Eleanor Roosevelt: My Day (1946)

281

November 23, 1946

NEW YORK, Friday – I was shocked to read of the attack on a United Nations delegate from the Ukraine in a midtown shop, where a robbery was occurring when he and another member of the delegation went in to buy some fruit. When I asked the Ukrainian representative on Committee 3 about it and heard the details, it seemed almost unbelievable that such a thing could happen practically on 5th Avenue at 11:30 at night.

Gregory Stadnik, the victim, is now lying ill in a hospital. As hosts to the U.N., we Americans feel grave concern. The representatives of other nations who come to meet here should certainly be safe while they are in our midst. We can only hope that Mr. Stadnik will recover quickly and that the care he receives will be of the best.

It is regrettable if, as suggested by Dmitri Manuilsky, chief Ukrainian delegate, there is some political background to this attack. Certainly, no matter how bitterly a political fight might be waged, it should remain inactive as long as a delegate is attending the U.N. sessions in this country.

Now, to turn to the coal situation, which seems to me more and more regrettable. I hear that some of the coal operators who are in and out of a big Washington hotel look very well satisfied these days. They apparently are not any more worried than is John L. Lewis about the stoppage of industry, the lack of work which is bound to follow, and the discomfort which is sure to be in store for the vast majority of citizens. They apparently look upon the present situation as a great opportunity, since the Government is about to do for them what they want to do but might not be able to accomplish alone.

Mr. Lewis has been, for some time, on pretty good terms with the conservative political element in this country but, if one of the possibilities which I suggested in this column the other day is ruled out, then it is quite possible that these industrial leaders are patting themselves on the back in glee, since a fight against labor is being successfully carried on without their participation.

Naturally, both the AFL and the CIO must support Mr. Lewis when he asserts that he has the right to call a strike, even against the Government of the United States. He is putting them, however, into a situation which may in the end mean the loss of many of the legal advantages gained during the past thirteen years. Whatever they do in public, I hope that in private they are giving Mr. Lewis some very candid opinions on the extremely difficult position in which he is placing labor as a whole.

I read one story of an interview with a miner who remarked that, before my husband came into office, he (the miner) had had many weeks when he made between $5 and $10 a week. Today he is making an average of $50 to $60 a week. He didn’t quite understand what the strike was about, but the “big boss” had ordered it and “we obey orders.” What a pathetic story!

Strikes bring hardship to the working men and their families. They mean loss to management and, in the case of a basic industry like coal, they mean loss to many industries and to many men in other occupations. I don’t see how John L. Lewis can sleep quietly at night. His is a grave responsibility and one that must weigh heavily on any man. To defy your government and throw thousands of men out of work, with unforeseeable consequences, is an action not to be taken lightly.

282

November 25, 1946

NEW YORK, Sunday – Since my schedule forces me so often to do things which must seem rude, I have decided by way of explanation to describe a typical day as I live it just at present.

I listen to the seven o’clock news and get up as I turn the radio off at 7:05. I have a small boy staying with me, and I call him and start him getting dressed. Then I dress, and at eight we eat breakfast together. After that I give the orders in the house, telephone the market, and see my small boy off to school. I myself leave around 8:45.

Nine o’clock is the hour for our delegation meeting on the mezzanine at the Hotel Pennsylvania. As soon after 10 o’clock as I can get away, I dash to my office in the hotel and gather up the necessary papers which have come in since the day before. Then we take the 45-minute drive to Lake Success.

On Friday there was a subcommittee meeting, and we sat in the Security Council room. Our chairman, Mr. Watt of Australia, said he hoped the atmosphere of the room would not have a bad effect upon us! After the election of officers, we began work on the Secretary General’s report transferring UNRRA welfare activities to the U.N. The rest of the morning was spent in general discussion, and we decided to request the secretariat to draw up a resolution so that our next meeting could deal with a concrete document.

We were dismissed at 1:30 and I went in search of two ladies whom I had invited to tea, first on Thursday and then on Friday. When I discovered late Thursday evening that I would have to spend the whole of Friday afternoon at Lake Success, I left a message asking if they would like to come out to lunch with me in the cafeteria. That is not the best place for a lunch party, nor for a quiet conversation; but, I felt, if it was important enough for them to take the trip, I ought to offer them some substitute for two invitations which I had been obliged to cancel! The ladies were nowhere to be found, so, with one of my advisers, I ate a hurried lunch. Then I went into the lounge, where I signed mail which I had brought out with me and read a number of letters. In between times, I shook hands with a few people and signed a number of autographs!

At 2:30, the small drafting committee on which I serve, and which had been appointed by Committee No. 3, met and unanimously agreed on the wording of an amendment. It was a confused afternoon. We had simultaneous translation, which is always a great help; nevertheless I found myself once or twice slowing up the discussion to clarify some point on which I felt uncertain. One of my advisers has been so closely connected with the drafting of the constitution for the International Refugee Organization, and knows its history so well, that I think he finds me at times slow in understanding the full significance of points which seem to him crystal clear.

I was really glad when the session ended at a little after six. I was back in my apartment at 7:05, in time to say goodnight to my small boy and hear his prayers before sitting down to dinner. At nine, my advisers appeared with representatives from four delegations and we sat down to talk over again the problems of our committee!

Days like this make any outside engagements perfectly impossible, but it is hard to explain to one’s friends why one has to give up all of the usual amenities of life!

