for the con-
tinuance of regular and open
news conferences. There have
been reports that Gen. Eisen-
hover might discontinue the type
of open, rough-and-tumble ques-
tioning sessions which were in
augurated by President Roose-
velt and carried on by Mr.. Tru-
man.
This kind of news confer
ence," the President read from a
prepared statement, where re-
porters can ask any kind of a
question they can dream of-di-
rectly to the President of the
United States-illustrates how
strong and how vital our democ-
racy is. There is no other country
in the world where the chief of
state submits to such unlimited
questioning. .,- .-.
Il know, too, from experience
that it is not easy to stand up
here and try to answer off the
cuff all kinds of questions with
out advance notice. Perhaps sue
ceeding Presidents will be able
to figure out improvements and
safeguards in the procedure. I
nope they will never cut the di-
rect line of communication be-
tween themselves and the peo-
Pile"
Not Always Agreement.
Mr.. Truman pointed out that
all newspapers have not agreed
with him, nor has he agreed with
all papers. But he thanked news
men for the courtesies they have
shown him and urged them Ito
do your best to dig out the facts
and to put them before the peo-
pie"
The President said speculation
in the press that the White
House conferences might be dis
continued led him to make the
statement. Then, he added. amid
laughter, he does not want to see
that happen because he wants to
know what is going. on around
here after he leaves.
At one point, Mr.. Truman con-
ceded that press conferences had
some times resulted in some en-
barrassment to him. But, he
said they were worth the risk
and that he had never felt he
had been treated unfairly. He
liked rough-and-tumble sessions
with the press, and he added that
if he couldn't take care of him.
self it was no ones fault but his
own.
The President read one other
formal statement. 1t was praise
for the good LOB being done by