Excerpts of the President's News Conference

I have several departments making a study of the Alien Property bill. The Treasury Department reports to me that it isn't so good a bill as the one that they prepared, but I have not received their formal report on it. There is one thing in the bill that hasn't been overlooked. Three salaries have been raised.

PRESS: Could you say what they were, Mr. President?

PRESIDENT: I think they are two drafting clerks of the House and the Senate that have been put on the same salary as the Solicitor General of the United States, and some person in the Treasury Department. Those are all people that have access to the Ways and Means Committee of the House and whenever any bill goes through the Ways and Means Committee of any particular importance it usually has a way of raising somebody's salary. So you can see that the Alien Property bill has some merit in it. [Stenographer's note: laughter.]

PRESS: Was there any other feature?

PRESIDENT: I think that is the outstanding feature. [Stenographer's note: laughter.]