283

November 26, 1946

NEW YORK, Monday – I wonder how many people paid much attention to a release which was sent out recently telling what the town of Dunkirk, New York, is doing for the much-bombed city of Dunkerque, France, through the American Aid to France, Inc.

Even in the first World War, Dunkerque, being a port on the English Channel, was constantly bombed; and in the second World War, the famous crossing of the remnants of the British Army was made from there, so again it suffered devastation.

Thanksgiving Day this year will be celebrated in an entirely new way by the citizens of Dunkirk, N.Y., led by Mayor Murray. Some notables connected with France and interested in helping her to recover will be on hand to show their gratitude. The day will be carried through according to a proclamation read in all the city churches two weeks ago.

It was issued by the Mayor, who called on the people of Dunkirk to unite “in a demonstration of good faith to the citizens of Dunkerque, France, through a program to be planned according to the wishes of our citizens. In these days of international confusion and misunderstanding, it is fitting that we should dedicate this day of peacetime Thanksgiving to the ideals of brotherhood and mutual assistance, which, in the dark days of 1940, were so splendidly expressed by the men of many nations who died at the gates and on the beaches of Dunkerque, France.”

The town’s industries, veterans’ groups, school children, labor unions and over 200 civic and church organizations have brought in gifts for shipment to France with a plaque reading: “For Life and Liberty, Dunkirk to Dunkerque.” It is hoped that this plaque will be unveiled in Dunkerque on Thanksgiving Day at an American health and welfare center maintained by American Aid to France, Inc.

On Thanksgiving Day in Dunkirk, N.Y., instead of the traditional turkey dinner and football game in the afternoon, there will be a parade, a coast-to-coast broadcast, a memorial service on the shores of Lake Erie, and a reception and banquet for the celebrities.

I like particularly the list of some of the gifts. An Italian-American service club gave 30 new woolen blankets. A small hardware store donated 15 new baby carriages. A canning factory gave 400 cases of canned food. The Royal Order of Billy Goats and the Royal Order of Moose, along with seven other organizations, pledged a cow each. In these days when the price of cows has gone up, this is no mean gift, though we would have thought the billy goats might be insulted that some of them were not included in the gifts! The Elks are sending a bull.

I am sure that this generosity will bring great satisfaction and reward to the people of Dunkirk, N.Y., and I hope that many other towns and villages throughout this country will follow their example.

284

November 27, 1946

NEW YORK, Tuesday – To pick up the paper these days is to realize how many suggestions are always made whenever we find ourselves in a really difficult position!

On one page we see that a man from Texas thinks that he could supply the East with 50,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas a day, beginning in about three weeks. Then there are ingenious suggestions for extricating the government and John L. Lewis from their differences and making the coal-mine operators and Mr. Lewis undertake to solve their problems. If the government urges this on Mr. Lewis and he accepts, it might prevent a great many coal customers from turning to other kinds of fuel, such as the natural gas suggested. Someday our scientific research on the peacetime use of atomic energy may make all of our present fuels obsolete, but in the meantime coal is still important.

Next we see that one of our lawmakers is suggesting that we outlaw all strikes in basic industries and compel arbitration! That would be hard to swallow, for strikes have almost come to be considered one of the basic human rights. However, the people as a whole do not like to be made uncomfortable and the threat that the AFL and the CIO might combine in backing up Mr. Lewis, and thus practically paralyze the country, has had a very sobering effect on a great many people.

What I personally fear is that people who ordinarily keep their heads, are not vindictive, and do not swing too far either one way or the other, will through sheer annoyance at the discomfort heaped upon them do things which they would never do in their calmer moments. Many industries have already begun to slow down, more and more people are going to be out of work, and Christmas is only a month away.

Coal miners can remember back some fourteen or fifteen years ago when their Christmas dinners were non-existent and when Christmas morning dawned with no toys for their children. Mr. Lewis won’t suffer, but there will be a lot of fathers in this country who will wonder why they were forced into idleness. And in other countries, many, many people had hoped to have a little warmth this year from coal imported from the U.S.A.

There will be other repercussions. To be dependent upon people of another country who have no understanding of what their actions mean in faraway lands, must be a bitter thing to accept. People the world over are dependent on us, and we don’t seem to realize it!

This coal strike is causing serious trouble at home. But what will trouble other nations is the implication that we, the strongest nation in the world and the least hurt materially in the war, cannot manage our own affairs and successfully make an economic comeback. We begin to move forward but then we are thrust back by new obstacles. Others wonder where this will end. No country in the world can hope to make a comeback in the economic field unless we make it first and are prepared to help them. Yet we seem to go our way blithely indifferent to the effect our actions have on the rest of the world.

285

November 28, 1946

NEW YORK, Wednesday – This is the second Thanksgiving day since the war came to an end and, as I look over the year just passed, I can find it in my heart to be greatful for a number of things. In my own part of the country, at least, nature has been kind. Spring and summer and autumn have been beautiful, and the farmers have prospered. In spite of industrial troubles, employement has been high and industrial profits good.

The nation is slowly is slowly getting back on its feet. It creaks in many places but there has been progress. Men are coming out of the armed services and finding their places again in civilian life. The United Nations, the machinery which we hope will keep us at peace, is set up and functioning. We have moved very slowly towards the final peace settlement, but we can see measurable progress there as well.

In the world as a whole, there will be a little less suffering, I think, in this coming year. And as a nation, we can feel that we have contrubuted genaerously to the recovery and the relief of other nations in their time of need.

