A NEW ENGLAND PRESIDENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 27, 1 February 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

A NEW ENGLAND PRESIDENT.

Mr. Calvin Coolidge was not a great President. Indeed, he suggested mediocrity. There was, however, a visible strain of character in the man. He typified the old-fashioned qualities of New England. In his autobiography, which Chatto and Windus publish, he appears as a more interesting man than his public.acts and utterances indicated. TII9 student of politics may find most interest in the part of the book that deals with his life in White House. It is isimply and impressively written, and gives an illuminating picture of the routine of the President of the greatest Republic. Others may prefer the "atmosphere" that he so skilfully of his early life in the little New England, town where he was bom. This is interesting in itself, but it is also valuable for the light it throws on American life and politics in general. From the sturdy old-fashioned communities of New England —hard-working, thrifty, Godfearing—America lias drawn much of her strength in politics, pioneering and business. Calvin Coolidge has been a New Englander all his life, and he is happier now in his retirement than he was in the seats of the mighty. The future President, who, by the way, has Indian blood in him, was brought up in a community where life was simple and the Ten Commandments were considered sacred. The neighbours were people of exemplary habits. "Their speech was clean and their lives were above reproach. They had no mortgages on their farms. If any debts were contracted they were promptly paid. Credit was good and there was money in the savings bank. The hreak of day saw them stirring. Their industry continued until twilight. . . . They were, without exception, a people of faith and charity and good works. They cherished, the,-teachings of the Bible and sought to live in accordance with its precepts." The doctrine of equality was held strongly. If the hired man or the hired girl wished to go out they were entitled to young Calvin's place in the wagon, and lie stayed' at 'home. "It was all a fine atmosphere in -which to raise a boy. As I look hack on it I constantly think how clean it was." Country life, he adds, does not always have breadth, but it has depth. Mr. Coolidge saw some things very clearly. "It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of selfdelusion," he says' in his explanation of his refusal to stand again in 1928. "They are always surrounded by worshippers. They are constantly, and for the most part sincerely, assured of their greatness. They live in an artificial atmosphere of adulation and exaltation, which sooner or later impairs their judgment. They are in grave danger of becoming careless and arrogant." This is a wholesome book of humble and high life.