Excerpts of the President's News Conference

An inquiry about whether it would be helpful for the press to discuss the policy of the United States for the purpose of the abolition of war. I think that candid discussion of any question is always helpful. That is the great service that you perform, of reasonable and candid discussion. You all have in mind that Mr. Bok has pending a proposal to give an award of $100,000 to the person who can successfully propose some plan of this kind. It happened that I was near his place in Maine early in July. He came to call on me at the hotel. I was attending a conference of Governors and I had an opportunity to go over to his house and spend a few minutes one afternoon with him. He went over somewhat of his plan and the main desire of it, the main element of it at least, was a public discussion of these questions, in order that the public might better be informed as to what our foreign relations really meant, their dependence on it, the effect that friendly or unfriendly relations have on their personal economic condition. He thought that if that could be thoroughly understood by the people of the United States, it would be of great public benefit, and with that in mind, I think that the discussion in the public press along lines of that kind will also be productive of a great deal of public benefit.