The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

      

LUXEMBOURG, Thursday—We left the Hague Wednesday morning early and had an interesting drive through Delft, Rotterdam and Antwerp, before reaching Brussels.

In Brussels our Ambassador, Mr. Robert Murphy, his wife and a few guests, among them the Foreign Minister, Mr. Van Zeeland and Baroness de Boel, greeted us. After luncheon there was a short press conference. We then drove around the city stopping in the beautiful "Grand Place" to look at the facade of the Hotel de Ville, and the buildings of the Guilds all around the square. To me, this is almost the most beautiful square in the whole of Europe, even if the architect of the Hotel de Ville did not align his door correctly with the spire, and on discovering his error is said to have committed suicide, the mistake never bothers me. My only regret is that he was not able to enjoy the general effect as, I am sure, thousands of people have done every day since it was built.

We drove past the little mannequin which amuses so many people and, as usual, the crowds stood around him. And finally to the airport. Flying over to Luxembourg was a trifle bumpy since we were skirting a thunder storm. However, we arrived here safely and Mrs. Perle Mesta, our Minister, met us.

We had dinner with the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and her family. I was delighted to see them again. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, who have been with their delegations to the United Nations on a number of occasions were also at the dinner.

People have been more than kind in their welcome here, and to show their appreciation they even stood in the rain, outside the palace, until we went to the windows and waved to acknowledge their cheers.

In talking with the Prime Minister of Holland I discovered that he has inaugurated a system, in Holland, very similar to the one which exists in Sweden. Namely, at regular intervals the Federated Unions and the Federation of Employers meet to discuss and try to anticipate different labor situations before they arise, whereby agreements can be reached which are fair to both sides. In following this system they have been remarkably successful in averting strikes for a very long time.

When I first heard about this system in Sweden, I wondered then if we could not work out something similar in the United States, even though the situation in our country is very different and it may require different machinery. But having been introduced to it a second time, in Holland, I am sure the basic ideas are sound for any country.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1950, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, June 23, 1950

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

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MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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