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State of the Union Addresses of Calvin Coolidge

C >> Calvin Coolidge >> State of the Union Addresses of Calvin Coolidge




FOREIGN RELATIONS

The foreign policy of this Government is well known. It is one of peace
based on that mutual respect that arises from mutual regard for
international rights arid the discharge of international obligations. It is
our purpose to promote understanding and good will between ourselves and
all other people. The American people are altogether lacking in an
appreciation of the tremendous good fortune that surrounds their
international position. We have no traditional enemies. We are not
embarrassed over any disputed territory. We have no possessions that are
coveted by others; they have none that are coveted by us. Our borders are
unfortified. We fear no one; no one fears us. All the world knows that the
whole extent of our influence is against war and in favor of peace, against
the use of force and in favor of negotiation, arbitration, and adjudication
as a method of adjusting international differences. We look with disfavor
upon all aggressive warfare. We are strong enough so that no one can charge
us with weakness if we are slow to anger. Our place is sufficiently
established so that we need not be sensitive over trifles. Our resources,
are large enough so that we can afford to be generous. At the same time we
are a nation among nations and recognize a responsibility not only to
ourselves, but in the interests of a stable and enlightened civilization,
to protect and defend the international rights of our Government and our
citizens.

It is because of our historical detachment and the generations of
comparative indifference toward it by other nations that our public is
inclined to consider altogether too seriously the reports that we are
criticized abroad. We never had a larger foreign trade than at the present
time. Our good offices were never more sought and the necessity for our
assistance and cooperation was never more universally declared in any time
of peace. We know that the sentiments which we entertain toward all other
nations are those of the most sincere friendship and good will and of all
unbounded desire to help, which we are perfectly willing to have judged by
their fruits. In our efforts to adjust our international obligations we
have met with a response which, when everything is considered, I believe
history will record as a most remarkable and gratifying demonstration of
the sanctity with which civilized nations undertake to discharge their
mutual obligations. Debt settlements have been negotiated with practically
all of those who owed us and all finally adjusted but two, which are, in
process of ratification. When we consider the real sacrifice that will be
necessary on the part of other nations, considering all their
circumstances, to meet their agreed payments, we ought to hold them in
increased admiration and respect. It is true that we have extended to them
very generous treatment, but it is also true that they have agreed to repay
its all that we loaned to them and some interest.

A special conference on the Chinese customs tariff provided for by the
treaty between the nine powers relating to the Chinese customs tariff
signed at Washington on February 6, 1922, was called by the Chinese
Government to meet at Peking, on October 26, 1925. We participated in this
conference through fully empowered delegates and, with good will,
endeavored to cooperate with the other participating powers with a view to
putting into effect promises made to China at the Washington conference,
and considering any reasonable proposal that might be made by the Chinese
Government for the revision of the treaties on the subject of China's
tariff. With these aims in view the American delegation at the outset of
the conference proposed to put into effect the surtaxes provided for by the
Washington treaty and to proceed immediately to the negotiation of a
treaty, which, among other things, was to make provision for the abolition
of taxes collected on goods in transit, remove the tariff restrictions in
existing treaties, and put into effect the national tariff law of China.

Early in April of the present year the central Chinese Government was
ousted from power by opposing warring factions. It became impossible under
the circumstances to continue the negotiations. Finally, on July 3, the
delegates of the foreign powers, including those of the United States,
issued a statement expressing their unanimous and earnest desire to proceed
with the work of the conference at the earliest possible moment when the
delegates of the Chinese Government are in a position to resume discussions
with the foreign delegates of the problems before the conference. We are
prepared to resume the negotiations thus interrupted whenever a Government
representing the Chinese people and acting on their behalf presents itself.
The fact that constant warfare between contending Chinese factions has
rendered it impossible to bring these negotiations to a successful
conclusion is a matter of deep regret. Throughout these conflicts we have
maintained a position of the most careful neutrality. Our naval vessels in
Asiatic waters, pursuant to treaty rights, have been used only for the
protection of American citizens.