As we kneel to say our Thanksgiving prayers, we may feel truly grateful but not complacent. Nothing in the picture that we have painted over the last year can make us feel that any one of us can rest and feel secure or sattisfied.

There is still lack of understanding between management and labor, which puts our economy and that of the world in jeopardy. There are still racial and religious tensions that cause terror within the hearts of many people in our own land. In spite of the establishment of the United Nations. The organiztion is not so complete that we can count on it to enforce peace or to take over the military burdens of indivisual nations and guarantee their security. There is still no deep sence of brotherhood among nations which wipes out fear.

And so, on this Thanksgiving Day, our prayers should be for guidence and for strength to continue the long struggle for the improvement of our civilization. It will require imagination and spiritual strength to press forward for the goals which we have set for ourselves. The first steps are barely taken, and around us there are many people who council selfishness and fear.

After we have said our thanks this Thanksgiving Day, we might add a prayer that I had sent to me some time ago:

“Our Father who had hast set a restlessness in our hearts, and made us seekers after that which we can never really find; forbid us to be satisfied with what we make of life. Draw us from base content and set our eyes on far-off goals. Keep us at tasks to hard for us, that we be driven to Thee for strength. Deliver us from fretfulness and self pity; make us sure of the goal we cannot see, and of the hidden good in the world. Open our eyes to the simple beauty all around us, and ourr hearts to the loveliness men hid from us because we did not try hard enough to understand them. Save us from ourselves, and show us qa vision of the world mad anew. May Thy spirit of peace and illumination so enlighten our minds that all life shall grow with new meaning and new purpose. Amen.”

286

November 29, 1946

NEW YORK, Thursday – It seems funny on Thanksgiving Day to be starting off to the United Nations Assembly to work just as usual. This is logical enough, since the day is a holiday only in the United States, growing out of the gratitude of our early settlers for their first good harvest, which saved them from starvation.

I have been wondering, however, if it might not be a very good thing to broaden this day and invite all the world to join with us in prayers of thanksgiving for the concept of One World, and in supplication that we as individuals, and our representatives as statesmen, may have the wisdom to make a reality of this concept.

Everything we can do on a round-the-world basis is a help to the mental attitude which we must develop if we are going to understand that peoples throughout the world are concerned about each other and no longer think only of themselves.

Education is going to play a very great part in the development of peace in the world, and so I read with extreme interest a recent report on the educational picture in Georgia. As in every other state, higher education in Georgia is being sought by a great number of young people. State and private colleges and universities are crowded. But the number of teachers is steadily declining, even though their pay has gone up astonishingly in the last few years.

Georgia employs about 25,000 school teachers a year. But in April 1946, the state’s Department of Education reported that 2,500 teaching positions, affecting the lives of about thirty times that number of children, could not be filled, due to the lack of applicants. In the year 1942-43, more than 25 percent of the teachers in Georgia quit teaching or left the state. It is not too great an exaggeration to say that probably half the teachers now employed there are not professionally qualified for their jobs.

As usual, the rural children are suffering the most. Their local schools cannot be kept open because no teachers can be found. Children have to be taken long distances and crowded into schools which already have their normal quota. Frequently, in the course of a single term, the teacher of a class will be changed several times, which hampers any continuity in the children’s education.

The theory that low salaries is what prevents people from entering the teaching profession would seem to be disproved in Georgia because, in two years, salaries in the top brackets seem to have gone up about 50 percent, and yet the number of teachers goes on decreasing. If this is so in Georgia, it is certainly so in many other states.

And what must be the situation in countries which have been devastated by war? Are we going to have a generation throughout the world which hungers for education, but is denied it because we have not been able to impress our young people with the importance and value of the teacher in the community? This may be one of the greatest detriments in realizing our hope for peace in the world.

287

November 30, 1946

NEW YORK, Friday – I am very glad that we are beginning to think and talk about disarmament. This first move made in the United Nations to request all countries to give information on the number of men they have under arms, both at home and abroad, is purely preliminary, but I think it will have a very good effect and will fix attention on the fact that one of the objectives toward which we are working today is a step-by-step disarmament.

We know that this must be general. We know that no single country can disarm without inviting disaster. A weak country is always a temptation to a stronger one. But if all countries, great and small, disarm together and turn their policing powers over to the United Nations, they will find themselves in a far more stable world situation.

Working in the United Nations, one of the things which one is bound to run into, sooner or later, is the fear of the small nations as regards their relationship with the big ones. You will find them pathetically trying to please two or three of the big powers at once, a trick which is not always easy. Hence, the centralization of policing powers and the gradual disarmament of all nations is essential to bring freedom from fear of aggression.

People come to me constantly with admirable programs for improving good feeling throughout the world. Many of the programs deal with children and education. Some of them are economic and cultural and would make a difference in the normal living standards of people and in their enjoyment of life.

Almost invariably, however, these programs require money, and one finds oneself unconsciously trying to eliminate anything which is not completely essential. For instance, in the U.N., there have been established two specialized agencies which deal with essentials in improving the lot of human beings. One is the World Health Organization, the other the UNESCO. But their work will grow slowly and will be limited by the fact that money will have to be appropriated by different nations.

The nations which carry heavy military budgets are going to find it hard to meet their obligations for defense and for internal developments and administration, as well as their international obligations. Probably the biggest expense for all of the larger countries today is the cost of their defense armament, and yet these expenditures cannot be limited until all the other nations of the world are ready to do likewise. We learned our lesson, I hope, after the last war, and this time we all must attempt to stay together and to reduce our armament expenditures simultaneously.

