PRESIDENT COOLIDGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20316, 26 January 1928, Page 9

PRESIDENT COOLIDGE

DEPRECATES TALK OF WAR. NO REASON FOR IT. (Piest Association—Bj Telegraph-Copyright) WASHINGTON, January 24. President Coolidge declared to-day that he saw no reason why the : ewspapers in this or any other country should take seriously the statements of American naval officers predicting war between the United States and her commercial competitors.—A. and N.Z. and Sydney Sun Cable. INTERVIEW WITH JOURNALISTS. NO ALARM NECESSARY. WASHINGTON, January 24. (Received Jan. 25, at 5.5_p.m.) During an interview with journalists, in the course of which Admiral Plunket’s speech was brought up, President Coolidge said: “ The country now is in no danger of being attacked, and no alarm is necessary. I feel it is natural that men in military services should emphasise the needs and activities of their branches ; but statements concerning war with our commercial competitors should not be taken seriously.” He added that the moment he attempted to call attention to them he was accused of muzzling free speech. The country should know that alarming charges were often made when appropriations were sought in Congress. He was unable to understand why no inflammatory statements followed large postal appropria tions, when army and navy Bills ahvays brought declarations that the country was facing dire consequences. He believed it was impossible for men in responsible positions to speak their own opinions, but they must consider the welfare of the whole country. He expressed the wish that naval men would adopt a similar policy. He was convinced that the people in this and other countries understood the motive behind thes e inflammatory statements and would not permit themselves to be disturbed.—A, and N.Z. Cable. At a public luncheon in New York Admiral Plunket said: “ The penalty for efficiency is war. It is inevitable so long as w e travel along the lines we are travelling to-day, and what of it 1 We are not going to leave this heritage of George W ashington to luck.” If his eye read history correctly, the country was nearer war than ever before, because its commercial position to-day placed it in competition with other great commercial nations. “ If you don t want war, be a worm. Crawl on your belly into the nearest hole in the earth,” he added.