Silas H. Strawn, Esq., was sent to China as American commissioner to
cooperate with commissioners of the other powers in the establishment of a
commission to inquire into the present practice of extraterritorial
jurisdiction in China, with a view to reporting to the Governments of the
several powers their findings of fact in regard to these matters. The
commission commenced its work in January, 1926, and agreed upon a joint
report which was signed on September 16, 1926. The commission's report has
been received and is being studied with a view to determining our future
policy in regard to the question of extraterritorial privileges under
treaties between the United States and China.

The Preparatory Commission for the Disarmament Conference met at Geneva on
May 18 and its work has been proceeding almost continuously since that
date. It would be premature to attempt to form a judgment as to the
progress that has been made. The commission has had before it a
comprehensive list of questions touching upon all aspects of the question
of the limitation of armament. In the commission's discussions many
differences of opinion have developed. However, I am hopeful that at least
some measure of agreement will be reached as the discussions continue. The
American representation on the commission has consistently tried to be
helpful, and has kept before it the practical objective to which the
commission is working, namely, actual agreements for the limitation of
armaments. Our representatives will continue their work in that direction.

One of the most encouraging features of the commission's work thus far has
been the agreement in principle among the naval experts of a majority of
the powers parties to the Washington treaty limiting naval armament upon
methods and standards for the comparison and further limitation of naval
armament. It is needless to say that at the proper time I shall be prepared
to proceed along practical lines to the conclusion of agreements carrying
further the work begun at the Washington Conference in 1921.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

Many important subjects which it is impossible even to mention in the short
space of an annual message you will find fully discussed in the
departmental reports. A failure to include them here is not to be taken as
indicating any lack of interest, but only a disinclination to state
inadequately what has been much better done in other documents.

THE CAPITAL CITY

We are embarking on an ambitious building program for the city of
Washington. The Memorial Bridge is under way with all that it holds for use
and beauty. New buildings are soon contemplated. This program should
represent the best that exists in the art and science of architecture. Into
these structures which must be considered as of a permanent nature ought to
go the aspirations of the Nation, its ideals expressed in forms of beauty.
If our country wishes to compete with others, let it not be in the support
of armaments but in the making of a beautiful capital city. Let it express
the soul of America. Whenever an American is at the seat of his Government,
however traveled and cultured he may be, he ought to find a city of stately
proportion, symmetrically laid out and adorned with the best that there is
in architecture, which would arouse his imagination and stir his patriotic
pride. In the coming years Washington should be not only the art center of
our own country but the art center of the world. Around it should center
all that is best in science, in learning, in letters, and in art. These are
the results that justify the creation of those national resources with
which we have been favored.

AMERICAN IDEALS

America is not and must not be a country without ideals. They are useless
if they are only visionary; they are only valuable if they are practical. A
nation can not dwell constantly on the mountain tops. It has to be
replenished and sustained through the ceaseless toil of the less inspiring
valleys. But its face ought always to be turned upward, its vision ought
always to be fixed on high.

We need ideals that can be followed in daily life, that can be translated
into terms of the home. We can not expect to be relieved from toil, but we
do expect to divest it of degrading conditions. Work is honorable; it is
entitled to an honorable recompense. We must strive mightily, but having
striven there is a defect in our political and social system if we are not
in general rewarded with success. To relieve the land of the burdens that
came from the war, to release to the individual more of the fruits of his
own industry, to increase his earning capacity and decrease his hours of
labor, to enlarge the circle of his vision through good roads and better
transportation, to lace before him the opportunity for education both in
science and in art, to leave him free to receive the inspiration of
religion, all these are ideals which deliver him from the servitude of the
body and exalt him to the service of the soul. Through this emancipation
from the things that are material, we broaden our dominion over the things
that are spiritual.

