The President's News Conference

THE PRESIDENT. Please be seated.

I have an announcement or two that I will give you, then you can ask questions, if you like.

[1.] At 10:30 to 11, January 15th, I am going to make a broadcast to the Nation on the radio, and I thought you would like to know about that.¹

¹See Item 378.

[2.] Then I have got a statement here. The Secretary of Agriculture² announced that he was applying some additional restrictions to imports of dairy products, in accordance with the provisions of 104 of the Defense Production Act. I think that is the wrong thing to do. I am not in favor of it at all. And you will have a copy of this statement on the subject, when you get ready to go out.³

²Charles F. Brannan.

³See Item 360.

Q. Mr. President, could you go over the first part of that again, about the Secretary of Agriculture ?

THE PRESIDENT. The Secretary of Agriculture announced yesterday that he was applying some additional restrictions to imports of dairy products, in accordance with the provisions of section 104 of the Defense Production Act.

Q. Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT. I don't approve of it.

Q. I assume, sir, that you have told him that?

THE PRESIDENT. Oh, yes. He is in accord with this statement that I am issuing. He is only following the law because he has to.

Q. You mean you don't approve of the Secretary's action, or you don't approve of the act?

THE PRESIDENT. I don't approve of section 104 in the first place. That gets to the meat of the whole thing.

Q. The Secretary is only carrying it out within the law?

THE PRESIDENT. That's right--within the law.

Q. The disapproval doesn't reverse the act ?

THE PRESIDENT. No, no it doesn't. I don't try to repeal any laws because I haven't got that power. I have been accused of it, though. [Laughter]

[3.] Q. Mr. President, what is the present status of the John Carter Vincent case?⁴

THE PRESIDENT. I don't know. It isn't up to me yet.

⁴See Item 362.

[4.] Q. Mr. President, I would like to know what you are going to talk about on January 15th?

THE PRESIDENT. Talk about the state of the Nation. You will know. I will give it to you in time so you can inform yourselves in time to write all kinds of stories about it, but not before I make the speech.

Q. Will that be on TV too, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT. I don't know--Roger Tubby: ⁵ Yes, it will.

THE PRESIDENT. Yes, it will.

Roger Tubby: All networks.

THE PRESIDENT. Roger says it will.

⁵ Roger Tubby, Assistant Press Secretary.

[5.] Q. Mr. President, since this is the last day before the New Year, how is it looking back--it looks to us as if it has been 855 days--how does it look to you, sir?

THE PRESIDENT. It looks like any other year to me. I just have to work 17 hours a day all the time. I don't see any difference.

Q. I meant the Nation--looking back--

THE PRESIDENT. Well, I will tell you about that in the State of the Union Message.

Q. Mr. President, will your radio speech be in lieu of a personal appearance, on the occasion of the State of the Union Message?

THE PRESIDENT. I do not intend to make a personal appearance on the State of the Union Message, but that appearance on the radio and television is not in lieu of that. I would have done that, anyway, if I had appeared there in person.

[6.] Q. Mr. President, looking to the year ahead and comparing it with the same time last year, how do you see the state of the peace?

THE PRESIDENT. Well, I am not in a position to be a prophet. I am neither a pollster nor a columnist, so I don't make any predictions.

Q. May I make it more specific then, sir? Does it look to you as if the chances of peace are as good in the next year as it looked to you at this time last year?

THE PRESIDENT. Yes, I think that is true-probably better.

[7.] Q. Mr. President, is there some particular need or situation that impels you to make this broadcast?

THE PRESIDENT. I am making it just because I want to. That is good enough reason.

Q. Mr. President, you will apparently have something more to say to the Nation, in addition to the State of the Union Message that goes to Congress?

THE PRESIDENT. Yes, that is probable. You will find out, though. There isn't going to be any mystery. I am going to release it so you will have plenty of time to read it.

[8.] Q. Mr. President, General MacArthur said you had been using the Korean war as a means for self-glorification?

THE PRESIDENT. No comment.

[9.] Q. Mr. President, I see Senator Taft says that the new legislative program will put us back on the track where we got off 20 years ago. Do you think, sir, that's feasible? [Laughter]

THE PRESIDENT. Well now, I don't want to make any prophecies, but I am of the opinion that if Senator Taft has his way, that is what will happen. [Laughter]

[10.] Q. Mr. President, would you tell us why you think the prospects for peace are probably better now than they were a year ago?

