Excerpts of the President's News Conference

I learned a great while ago that a proposal for legislation, or even the introduction of a bill that was not in accordance with sound policy wouldn't need any active opposition from the executive, in order to prevent its adoption. The legislatures with which I have had to deal have usually been perfectly competent to take care of those questions themselves without outside interference. So that while there will be many bills introduced into the Congress that I shouldn't want to approve or to take any action about, or proposed amendments to legis-lation that is in and I wouldn't approve of, generally speaking I should not need to take action about that, because the Congress will look after it.

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In view of the sale of arms and munitions to Mexico, will the President please state the administration's policy? I don't know that any policy is involved, other than to consider each case that might arise and trying to consider and decide it on its merits. I don't think it involves anything further than that. Any friendly government might request opportunity to purchase a few muskets and a few rounds of ammunition. Of course the matter would be considered on its merits. It would be quite a different proposition in selling a large amount of material that our Government thought it was expected might be used for war purposes between one nation and another. This is more a matter of domestic policy than the carrying on of warfare.