***

State of the Union Address
Calvin Coolidge
December 6, 1927

Members of the Congress:

It is gratifying to report that for the fourth consecutive year the state
of the Union in general is good. We are at peace. The country as a whole
has had a prosperity never exceeded. Wages are at their highest range,
employment is plentiful. Some parts of agriculture and industry have
lagged; some localities have suffered from storm and flood. But such losses
have been absorbed without serious detriment to our great economic
structure. Stocks of goods are moderate and a wholesome caution is
prevalent. Rates of interest for industry, agriculture, and government have
been reduced. Savers and investors are providing capital for new
construction in industry and public works. The purchasing power of
agriculture has increased. If the people maintain that confidence which
they are entitled to have in themselves, in each other, and in America, a
comfortable prosperity will continue.

CONSTRUCTIVE ECONOMY

Without constructive economy in Government expenditures we should not now
be enjoying these results or these prospects. Because we are not now
physically at war, some people are disposed to forget that our war debt
still remains. The Nation must make financial sacrifices, accompanied by a
stern self-denial in public expenditures, until we have conquered the
disabilities of our public finance. While our obligation to veterans and
dependents is large and continuing, the heavier burden of the national debt
is being steadily eliminated. At the end of this fiscal year it will be
reduced from about $26,600,000,000 to about $17,975,000,000. Annual
interest, including war savings, will have been reduced from $1,055,000,000
to $670,0001,000. The sacrifices of the people, the economy of the
Government, are showing remarkable results. They should be continued for
the purpose of relieving the Nation of the burden of interest and debt and
releasing revenue for internal improvements and national development.

Not only the amount, but the rate, of Government interest has been reduced.
Callable bonds have been refunded and paid, so that during this year the
average rate of interest on the present public debt for the first time fell
below 4 per cent. Keeping the credit of the Nation high is a tremendously
profitable operation.

TAX REDUCTION

The immediate fruit of economy and the retirement of the public debt is tax
reduction. The annual saving in interest between 1925 and 1929 is
$212,000,000. Without this no bill to relieve the taxpayers would be worth
proposing. The three measures already enacted leave our Government revenues
where they are not oppressive. Exemptions, have been increased until
115,000,000 people make but 2,500,000 individual taxable returns, so that
further reduction should be mainly for the purpose of removing
inequalities. The Secretary of the Treasury has recommended a measure which
would give us a much better balanced system of taxation and without
oppression produce sufficient revenue. It has my complete support.

Unforeseen contingencies requiring money are always arising. Our probable
surplus for June 30, 1929, is small. A slight depression in business would
greatly reduce our revenue because of our present method of taxation. The
people ought to take no selfish attitude of pressing for removing moderate
and fair taxes which might produce a deficit. We must keep our budget
balanced for each year. That is the corner stone of our national credit,
the trifling price we pay to command the lowest rate of interest of any
great power in the world. Any surplus can be applied to debt reduction, and
debt reduction is tax reduction. Under the present circumstances it would
be far better to leave the rates as they are than to enact a bill carrying
the peril of a deficit. This is not a problem to be approached in a narrow
or partisan spirit. All of those who participate in finding a reasonable
solution will be entitled to participate in any credit that accrues from it
without regard to party. The Congress has already demonstrated that tax
legislation can be removed from purely political consideration into the
realm of patriotic business principles.

Any bill for tax reduction should be written by those who are responsible
for raising, managing, and expending the finances of the Government. If
special interests, too often selfish, always uninformed of the national
needs as a whole, with hired agents using their proposed beneficiaries as
engines of propaganda, are permitted to influence the withdrawal of their
property from taxation, we shall have a law that is unbalanced and unjust,
bad for business, bad for the country, probably resulting in a deficit,
with disastrous financial Consequences. The Constitution has given the
Members of the Congress sole authority to decide what tax measures shall be
presented for approval. While welcoming information from any quarter, the
Congress should continue to exercise its own judgment in a matter so vital
and important to all the interests of the country as taxation.