Now that an answer is finally being found for the troublesome question of Trieste, let us hope that we have broken the deadlock in the Council of Foreign Ministers and that the rest of their negotiations will be comparatively easy. A spirit of cooperation and compromise on this level may increase the cooperation on every level within the United Nations.

288

December 2, 1946

HYDE PARK, Sunday – For the last few days, people have been coming up to me most solicitously and asking about my health. I couldn’t imagine what had happened; but I felt rather flattered because I thought they had noticed what a heavy schedule we were all carrying in our U.N. work and that they thought an old lady of 62 was doing rather well with it.

Then some kind friends enlightened me. They said that a well-known commentator stated in a recent broadcast that my friends were very much worried because I was having a nervous breakdown. In addition, the gossip in Washington, that city of many rumors, had been that 1 – I was having a nervous breakdown; 2 – I was dying of cancer; and 3 – I was about to get married!

Somehow or other, these things do not go very well together; and though I realize that my age might give rise to the first two, it certainly should preclude the last. It cannot be that people are not aware of my age, for year by year, while I was in the White House, it was broadcast to the four ends of the earth, and no matter how much I might have wished to hide it, it would have been impossible.

My husband and I used to joke about it, because he had a very charming aunt who, up to the day of her death, when she had reached the fairly good age of 90-odd, would still not acknowledge her age. She found it difficult to get up from her chair, but once on her feet she had the slim figure of a young woman and was as straight as an arrow. Walking behind her, you would never have guessed how many years of education she had rolled up on this earth.

With every year that I live, one thing becomes clearer – and that is, that you must not believe everything you hear, even when you hear it with your own ears, nor consider true everything you see in print. It might be convenient for a great many people if I did retire from active participation in many fields of work. Heaven knows, the day may be close at hand when that may be essential. But as long as I live, I hope that what little wisdom I have acquired in the world may be of value to young people, many of whom are going to have the thrilling experience of trying to keep their nation going forward instead of backward in the years to come.

I was delighted to hear that a group of young Democrats had come together in New York City the other night and were moving to organize a progressive Democratic group in this state. At this same meeting there were young men from other states who planned to do likewise in their home states. These young men can prove a spur to the party leaders; and the leaders may find them very useful, for they will be able to say what really interests youth today and where the younger generation really wants to go in the coming years. The late twenties and early thirties are the years when men and women begin to shape the purposes for which their lives will be lived in personal, business and civic affairs. It is important, therefore, that they choose well the paths along which their energies are to be expended.

289

December 3, 1946

NEW YORK, Monday – With the passing of Henry Morgenthau, Sr., New York City lost one of its real personalities. I think he felt that, in some ways, he had grown up with the city and that the drive and strength and competition of a great city had had its influence on his own character. He liked to tell of his early days and struggles.

In a curious way, Mr. Morgenthau, even in his 80s, was still a young man. He would often allude to people younger than himself as being old, because he had no sense of age in himself. Once he came to see my husband at Hyde Park when my mother-in-law, who also kept her sense of youth, was in bed with some minor ailment. Mr. Morgenthau asked how the “old lady” was, and the remark was repeated to her. She was much annoyed and said: “How could that old man have talked of me as an old lady?” He impressed his vigor and strong personality on those around him very nearly up to the time of his death.

There was also a warmth and friendliness in his approach to anyone whom he liked. Dr. Raymond Fosdick, in his funeral eulogy, spoke of how Mr. Morgenthau became “Uncle Henry” to him many years ago, and both my husband and I always spoke of him as “Uncle Henry.”

He was a loyal friend and a good citizen. He gave his support to many good causes, but always without ostentation. And he performed extremely well many duties as a representative of his country. There are many people to this day who are thankful to him for saving their lives after the first World War.

Mr. Morgenthau was one of Woodrow Wilson’s trusted advisers. By the time my husband came into office, he could claim to be an elder statesman, but he still was an adviser and actively undertook any mission entrusted to him.

He will be truly missed by his children and grandchildren. Though, when fourscore years are well past, we know we live on borrowed time, his added years allowed him to share his wisdom and enjoyment of life more fully with those around him. His grandchildren’s association with him cannot help but give them a sense of how important an understanding of the real values of life can be in the personal contribution which any individual makes to his particular period of history.

290

December 4, 1946

NEW YORK, Tuesday – Yesterday, as you met people on the street looking cold and blown about by the wind, it was funny how many of them would say the same thing: “Well, such cold weather won’t make them want to bring the U.N. here permanently.” And sure enough, it looks as though San Francisco and Philadelphia are now the favorites. Of course, we may suddenly wake up and find that the headquarters committee has decided on a place of which nobody ever heard!

No matter what place is chosen for a permanent home, it will be some time before the U.N. moves. In the meantime, it seems to me that some thinking might be done on ways and means of making easier and more efficient the work of the General Assembly sessions and of the other meetings which come at more frequent intervals and cause a strain not only on the personnel but on the space at Lake Success.

I think that, during the period when the General Assembly is in session, there should be sufficient office space assigned to each delegation wherever meetings are taking place. Then a delegation’s daily schedule might run approximately as follows: 8:30 to 10:30, office work, reading of papers, mail, etc.; 10:30 to 1:00, morning sessions; 1:00 to 2:30, lunch hour, during which lunch could be served in the office while a delegation discussion meeting was held; 3:00 to 6:00 or 7:00, afternoon sessions. If evening sessions are to be held, it would seem wise to close the afternoon meetings at 6 o’clock, then reconvene from 7:00 to 9:30.

