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

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NEW YORK—One of the most vexing situations in the news today is the teachers' strike in New York City. Right now this may, of course, seem to be only of local importance but, as a matter of fact, the principle of whether teachers have a right to strike is one that affects every city in this country.

The ones who suffer when there is a teachers' strike are the children. And it seems to me that it is high time good citizens all over the country took a stand like this: "There must be a way for teachers' grievances to be heard by the cities' leaders and an impartial group of high standing be set up to adjudicate."

Actually, teachers should not be permitted to strike. The teaching profession should be classed with other occupations such as those that affect the safety or the health of a whole community.

Of course, the rights of individuals serving their communities in capacities that are vital to the continuation of essential services must be safeguarded. But such individuals should not be permitted to strike and imperil the community as a whole. In the case of a teachers' strike the children themselves are helpless to act, and, therefore, must be protected by the community as a whole.

The nomination and virtual election of Dr. Philip C. Jessup as a member of the International Court of Justice in The Hague is a very suitable recognition of Dr. Jessup's long service in the United Nations under the Truman Administration. He will succeed Judge Green H. Hackworth, 77, who has been a member of the International Court since it was established in 1946 and who requested that his name be withdrawn from nomination for reelection.

Dr. Jessup, who is now 63, has been for the past few years Hamilton Fish Professor of International Law at Columbia University. Judges to the court are elected by the General Assembly and Security Council, meeting separately but concurrently.

Election Day, for me, began with an early vote in Hyde Park and my return to New York City. And as I write this on Tuesday afternoon I hear on the one side that there will be a Democratic landslide and on the other side that the Republicans will win by a small margin.

One of my warm Republican friends said to me on Sunday, "Well,at we can hope that the best man for the country will win." And I said, "Yes, we both believe that our particular man is the best man for the country." Then, to my astonishment, she replied, "They are both too young. I don't believe either of them will be good for the country."

This was an interesting return to the battle of the ages.

E.R.

(Copyright, 1960, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, November 9, 1960

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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Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project

Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

TEI-P5 edition published on April 28, 2017.

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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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