Unknown Battlefields

Unknown Battlefields

Two polite callers attended at the White House. One was General Pershing, the other Bishop-elect Freeman of the Diocese of Washington. Mr. Freeman came to invite President Coolidge to make an address at the Washington Cathedral on Sunday, Sept. 30.

Mr. Coolidge exercised the habitual privilege of a New Englander. He declined. But he added that he would make no public speeches until after he had addressed Congress at the opening of the next session of that body, in December.

This pronouncement on the President's part is in conformity with his general policy. By placing Congress first among those to whom he expresses his opinions, no politician can meet him with a prepared attack. He has at once shown Congress a courtesy and disarmed its critical members. He has likewise gained an immense tactical advantage in approaching such controversial questions as the World Court. He will choose the ground where the necessary political battles will be waged, but the enemy does not know in advance on what fields he will give battle. His batteries will not be unmasked until the foe stands face to face with him.

It is rumored that the President's dislike for making known his views will extend even to the giving up of his daily walks at 6:30 a. m. Certain politicians, discovering the President's habit, expressed a mutual liking for matutinal exercise. Mr. Coolidge has horseback riding for alternative, an occupation less adapted to confidential conversation.

But a taboo on an expression of views does not preclude the issuance of formal messages. In these the President's aptitude for aphoristic and near-aphoristic expressions has freest play. A few of those which he issued last week:

To the Jewish Educational Association : " People need something to which they can tie. They need that obedience which is only born of reverence. The sentiment of reverence comes only from knowledge. . . Teach the ancient landmarks to the youth of the Jewish race. . . ."

To the Coolidge-for-President Club of Chicago which sought to boost his candidacy for 1924: " I have given no thought to the matter to which you refer, and I am merely doing what I can to take up the burdens of my office. . . . I am sure you will understand that if I ask your help to this end, rather than in the way you have suggested, it shows no lack of appreciation of your kindness."

For an inscription on a tablet to mark the Richmond Hill mansion where General Washington made his headquarters during the Long Island campaign of 1776: "This tablet is raised in reverence for great deeds of the past, that it may be an altar to the faith of the future."