Evening star., 1940-10-25
Home Guard Backed
By Mrs. Roosevelt
During Emergency
Believes Communities
Should Act to Aid
1roinees' Families


Troinees' FomiIies
The plan to have home guard
to protect the families of the men
called to training IVES given support
today by Mrs. Roosevelt at her last
prediction press conference.
She said she thought something
needed to be done to change the
picture of anxiety and sorrow" that
those left behind are now showing.
Mrs. Roosevelt proposed that each
community call a meeting of all it's
local organizations. at which every
individual present would be asked
what time he or she could give to
training or work. At the same time,
a canvass would be made of all the
services in the community which
would be deserted when the men
went to camp.
In this way" she explained, "the
community would have all the serv-
ices it needs during the year."
Gives an Example.
For individual families whose
main source of support has gone to
camp, Mrs. Roosevelt gave as an
example this case:
A National Guardsman with two
small children is called to camp.
His wife had an occupation or some
training before her marriage. She
might be able to get job but she
can't leave her children alone. The
community would then step in to
take care of the children while the
wife goes to work. Until she has
a job the community would take
care of the family.
= Asked where the funds would
come from. Mrs. Roosevelt said she
believed private funds in the COM
rather than Government
funds should be used.
Mrs. Roosevelt also urged that
wherever possible the employers of
those called to service make up the
difference in salary between the
Army pay and the wage the en-
ploye received. She said she also
hoped that firms would keep the
jobs open until the employees re-
turned.
sympathy for Reservists.
The Presidents wife expressed
sympathy for the lot of the Ma
tional Guardsmen and Reservists,
who, she said, suffered a greater
hardship than those called under
the draft because the latter would
at least have an opportunity to
present their individual problems to
draft boards.
Many GuardSmen. she said. went
into the National Guard with no
idea Of ever being called for service.
She said she understood that in one
of her sons battalions 20 men had
tried to resign from the active
Reserve lists because they had not
planned to be called
She commiserated with the families
left behind. particularly the mothers
whose sons have never before been
away from home and who are with
out resources to visit the camps.
Mrs. Roosevelt pointed out, how
ever. that there are still a great
many people under misapprehen-
sion. They do not difierentiate, she
said. between a years training and
what some of the men went through
in the World War when they left
home for a short period of training
and then were shipped overseas.
When one of the newspaperwomen
said she had heard some of the
men called would have to live in
tents. Mrs. Roosevelt replied that
every migratory family lived in tents
without the conveniences that the
Army tents would have.
Unable to Make Plans.
Discussing the election indirectly,
Mrs. Roosevelt said she couldn't t
make plans for the winter social
season at the White House beyond
December. She said, however, that
she would have more complete plans
to announce after the election.
Asked about the Willkie campaign
button which refers to her, Mrs.
Roosevelt commented that in cam
paign people were supposed to dis
cuss issues. People. she said. have
a perfect right to express their feel
ings about personalities at any time,
but Il don't see that it has much
to do with the campaign"
She gave "old age and long ex-
perience' as her personal remedy
for election jitters." adding, the
real remedy for election Jitters is
belief in the people"
Mrs. Roosevelt told her press con-
ference that she had received several
letters from the Presidents cousin
in England Only one letter. which
inadvertently had some military in
formation in it, she said, had been
censored. One of the messages, she
went on. said that the cousins
daughter had left her hospital just
a few minutes before bomb there
killed five nurses. She commented
on the calm of one of the letters
from which she quoted. This is not
a very nice WaY tn live"