I think it would make a great difference to many delegates if a more or less tentative schedule could be made out, and the approximate time for evening meetings known beforehand. One group could meet Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and another, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The uncertainty as to the schedule makes it difficult for anyone to plan on any free time, and this is a bad arrangement for everyone. All the delegates have some calls upon their attention which are not connected with their U.N. work.

I see by the papers that Pastor Martin Niemoeller, German Lutheran churchman who was jailed by the Nazis, has arrived in this country and is scheduled to make a lecture tour. I understand that Dr. Niemoeller has stated in the past that he was against the Nazis because of what they did to the church, but that he had no quarrel with them politically. And I think I remember reading a report that, when his country went to war, he offered his services for submarine work in the Navy.

One may applaud his bravery and his devotion to his church, but one can hardly applaud his attitude on the Nazi politics, and I cannot quite see why we should be asked to listen to his lectures. I am sure he is a good man according to his lights, but his lights are not those of the people of the United States who did not like the Hitler political doctrines.

291

December 5, 1946

NEW YORK, Wednesday – Sometimes, as I read the papers, I think that we as a people are not very realistic. Somebody sends in a report on our occupation zone in Germany, and it is quite evidently a report where all the bad things have been noted, as they should be in a report to the authorities in charge. We promptly behave as though this report were something unspeakable that would wreck our whole record in Germany, and yet it deals largely with certain individual misdoings.

It would be much more serious if our Government had issued directives of such harsh nature that the recovery of the people within our zone was threatened. But as a matter of fact, I think, we can show that, on the whole the people in the American zone have been well treated and that their recovery, while slow, is progressing. They have been our enemies, we have fought a bitter war against them, but they have to live again in the world and they have to believe in the broad principles of democracy if we are going to live with them safely.

Therefore, we must be concerned with the official acts which represent our Government’s attitude. That is the first and most important thing.

All of us know, however, that individual human beings, when placed in unnatural situations, do not always live up to the best traditions of their country or even of their own particular environment. This latest report deals in great part with the failure of individuals.

It is regrettable. We wish that the men in our army and in our navy, who represent our people all over the world today, would always remember that fact and act accordingly. I am afraid, however, that that is asking a good deal of even the older men. And when you realize that the great mass of these men are in their early 20s or younger, you cannot be surprised at their failure to live up to our best traditions. The accusations of using the black market could also be levelled at some people even here at home, and heaven knows we have had less reason for indulging ourselves in that way than any other people in the world!

This report should have been made to the Army authorities, not to Congress. They should have dealt with it very seriously, for the conditions it pictures are a menace to the health of our troops, and a menace to the development of respect for us as individuals wherever we may go throughout the world. But Congress can do little to remedy these conditions. And I think we should realize that the proper authorities have done and are doing all they can to preserve discipline, health and order under extremely difficult circumstances.

An occupation army is in a much more difficult position than an army actually at war. There is not the danger from bullets and bombs, but there is the danger from idleness, unfamiliar surroundings and loneliness.

292

December 6, 1946

NEW YORK, Thursday – There was a little item in the paper yesterday evening which made me wonder, what is the basis of law. Sometimes it seems to uphold a right, which you recognize as legal, but which you resent because it seems to deny a deeper human right. In this case, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a building company in Cleveland had a right to refuse to have children living on their property and so they evicted a veteran and his wife and baby, the baby having been born after the couple had moved in.

One cannot deny that property owners have the right to dispose of their property in any way they see fit, and if there were plenty of places where people with children could live, no one would be upset by it. In a time like this, however, when all over the country there is a housing shortage, I wonder if there is not something which far transcends property rights in this case. Our whole government is based on giving the individual as much freedom and happiness as he can have without hurting other individuals and their aspirations and rights. It does not seem to me that even though it is legal, human rights can be considered less important than property rights.

I know all that could be said about precedent, but these are unusual times and they force us to face our fundamental beliefs more often than usual. Fundamentally I believe that it is more important that this veteran have shelter for his family than that the right to dispose of your property as you see fit, should be upheld.

Yesterday afternoon the staff of the United States delegation had an opportunity to meet the members of the delegation and the members from a number of other delegations at a party given by Senator and Mrs. Austin. The gentlemen were a little late in arriving and Senator Vandenberg and Mr. Dulles had not come in from Lake Success when I left but that is the fate of those who attend meetings which never end at the time set!

Our Russian colleagues deserve, I think, the greatest credit for the cooperative spirit which they are now showing and one can not help feeling that peace has come measurably nearer in the last twenty-four hours due to their actions. We would like to congratulate all those concerned on the cooperation and understanding which seems to have been achieved.

I proceeded straight from the Austins’ party to a very well attended meeting of the Lieut. Herbert W. Elim Post, #273, of the Jewish War Veterans in Newark, New Jersey. A young woman, Miss LaCille Watkins sang. She is a native of Newark and I can only say that I think she has such a beautiful voice she ought to add luster to the city of her birth.

293

December 7, 1946

NEW YORK, Friday – Even the United Mine Workers, which is said to be a fairly rich union, must be a little appalled at the size of the fine imposed upon it for contempt of court.

Much as one dislikes having injunctions used against labor, no one can feel much sympathy with John L. Lewis, and to my surprise, I have even been getting a considerable number of critical letters from the mining areas. Families of the miners bitterly complain about the tactics which have brought them more trouble and discomfort. The time between strikes has been too short. They see no way of doing without Mr. Lewis, but they begin to feel that he is more of a burden than they can carry. If that feeling should grow, there will come a day when his following will melt away – and a general without an army cannot win battles.