NATIONAL DEFENSE

Being a nation relying not on force, but on fair dealing and good will, to
maintain peace with others, we have provided a moderate military force in a
form adapted solely to defense. It should be continued with a very generous
supply of officers and with the present base of personnel, subject to
fluctuations which may be temporarily desirable.

The five-year program for our air forces is in keeping with this same
policy and commensurate with the notable contributions of America to the
science of aeronautics. The provisions of the law lately enacted are being
executed as fast as the practical difficulties of an orderly and stable
development permit.

While our Army is small, prudence requires that it should be kept in a high
state of efficiency and provided with such supplies as would permit of its
immediate expansion. The garrison ration has lately been increased.
Recommendations for an appropriation of $6,166,000 for new housing made to
the previous Congress failed to pass. While most of the Army is well
housed, some of it which is quartered in wartime training camps is becoming
poorly housed. In the past three years $12,533,000 have been appropriated
for reconstruction and repairs, and an authorization has been approved of
$22,301,000 for new housing, under which $8,070,000 has already been
appropriated. A law has also been passed, complying with the request of the
War Department, allocating funds received from the sale of buildings and
land for housing purposes. The work, however, is not completed, so that
other appropriations are being recommended.

Our Navy is likewise a weapon of defense. We have a foreign commerce and
ocean lines of trade unsurpassed by any other country. We have outlying
territory in the two great oceans and long stretches of seacoast studded
with the richest cities in the world. We are responsible for the protection
of a large population and the greatest treasure ever bestowed upon any
people. We are charged with an international duty of defending the Panama
Canal. To meet these responsibilities we need a very substantial sea
armament. It needs aircraft development, which is being provided under the
five-year program. It needs submarines as soon as the department decides
upon the best type of construction. It needs airplane carriers and a
material addition to its force of cruisers. We can plan for the future and
begin a moderate building program.

This country has put away the Old World policy of competitive armaments. It
can never be relieved of the responsibility of adequate national defense.
We have one treaty secured by an unprecedented attitude of generosity on
our part for a limitation in naval armament. After most careful
preparation, extending over months, we recently made every effort to secure
a three-power treaty to the same end. We were granted much cooperation by
Japan, but we were unable to come to an agreement with Great Britain. While
the results of the conference were of considerable value, they were mostly
of a negative character. We know now that no agreement can be reached which
will be inconsistent with a considerable building program on our part. We
are ready and willing to continue the preparatory investigations on the
general subject of limitation of armaments which have been started under
the auspices of the League of Nations.

We have a considerable cruiser tonnage, but a part of it is obsolete.
Everyone knew that had a three-power agreement been reached it would have
left us with the necessity of continuing our building program. The failure
to agree should not cause us to build either more or less than we otherwise
should. Any future treaty of limitation will call on us for more ships. We
should enter on no competition. We should refrain from no needful program.
It should be made clear to all the world that lacking a definite agreement,
the attitude of any other country is not to be permitted to alter our own
policy. It should especially be demonstrated that propaganda will not cause
us to change our course. Where there is no treaty limitation, the size of
the Navy which America is to have will be solely for America to determine.
No outside influence should enlarge it or diminish it. But it should be
known to all that our military power holds no threat of aggrandizement. It
is a guaranty of peace and security at home, and when it goes abroad it is
an instrument for the protection of the legal rights of our citizens under
international law, a refuge in time of disorder, and always the servant of
world peace. Wherever our flag goes the rights of humanity increase.

MERCHANT MARINE

The United States Government fleet is transporting a large amount of
freight and reducing its drain on the Treasury. The Shipping Board is
constantly under pressure, to which it too often yields, to protect private
interests, rather than serve the public welfare. More attention should be
given to merchant ships as an auxiliary of the Navy. The possibility of
including their masters and crews in the Naval Reserve, with some
reasonable compensation, should be thoroughly explored as a method of
encouraging private operation of shipping. Public operation is not a
success. No investigation, of which I have caused several to be made, has
failed to report that it could not succeed or to recommend speedy transfer
to private ownership. Our exporters and importers are both indifferent
about using American ships. It should be our policy to keep our present
vessels in repair and dispose of them as rapidly as possible, rather than
undertake any new construction. Their operation is a burden on the National
Treasury, for which we are not receiving sufficient benefits.

