If You Ask Me
by Eleanor Roosevelt

Teachers require a number of years of preparation. Even after they begin teaching, they must have sufficient salary so that their holidays can be devoted to developing themselves and increasing their value to their profession. Their salaries, of course, should vary according to the cost of living in the area where they work; but I think a teacher's salary should begin at least one third above that of an industrial worker and there should be fixed increases according to increases in a teacher's capability and experience.

My experience with solitude is very limited. I have never spent a week completely alone, but I have spent a week or so with only one other person in the house and that person in no mood for conversation. I did not find it difficult. In fact, I rather enjoyed it.

The unions want a shorter working week primarily to give members a little more leisure. When there is unemployment resulting from automation, a short week also serves to spread the work a little farther, so that more people have a chance to earn their living. Of course a union wants more members, and of course as it gets members, it gains power. But when you talk to leaders in labor unions, you find their objective is not so much to increase their membership as to distribute work more widely.

The people and the principles behind peace marches vary. When the Quakers gathered in Times Square for a prayer vigil and then marched to the UN, they were simply following the dictates of their religion, and they were certainly not Communist-inspired. An enormous crowd such as the one that marched in London against nuclear war may have had some Communists. Communists often join a movement of this kind. I know of no international organization backing such demonstrations. What the Quakers did seems to me constructive; but I do not believe, generally, in mobs, because they are likely to be such a mixed group that you cannot be sure how much sound or real thinking has gone into their formation and activities.

I am afraid I don't agree with you. I find it quite easy to get in and out of the small cabs. All one has to do is sit down and swing one's legs in and later swing them out. But if the majority of the people do not approve of the cabs, then they can refuse to take them, and a change will soon be made.

If preferential trade treatment had come to an end, it probably would have hurt the Commonwealth as well as South Africa. Being outside the Commonwealth, however, will have many disadvantages for South Africa. Though it may take a little while for the full effect to be evident, it will be felt, and painfully.

I have never gambled in the stock market, and I think young people would be wise not to speculate. If they are seeking sound investment, the best way is to get advice from an investment counsel. Such firms furnish lists of safe stocks and bonds. Or your bank will advise you. I own a few stocks and bonds, recommended by my bank.

No, I would not.

I would suggest that we learn as much as we can about the likes and dislikes of our visitors and that we remember to treat them with courtesy and make them feel welcome.

We were very fortunate in that we always spent the spring and autumn with Mrs. James Roosevelt, my husband's mother, at Hyde Park. My husband felt that there the children had their home and their roots. They had their pets; they rode and swam and played games. There were not many young people in the neighborhood, but they loved the life. In midsummer, we had a cottage next to my mother-in-law's on Campobello Island, opposite Eastport, Maine. When we were at Hyde Park, my husband would come for weekends and occasionally for longer visits. I would stay with him and journey up and down to New York, Albany, or Washington; but at Campobello, I stayed with the children, and he spent his long holiday there. As the children grew older, some of them went to camp or on individual trips; but these summer homes were always in the background, ready for them to return to from wherever they might have been.

The Congo operation, along with certain other UN activities, depends on volunteer contributions. Assessment for the regular expenses, of course, cannot remain unpaid for more than two years without the loss of the right to vote.

No. But I favor every effort's being made to keep our unemployment down to the smallest possible percentage of our population.