In the meantime, all the fines in the world will not produce coal. The people here and abroad need coal. No group can long set up their own interests above the interests of great masses of people and find their point of view sustained. Gradually the backing, no matter how general it may be at the start, melts away.

Mr. Lewis may have decided to carry this through because he thinks he can win, but what I fear is that Labor as a whole will find itself involved in his defeat. Day by day he is plunging more people into unemployment, he is retarding recovery in the world, and the rising tide of misery is going to reach even to him someday.

Do you ever have days when everything seems to go wrong? I arrived at my office in the Pennsylvania Hotel at five minutes before 9 yesterday morning and decided to sign my mail before going to our delegation meeting there. I arrived at the meeting ten minutes late and found that Sen. Austin had to leave at 9:30! Our meeting therefore was over very quickly, and when I returned to my office, I was told we had to be out at Lake Success by 10:30. I had arranged to go out there with a friend but could not reach him to tell him I had to start earlier, so all my plans with him went awry!

Arriving at Lake Success, we hurried to find our committee room, but all of them were empty. Back in the delegates’ lounge, we searched the schedule board and found that Committee 3 would not meet until the afternoon. Our staff had failed to notify us, I suppose, because most of them had attended Sen. and Mrs. Austin’s party the previous evening, and it takes a little while in the morning to catch up.

I wondered for a minute what to do, for to spend three hours in transportation takes quite a bit out of one’s day. However, I decided that, if I could get home and get my Christmas list, I might do some final shopping. And so, back I journeyed to New York City and did accomplish something before we left again for Lake Success at 2:15.

In the evening, Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Flynn entertained some of the members who serve with me on Committee 3, and we all enjoyed being able to meet without having any of our usual agenda to discuss.

294

December 9, 1946

NEW YORK, Sunday – The first impact of the coal strike on other workers came home to me today as I walked into my apartment house. A man stopped me and said: “I have lost my job. You can telephone the steel company and find out. My mother is sick and I need help very badly.”

I don’t think anyone has approached me in this way since the days soon after 1933. For some time before that, however, I remember that every time I went out people would stop me on the street near my home, and I would give them some food tickets I carried in my purse which provided a meal in return for some work. This is the first day since then that I have had to face that kind of a situation again.

It is not good to have to face it; neither was it good to read a newspaper headline which stated: “Labor, The United States, Line Up For Battle.” The United States government belongs to labor as much as it does to any other group of citizens in this country, and they are responsible for the strength of their government. They should not weaken it or put their own interests in opposition to that of the whole people. I am therefore very glad that the miners have been ordered back to work, and I hope this indicates in Mr. John L. Lewis a realization of his responsibility to the whole people.

We had a long session at Lake Success on Friday, arguing the same old question of whether we should resolve to have another investigating committee look into the conditions in the displaced persons’ camps. The idea is one that has been discussed a number of times, because there undoubtedly are instances where people have been found in these camps urging other people not to go back to their countries of origin. It is of course the responsibility of UNRRA as long as it runs these camps – and of the military authorities who are assisted by the repatriation officers of all the countries of origin – to prevent any coercion from within or without against repatriation. No commission going to the camps today could do more than ask that the military authorities do a better job than they have done in the past.

During the discussion I suggested that patriotic speeches were not quite enough from the visiting repatriation officers, but that they should be able to answer some of the questions which are of prime concern to the displaced persons. Many of these people know nothing about government policies, but they do want to know whether their village is still in existence and whether they are going back to that village. If it has been destroyed, where will they go? Will they have shelter and means of earning a living, and how will they live until they are earning and producing again? Too often, the representatives who come to speak to the displaced persons are unable to answer these fundamental questions; and those of us who have had much to do with people know that the most patriotic speeches in the world get nowhere when a man is thinking about food and shelter for his family.

295

December 10, 1946

NEW YORK, Monday – With the end of the coal strike, a great sense of relief seemed to fill everybody’s heart. Out at Lake Success, people from other countries have come up to me to say what it means to Europe, and our own people seem to look more cheerful. And I think of how happy the miners and their families must be.

One cannot help wondering, of course, what were the reasons which eventually prevailed with Mr. Lewis. But whatever they were, we can rejoice, even while we wonder whether one man should have the power to make so many people either happy or unhappy.

Saturday night I went to a dinner which celebrated the 10th anniversary of a rather personal charity. The McCosker-Hershfield Cardiac Home grew out of a friendship formed by two men. As they became closer friends, they found they had a mutual interest in filling a need which many doctors and social workers were emphasizing – the need of a place to send convalescent cardiac patients who could not pay for it themselves and yet needed rest and care in order to return to a useful, self-supporting existence.

The two men gathered their friends around them, and every year these friends grew more numerous and the annual dinner grew larger. Now, at the ten-year mark, a home in Hillburn, New York, has been bought and remodelled, with plans on the way for increasing its size when materials are available, and with a list of patients which takes no account of race or religion, only of need.

At the dinner the other evening, I suddenly found myself shaking hands with Jim Farley, just back from his trip around the world. I was glad to learn that he had found interest in the United Nations in the countries he visited, and a feeling that it must succeed. That is good news, for if the conviction is deep enough, it will succeed.

