The Presidency
President Coolidge's activities fall into distinct categories, for each of which he must have a distinct frame of mind. His activities last week included the following:
Executive. The President requested Attorney General Sargent to go at once to New England and confer with Vice Chairman James L. Fieser of the Red Cross on the flood situation (see p. 9). He requested Secretary Hoover to follow Attorney General Sargent this week, when flood data will be more complete.
¶The President appointed Lawyer Garland S. Ferguson Jr. of Greensboro, N. C., to fill the vacancy left by resignation of John F. Nugent of Idaho on the Federal Trade Commission.
¶Magnesite is an ore much mined in the U. S. In its crude form it is used for steel making. With lime, it is a filler in rubber making. It is also used in fireproof cement and insulating materials. . . . The President raised the U. S. tariff 50% on imported magnesite.
Ceremonial. On Armistice Day, President & Mrs. Coolidge were the first to lay flowers—he a wreath, she one white rose—on the Unknown Soldier's tomb in Arlington National Cemetery. They did not participate in the Canadian-U. S. ceremonies at Arlington later in the day (see p. 13).
¶ Minister Francisco Sanchez la Tour from Guatemala to the U. S. died. President & Mrs. Coolidge attended his funeral in Washington (Episcopal) Cathedral.
¶. New York and Jersey Cities formally opened the 9,250-ft. Holland vehicular tunnel connecting them under the Hudson River (TiME, Aug. 30, 1926). Aboard the yacht Mayflower, midstream in the Potomac, the President pressed the same gold telegraph key which President Wilson pressed in 1914 to blast open the Panama Canal. At the Coolidge touch, U. S. flags fell away from the ends of the Holland tubes. Officials of New Jersey streamed underground into New York and vice versa, followed in the first hour by 20,000 common citizens (see p. 22).
¶As honorary chief of the Red Cross, President Coolidge asked that at least five million citizens answer the roll call of "the permanent voluntary agency of the people... in time of distress."
Study. President Coolidge last week made known that he would send his message to the 70th Congress by messenger, not read it himself. Before the messenger starts, the message must be written. Before it is written, problems of the 70th Congress must be studied. The President has much to ponder.
¶C Wickham Steed, British editor, a White House caller of last fortnight, left with President Coolidge a world peace plan involving boycott by the U. S. of the aggressor nation in any war. After study, President Coolidge indicated that he viewed with alarm even passive U. S. participation in foreign wars.