Excerpts of the President's News Conference

I don't expect to take any part in the organization of the House and Senate. I think that is a matter that the House and Senate particularly ought to decide for themselves. They can choose what person there is in the Senate they desire to follow very much better than I can tell them. They can choose such officers as they wish to have in the House to preside over them very much better than I can assist them in that matter. If it is a matter relating to legislation, why then of course I am a party in interest and one that has to act with them, and I am very glad to give my views on that. It seems to me that the Senators themselves can pick out the persons they desire to have for their leader and the other officers of the Senate, and the same is true in respect to the House. I am sure that there are a good many men in both parties capable of filling any position that there is there, and equally confident that anyone that the Senate and House wanted to choose for officers of their respective bodies would be persons entirely acceptable to me.

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I haven't any plan for the immediate withdrawal of the United States Marines that are now acting as a legation guard in Nicaragua. I haven't any very great detailed and precise information about that situation. I knew that there had been some trouble and it was my impression that we had sent some Marines in to guard the Legation, and that the difficulty was in relation to a presidential election. As I have heard nothing about it from the State Department for some time I had taken it for granted that the situation was cleared up. I think that is the case, but I haven't definite information.