Early Sunday morning, I had breakfast with a group of servicemen at the Central Presbyterian Church, which allows servicemen to spend Saturday night in the gymnasium of the church. When these young men come into New York City and cannot find a place to sleep, the “Y” sends them to this church which, in addition to keeping its doors open on Saturday nights, usually gives the men coffee and rolls. Yesterday morning being the fourth anniversary of the inauguration of this custom, they had a real breakfast, so the boys were in luck.

One young man asked me about our stand on Franco and how it was possible to expect a nation under Franco to cooperate with the Allies or to increase the chances of peace in the world, since it was obvious that Franco was pro-Fascist and seemed to have had no change of heart. The soldier was all for recognizing the government-in-exile.

I don’t wonder that these young soldiers find it hard to understand how we can tolerate and try to work with men who are quite obviously in opposition to the things for which we fought the war. I explained that one finds oneself in difficult positions now and then. The horns of this dilemma are our policy against outside interference in a domestic question and the possibility of making life even harder for the people of Spain!

296

December 11, 1946

NEW YORK, Tuesday – It is fitting, I think, that the ashes of Dr. Leo S. Rowe, late Director General of the Pan American Union, should be deposited in the Pan American Union Building in Washington. He devoted his life to the building up of better relations between the Americas. The grief over his passing felt by all the representatives of the Latin American countries is genuine. No one who knew him could doubt his real desire for better understanding among the countries in this hemisphere.

It will be difficult indeed to find a successor to Dr. Rowe. He gave himself completely to his work, and it will take a new director a long time to build up the personal friendships which helped Dr. Rowe so much in accomplishing his official tasks.

It was sad, too, that the Greek delegation to the United Nations had to suffer the loss of Ambassador Diamantopoulos at this critical time.

Whatever the political situation may be in Greece, no one can doubt that the Greek people have suffered greatly. The reports of conditions among the women and children are heartrending. I hope that there will be no break in the relief program for providing food and medical care for the children of both Europe and Asia.

Children in the countries which were invaded early in the war are now a critical condition. Every added year in a restricted diet means that much less chance for rehabilitation. No one wants to discriminate among children. All of us want to see every child, whether in an enemy or an allied country, properly fed and clothed and housed and given the necessary medical care. Every added year of wartime conditions in a country means serious deterioration in the health of the children.

We are beginning now to try to remedy the results of war, and we must face the fact that the percentage of tuberculosis and of diseases arising from malnutrition is higher in certain countries than in others. As it becomes more and more possible to send personal packages to individuals, I hope this will be done, but I hope it will not be done at the expense of the overall contribution to relief which will be distributed on the basis of need.

And I hope that whatever organization conducts this work will emphasize the fact that not just any kind of food, but the kind of food and medicine to stop the ravages of disease and build up resistance, must be provided. Even if the countries which did not suffer war on their own doorsteps have to continue restrictions in their own diet, the future will justify their sacrifice.

297

December 12, 1946

NEW YORK, Wednesday – The work of Committee 3 of the U.N. Assembly is ending today. We had our last full session on Monday and are meeting today to complete two items which were not finished, but which should take very little time. I wish to tell you about some of the subjects which have taken the most time and which will probably cause some discussion on the Assembly floor.

First in importance is the International Refugee Organization. This will take over the care of displaced persons in Europe and in China. It will continue the repatriation of all persons wishing to return to their countries of origin and, if possible, will resettle those who do not wish to return.

All that our committee has done is to write a charter for this organization and recommend it to the General Assembly. If the General Assembly accepts the charter, it will then be submitted to the various governments of the countries belonging to the United Nations.

They can then signify whether they wish to join this organization. As things now stand, if they join they bear a percentage of both the administrative and operating costs, as has been laid down by the committees working on financial matters. Subscriptions to the Resettlement Fund are on a voluntary basis from governments, organizations or individuals.

Our committee also passed an interim-organization plan which can begin to function if eight governments sign it. The IRO cannot function unless fifteen governments have signed and unless at least 75 percent of the budget has been subscribed. This means, of course, that many nations have to wait until the legislative branches of their governments, which control the purse strings, have acted. We ourselves are among that number.

The interim organization will be primarily a planning group, preparing for the taking over of the work which has been carried on by other organizations dealing with refugees and displaced persons. It may take over certain operational functions if the need arises, but I think most of us hope that the IRO will be operating before that need does arise.

Of course, for this to be a truly international organization, all the nations of the world, no matter how small their percentage of contribution, should be included. It would seem to me that all nations should recognize that this problem is of international importance. As long as displaced people remain in camps in Europe, they are deteriorating in their ability to return to normal, independent living.

It is to the interest of the world to return them as quickly as possible to their countries of origin, if they wish to return there; to urge the military organizations to continue their screening as rapidly as possible, so as to hand over to the proper authorities those who have been proved to be war criminals or traitors; and to resettle those people who either have no homes to which they care to return, or who have political differences with their countries of origin. Wherever they go, it is important that they be settled soon, so they can begin to work out their destinies and again be producers among their brother men.

298

December 13, 1946

NEW YORK, Thursday – There is, of course, still going to be a welfare problem when UNRRA comes to an end. Our government has decided we are going to meet that problem, but not by creating an international welfare organization such as UNRRA, since the feeling has been that our Congress would be opposed to entering upon that type of relief again.

We supply the largest percentage of relief, and therefore our government feels that we should have more control over the allocation and distribution of funds than we can have in an international organization. There has also been some criticism of various situations which arose in UNRRA, and this too led to the decision that, in the future, we would be independent in our relief operations, though working on a consultation basis with other nations.

