Evening star., 1932-12-04
~ MRS. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.

TINE question Is often asked me
whether 1t Is worth while for
young people to 60 into politics.
L and. Of course, when 1t Is asked
always reply with the question
what people mean by worth while.
II 1t Is question of material ad-
vancement in the world, or of getting
some position where they can make q
living, my answer invariably is NO"
If it is question Of wanting to be q
useful citizen and member of the COM
munity, emphatically the answer should
always be Eyes"
We cannot expect good government In
democracy unless the citizens Of the
democracy take a really active part In
their government, and they should do
1t at as early an age as is practical.
The first steps in pclitics are not par
ticularly interesting and should be COW
cred while people are young.
I believe that If our young people
can be encouraged to go into politics
at an early age their interest will grow
as they grow older and we will find
them, little by little. taking On their
responsibilities and gaining self-conf-
dence with knowledge instead of going
to their firEt vote with a feeling Of
absolute insecurity not only as to the
questions involved but as to the mere
mechanical process of voting itself.
Magnetism of Subject.
II they belong to politically minded
family in which they have heard public
questions discussed, they probably feel,
as some Of our children have felt, that
they do not with to be bothered with
politics and they hope that politics Is
never going to be part Of their lives
as they themselves fashion them, but,
strange as it may seem, this very sub
ject which is so obnoxious to them
seems to draw them, in spite Of them
selves, as they grow older.
My daughter assured me that under
no circumstances was she ever going
to have anything to do with politics, and
yet after her 18th birthday, when I
asked her to help me out on election
day by driving a car to bring people to
the polls she found herself enormously
interested In the people she was bring
ing in.
She told me that night, with interest,
the stories of a number Of men and
women whom she had driven from their
homes to the polls, and it was not
politics that interested her, but human
beings. And after all, when we grow
little older, we discover that politics
is only Of interest at it affects human
beings.
Later my daughter went on cam
paign trip, distributing literature and
listening to the speeches made by
women on that trip, and while she
still felt that she did not care to have
anything to do with this horrible thing
called politics. she enjoyed every mo-
ment Of the trip, even the keeping Of
the accounts for the members Of the
party! And still she was never going
to have anything to do with politicsl
Then one day, after she was mar
ried, suddenly discovered that she was
the president Of a political club in her
county. She had grown In perfectly
natural way until she discovered that
what she wanted to do for human
beings was tied up with politics, and
that If she wished to accomplish GER
tain things an interest in politics was
almost necessity.
Value In Activities.
From this point OF view it Is well
worth while to be in politics, and If
a man or woman goes into it with q
determination to start at the bottom
and understand both the good and the
bad, know the mechanics Of political
machine and be practical as well as
idealistic, think much good can be
done by any young man or woman and
their political activities may prove to