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

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NEW YORK—I was heartened by what seems to be a move in the right direction when I read in the newspapers that the air-line pilots are urging Congress to enforce more safety protection for air travelers. There have been so many tragic accidents in recent weeks that it would seem imperative to take every safety precaution possible.

If there is a lag in preparing airports for landings of the big jet airliners as well as the big propeller-driven planes, such delays should be remedied promptly or those airports should be closed down until they are ready.

The air pilots group believes that flying is both safe and comfortable as a means of transportation, and the group maintains that recommendations that have been made in the past to make air travel safer have not been carried out. And since the pilots themselves have made some of these proposals it is natural that they should ask for consideration. After all, they fly the planes and almost inevitably if there is a crash the pilots are killed.

I have been flying since the very earliest days and I have seen great improvements. But I feel very strongly that we should constantly guard against negligence and that every precaution must be taken and also that recommendations for greater safety should never be ignored.

The signing of the treaty of mutual cooperation and security between the United States and Japan is a historic milestone. The two nations were engaged a comparatively short time ago in one of the bitterest wars in history, yet they have managed to develop friendship and are now trying to cooperate for mutual protection and for economic development.

It is a curious thing that both the nations that were at war with us, Germany and Japan, are now being urged to rearm by us. I am not so sure that this is a wise or important part of our agreements, because I would like to see our emphasis put at this time on disarmament. And it seems to me that we could begin by not trying to rearm two nations that have been our enemies.

From the economic standpoint, however, I think close cooperation is desirable and must be developed, perhaps to an even greater extent than we have dared to explore as yet. I think the time may come when certain industries may have to be given over to areas of the world where they can be better producers than in other areas. But it does not seem as though we are prepared as yet to make the comprehensive study, with the aid of the United Nations, to apportion what are the types of industries best suited to different parts of the world.

That time may well come, however, and we should be beginning to think about it.

I had the pleasure on Tuesday evening to hear the Moscow State Symphony, with Ivanov as conductor and Klimov as violinist, in an all-Tchaikowsky production.

Ivanov was an excellent conductor, and the concert was very good; the orchestra and violinist were more than generous in playing encores and responding to the enthusiasm of the audience.

Klimov is one of the younger violinists and a fine technician. He probably will achieve standing in the top-ranking group. The orchestra must feel it a challenge every time it plays here, but its reception was so warm that I hope it gets satisfaction out of the audience's appreciation.

E.R.

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


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, January 21, 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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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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