Under UNRRA, there are certain functions such as the special services devoted to children, and other welfare services which are not strictly general relief but encompass special needs. What has been done is to set up a children’s international emergency fund. The first money, $550,000, will be for the purchase of special foods for children. It will be presented by UNRRA Director Fiorello H. La Guardia to Sir Carl Berendsen, chairman of Committee 3 of the U.N. General Assembly, at a special meeting in Washington.

The children’s fund will ask for any residue funds which may be allotted to it from UNRRA, for government appropriations and also for contributions from organizations and individuals. This money will supplement any basic relief given and should provide children in need of special foods and medical care with the essentials for recovery.

This special activity will be conducted on an international basis, but also on a voluntary basis which permits governments to stay out if they do not feel able to participate.

If much money is available, a great many children in Europe and Asia may be saved from serious consequences following these years of war. But we must wait until we know how many countries decide to join in this fund and how much they are prepared to contribute, as well as how much appeal this particular part of the welfare picture has for private organizations and individuals, before we can judge the possible accomplishments.

If the administration is efficient and if the sums of money should grow, I can imagine that in four or five years the children of Europe may be well fed again, as the economies of the various countries return to normal. Then there are children in India and China who will need help for a long time. An international fund really well run might eventually do certain things for children all over the world which we have dreamed about, but have not dared to hope might someday materialize.

299

December 14, 1946

NEW YORK, Friday – There is one remaining UNRRA activity being transferred to the United Nations which I have not yet told you about. That is the welfare services. UNRRA has some sixty specialists who could be called on by governments to go to different countries and give advice on how to rebuild welfare services which had been destroyed; on how to set up new services for the care of the aged, for feeding children, or for caring for orphan children, etc.

We have little idea in this country what the burden is going to be in many of the war-torn countries where children have lost not only their soldier fathers, but often their mothers too, and their brothers and sisters, so that only one or two members of a large family survive.

Last night I attended a meeting of the American Committee for Yugoslav Relief, Inc. Six homes for orphans in Yugoslavia were donated by groups in this country. Plaques presented to the Yugoslav Ambassador will go to Yugoslavia to be put up in these homes. They bear the names of well-known Americans.

This is a new type of work – caring for children on a mass scale – and it requires expert advice which is sometimes not available in countries which have suffered great losses. The U.N. fund for such welfare services also makes allowances for fellowships to trained workers in different countries who wish to study new programs in other parts of the world, so as to return better equipped to their own countries.

In addition, there is a provision for materials and machinery and for trained workers to set up demonstration projects. For instance, shops to make artificial limbs. These shops do the technical work of making and fitting the appliance, and they also teach the handicapped person how to use it to the best advantage. It is not expected that these projects will be anything but demonstrations, where many people may be trained to go out and do the mass work which is necessary in many countries.

The number of trained workers needed will not be as large as under UNRRA, since this type of service will be rendered to governments only on request. Money will be allocated to them, and they will make the decisions as to how to use it. Services will be furnished only as desired.

Flexibility is allowed the U.N. Secretary General in the allocation of funds and the provision of services. Should any one request it, it will even be possible to furnish books for teaching purposes.

Under the charter, the United Nations is permitted to render services of this kind, and I am particularly happy to see this program carried out. I feel it will bring the United Nations as a living organization closer to the people of many nations.

300

December 16, 1946

NEW YORK, Sunday – I was shocked the other day to read of the attack on Surgeon General Thomas Parran by the American Medical Association. The Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service, it seems to me, has a perfect right to advocate the President’s health program if he approves of it. Health is not a thing based on partisan politics, and public health should not be regarded, either by officials in Washington or by doctors, as a political football.

There are differences today within the medical profession as to how more medical care shall be made available to the average individual with a small income. As far as I know, there are a considerable number of cooperative hospital plans and a growing number of medical plans on an insurance or cooperative basis.

The American Medical Association, for reasons best known to its own leaders, but which sometimes seem somewhat selfish to the layman, has decided to oppose most of these plans and it dislikes particularly the Wagner-Murray-Dingle bill. I am only a layman and I don’t imagine that this bill is the last word, or the best health program that will ever be developed. But it is a step in the right direction – and we seem to forget that democracy functions by taking one step at a time. As more people become convinced of the value of something, it becomes more universally accepted. Democracies move slowly because they envision the approval of a majority for any new policy, and that means much education of many individuals.

I believe medical men, above any other group in this country, should refrain from attacking as good a public servant as Dr. Parran has proved himself to be just because they happen to differ on methods by which medical care shall be provided for a great number of people. No one denies the existence of the need, and we can argue out the methods without feeling that people advocating any particular methods have no right to their point of view. The majority will decide in the long run.

There is great fear expressed in the papers that new wage demands by labor groups will be based on unusual economic theories. I wonder if the real solution to the troubles that we face in the labor field is not an insistence that every business, big or little, shall set up labor-management committees. If this were done, it seems to me that there would be more understanding on the part of labor as to what were the problems in their business, and more understanding on the part of management as to what were the problems of labor.

It is perfectly evident that it is to the interest of both management and labor to prevent strikes, to keep income coming into the worker, to the investor and to the management. The sooner we come to look upon business as a cooperative undertaking where contributions may be made in different ways, but where all individuals involved have a mutual interest in the results, the sooner we will get down to brass tacks and evolve the type of machinery which makes cooperation possible.