COMMERCIAL AVIATION

A rapid growth is taking place in aeronautics. The Department of Commerce
has charge of the inspection and licensing system and the construction of
national airways. Almost 8,000 miles are already completed and about 4,000
miles more contemplated. Nearly 4,400 miles are now equipped and over 3,000
miles more will have lighting and emergency landing fields by next July.
Air mail contracts are expected to cover 24 of these lines. Daily airway
flying is nearly 15,000 miles and is expected to reach 25,000 miles early
next year.

Flights for other purposes exceed 22,000 miles each day. Over 900 airports,
completed and uncompleted, have been laid out. The demand for aircraft has
greatly increased. The policy already adopted by the Congress is producing
the sound development of this coming industry.

WESTERN HEMISPHERE AIR MAIL

Private enterprise is showing much interest in opening up aviation service
to Mexico and Central and South America. We are particularly solicitous to
have the United States take a leading part in this development. It is
understood that the governments of our sister countries would be willing to
cooperate. Their physical features, the undeveloped state of their
transportation, make an air service especially adaptable to their usage.
The Post Office Department should be granted power to make liberal
long-term contracts for carrying our mail, and authority should be given to
the Army and the Navy to detail aviators and planes to cooperate with
private enterprise in establishing such mail service with the consent of
the countries concerned. A committee of the Cabinet will later present a
report on this subject.

GOOD ROADS

The importance and benefit of good roads is more and more coming to be
appreciated. The National Government has been making liberal contributions
to encourage their construction. The results and benefits have been very
gratifying. National participation, however, should be confined to
trunk-line systems. The national tax on automobiles is now nearly
sufficient to meet this outlay. This tax is very small, and on low-priced
cars is not more than $2 or $3 each year.

While the advantage of having good roads is very large, the desire for
improved highways is not limited to our own country. It should and does
include all the Western Hemisphere. The principal points in Canada are
already accessible. We ought to lend our encouragement in any way we can
for more good roads to all the principal points in this hemisphere south of
the Rio Grande. It has been our practice to supply these countries with
military and naval advisers, when they have requested it, to assist them in
national defense. The arts of peace are even more important to them and to
us. Authority should be given by law to provide them at their request with
engineering advisers for the construction of roads and bridges. In some of
these countries already wonderful progress is being made in road building,
but the engineering features are often very exacting and the financing
difficult. Private interests should look with favor on all reasonable loans
sought by these countries to open such main lines of travel.

This general subject has been promoted by the Pan American Congress of
Highways, which will convene again at Rio de Janeiro in July, 1928. It is
desirable that the Congress should provide for the appointment of delegates
to represent the Government of the United States.

CUBAN PARCEL POST

We have a temporary parcel-post convention with Cuba. The advantage of it
is all on our side. During 1926 we shipped twelve times as many parcels,
weighing twenty-four times as much, as we received. This convention was
made on the understanding that we would repeal an old law prohibiting the
importation of cigars and cigarettes in quantities less than 3,000 enacted
in 1866 to discourage smuggling, for which it has long been unnecessary.
This law unjustly discriminates against an important industry of Cuba. Its
repeal has been recommended by the Treasury and Post Office Departments.
Unless this is done our merchants and railroads will find themselves
deprived of this large parcel-post business after the 1st of next March,
the date of the expiration of the convention, which has been extended upon
the specific understanding that it would expire at that time unless this
legislation was enacted. We purchase large quantities of tobacco made in
Cuba. It is not probable that our purchases would be any larger if this law
was repealed, while it would be an advantage to many other industries in
the United States.

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