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

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NEW YORK—It was interesting to read that in extending the cease-fire truce in the Formosa Strait area the Peiping government has made an appeal to the Nationalist rulers on Formosa to turn against the United States and to negotiate a peace with Communist China.

This seems ironic because there should be no question whatsoever of the U.S. impeding in any way negotiations between the two Chinese governments. Of course, the Communist Chinese state that while they consider the majority of the Chinese on Formosa and on the other nearby islands are patriotic, still they feel that there are a few "traitors," and that these probably are among the ruling groups.

If, by negotiation, anything in the way of a peaceful settlement can be affected in this Far Eastern situation, I hope the U.S. will do all it can to promote such conversations. The loss of life on Quemoy and Matsu has already been serious and we certainly want to find peaceful solutions as quickly as possible.

It was deplorable to read of the destruction of the Reform Jewish synagogue in Atlanta, Ga. This has been the fourth such incident in the South in little more than a year, and I was glad to see that President Eisenhower has ordered the F.B.I. to investigate and see what help it can be in trying to apprehend those who commit such crimes.

This is only part of the rising tide of violence and refusal to abide by law that has been growing in the South. And to allow this type of flaunting of the law to grow in any area of our country is a most dangerous trend, and steps must be taken to stop it.

It is always encouraging to know that registration of voters is on the rise, for this reflects an interest of the people in whom shall run their government. In this respect I have just read that in New York City registration is up somewhat over the 1954 figure.

In spite of this rise in New York, however, I wonder if my readers will agree with me that the degree of real interest in this year's New York State campaign seems very small. Perhaps as yet the issues have not been made very clear, but there must be issues that the candidates could bring to the people to awaken them from what is dangerous apathy.

I have heard very little discussion of these issues among individuals or groups. The reason may well be that one can hardly discuss state issues apart from national and international issues, and the overriding interest if every human being must be to remain at peace. I believe that only as you relate the local and the state issues to this overwhelming desire of the people will you arouse any real fervor.

In The New York Times survey of trends in voting throughout the U.S. it is reported that in 23 of the 33 Senate races the Democrats hold the edge at the present moment. The survey is careful to point out, however, that these are not the final situations that may prevail, for there are still three weeks of campaigning ahead and in many cases there will be changes in the feelings of the people.

Most significant in the report up till now is that most people are affected by what touches their pocketbooks, and that in spite of all the optimistic reports there are still a goodly number of unemployed. Also, there is still unhappiness in some sections of the farm area. And the fact that a number of Republican candidates advocate the laws that are misleadingly called "right-to-work" laws means that members of organized labor and their wives and families will probably come out on Election Day in greater numbers than they usually do to vote against these laws.

E.R.

(Copyright, 1958, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, October 14, 1958

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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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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