THE PRESIDENT. Just because I feel that way. I know all the facts behind the curtain, a lot of things that I can't talk about publicly. I just feel that the chances are even better than they were the first day of January last year.

Q. Even better, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT. Yes.

[11.] Q. Mr. President, when Richard Balch, the new Democratic State Chairman in New York, was asked whether he thought Jim Farley⁶ was a real Democrat. He paused for a while, and the reporter said, "No answer?" and Mr. Balch answered, "No answer." I wonder if you think Jim Farley is a real Democrat?

THE PRESIDENT. I have no comment on any comment by anybody else on somebody else. [Laughter]

⁶James A. Farley, former Postmaster General and former chairman of the National Democratic Committee.

Q. Well, I want your opinion on Mr. Farley

THE PRESIDENT. I think very highly of Mr. Farley. I always have.

[12.] Q. Mr. President, in your references to peace, were you referring directly to the Korean war?

THE PRESIDENT. I was referring to the cold War

Q. Generally--

THE PRESIDENT. --all around the world. All around the world.

[13.] Q. Mr. President, this being New Year's Eve, do you plan any personal resolutions tonight?

THE PRESIDENT. About the only resolution I can think of is, I hope the Lord will give me power to prevent me from swearing at the newspapers- [Laughter]

Q. Mr. President, have you been more impelled to swear--

THE PRESIDENT. What's that? What's that?

Q. Have you been more impelled to swear lately than usual?

THE PRESIDENT. No. I have always been in that same frame of mind when it comes to the vast majority. You see, 90 percent of them have always been against me.

[14.] Q. Could I return to the statement you made at the beginning of the conference about the imports on dairy--

THE PRESIDENT. Well, you will receive a mimeographed copy of the whole statement, which will cover nearly any question you choose to ask.

Q. One point I am not certain about is whether you mean that you--that the Secretary of Agriculture ought not to have--

THE PRESIDENT. The Secretary of Agriculture had to carry out the law. He was obeying the law. That is what he had to do.

[15.] Q. Mr. President, shortly the Tariff Commission will make some recommendations to you--you may have them already, sir, I don't know--about putting new wool import fees on. That is in line with the same sort of thing--

THE PRESIDENT. I know nothing about it. It hasn't come up to me. If they don't, it will be a wonder, because it comes in every once in a while.

[16.] Q. Mr. President, this is the first time that you have not addressed the Congress personally in your State of the Union Message ?

THE PRESIDENT. I don't know whether it is or not. I am not sure about it.

Q. I believe it is.

THE PRESIDENT. I am not sure about that.

But the recommendations on the state of the Union will have to be made by the new President. That is the reason I am not going down there. My State of the Union Message will be a statement on conditions as they exist, without any recommendations from me as to what ought to be done.

Q. Then you will just send the message down?

THE PRESIDENT. Yes. In the Inaugural Address of the new President, he will outline the legislative program, which is proper and right.

Q. Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT. I don't think I ought to outline one.

[17.] Q. Mr. President, have you heard of any new plan for hastening the end of the Korean war ?

THE PRESIDENT. No. None has come to me.

[18.] Q. Mr. President, have you any comment on the move under way to repeal Rule 22 Of the Senate ?

THE PRESIDENT. I read the brief on it. I think it is a very good thing. When I was in the Senate I was terribly put out with filibusters, and the Senate ought to find out some way to control its legislative action. I hope they will.

[19.] Q. Mr. President, to clarify the previous question, if you had heard about any new program for ending the Korean War you obviously couldn't talk about it, could you ?

THE PRESIDENT. No, not publicly. Unless it was something that I had that I could put into effect, in which case I would act immediately.

[20.] Q: Mr. President, have you any thoughts you want to convey to Prime Minister Churchill when he comes over here ?

THE PRESIDENT. The Prime Minister is coming to pay a courtesy call on me. I expect to have dinner with him that night, and I suppose we will discuss shoes, ships, and sealing wax and things, just like we always do.

Q. There is nothing that he can take up with you ?

THE PRESIDENT. I don't know of anything. He is a very courteous gentleman, and he and I are good friends. I suppose he just wants to maybe discuss some historical events in which we both took part.

Q. Anything we have overlooked, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT. I don't think so.

Q. Thank you, sir. Reporters: Happy New Year.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you all. A Happy New Year to all of you.