If You Ask Me
by Eleanor Roosevelt

The Greek Orthodox Church, I think, is the church that has the largest number of members, but I am told that the Baptist Church has the greatest number of members among the smaller sects.

Yes. It seems to me this would be preferable.

The differences between the treatment, along certain lines, of the men in the Merchant Marine and the men in the U.S. Navy cause a great deal of trouble, but, as a matter of fact, the men in the Merchant Marine were paid on a higher level than the men in the Navy, and for that reason it was not considered necessary to give them exactly the same advantages that were given to the Navy men, who received much lower pay. It is quite true that men of the Merchant Marine did much of the same work as Navy men and probably did receive government service bars for their efforts. There has been a long-time argument, nevertheless, as to whether they should be entitled to the same benefits given Navy men.

I think the answer is very simple. The President in a democracy such as ours is important and is given a certain amount of formal recognition during the years he is President, because of his office. Certain duties and privileges devolve on his wife because of his office, but it is always thoroughly well understood that they, like everybody else, are just plain American citizens and that when the days of office-holding come to an end they will again be just plain Mr. and Mrs. Jones. Therefore there is interest in how they meet the situation which any American family feels it or its neighbors might meet. There is no feeling of bad taste in anything that is told about your neighbors, who are primarily of interest because their situation might become yours. Of course, the position of the Presidency is one which is close to the hearts of all the people of the United States, who feel themselves neighbors and sharers in this Presidential office.

In the United Kingdom the British people have a traditional feeling of awe for the royal family. It has always been set apart, and the privacy of the family has been very carefully guarded, because they are considered to be an example to the nation and to owe certain things to the nation and to themselves. The feeling, however, is changing, and I think the British people begin to sense that there is an advantage in creating a feeling of intimacy between the people and the royal family.

Yes. The Gold Star Wives, at 500 Park Avenue, New York 22, N. Y.

Yes, I had an inferiority complex, which lasted during many years of my young married life and isn’t completely gone today. I suppose it was the force of circumstances that made me overcome it. There were certain things I had to do whether I liked doing them or not, and no matter how badly I did them I had to go through with them. More and more I have had to think about other people, and that always helps one to forget oneself.

The state legislators vote on the question of a state bonus, and I suppose that where the legislators decide that their constituents are not favorable to a state bonus, they do not grant it.

No. I do not think three offenses should be punished by revoking a driver’s license for life. I think there should be categories of offenses, some more serious than others, and perhaps more serious punishment could be evolved for a serious offense.

It is very difficult to state in a few words the basic difference between the two parties today. My own feeling is that both parties are split, and the old idea that one is liberal and the other conservative can no longer be held, because there is a conservative element in both parties. The basic thing, I think, to those of us who prefer the Democratic to the Republican party is the fact the record shows that progress in legislation has largely been proposed and passed during Democratic administrations. So we feel there is a greater number of progressive people in the Democratic party.