The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-12-26

Eleanor Roosevelt

At the Capitol on the day war was
declared / had curious sense OF
repetition, for / remembered very
wildly the description of the same
gallery, when Mrs. Woodrow Wilson
listened to President Wilson speak
to the assembled members Of con-
gress. This time she sat beside me,
as the President spoke the words
which branded a nation as having
departed from the code of civilized
people.
Everyone in this house was up late
last night. Early the next morning
the President was on the telephone
and, with every bit of information,
the situation in the Pacific showed
more clearly what damage had been
done by surprise.
Some will think that the people
Of Hawaii and the Philippines and
our other islands should not have
been taken by surprise. They have
to think back to the day before, how
ever, to realize how impossible ac-
tual war seemed to us. Even today,
I heard people say: ooh, well, those
islands are vulnerable, but we here
on this continent have nothing to
fear"
How hard it is for human beings
to learn that the only safety there
is, lies in being prepared for any
eventuality. When people are maxi
ing desperate efforts, they will try
things which seem foolhardy to more
secure people. If you are going
to die anyway, you might just as
well die with grand gesture which
stands chance of winning high
stakes for you. That is what Ger
many has planned today, for this
attack is German strategy.
EVERYONE HAS A JOB
If you live along the East coast,
don't be too sure that you are out
of the danger zone. Sign up today
and do a job, because if you have a
job to do, that responsibility will
see you through any situation.
opened our staff meeting in the
Office of Civilian Defense that
morning by saying that thought
this was no moment for any of our
able women to accept the invitation
of Great Britain to go over and visit
them. There was no one in the
room who was not alert to the fact
that their work had ceased to be
the work of preparation and was now
work which required action imme-
diately.
After the short time spent at the
Capitol, Director LaGuardia held
his staff meeting. Since then have
been contracting regional directors
and obtaining all the information /
need for the work on the West coast.
We left Washington one day with
the usual rush of last minute things
which must be done. Three of us
had supper in my sitting room be-
fore we left. With us were Jimmy,
Elliott and two friends with whom
Elliott had flown from the school
in San Antonio, Texas.
LOS ANGELES ACTIVITY
The governor of California and the
mayor of Los Angeles met us on
arrival. The governor drove off with
Director LaGuardia. Mr.. Gilbert
Harrison and followed with the
mayor. / was astonished to find
that, even now, some people can't
believe our shores are actually a
possible target for attack.
We went straight to the state
building, and in a very few minutes
the state council of defense met in
open session. All the. seats in the
room were filled and people stood in
the aisles as the morning wore on.
/ felt extremely virtuous, because
/ had not gone to the hotel to dress.
usually feel that this is essential
after a night trip. l patted myself
on the back and felt that, since this
was not entirely comfortable, that
this was my first real job for civil
ian defense.
WAR CHANGES EVERYTHING
1t is remarkable how a real threat
will change the whole aspect of
situation overnight. The, state de-
tense council met, found an execu1
tive secretary, decided to establish
central office in the state capitol
in Sacramento and two branch Of
fees in San Francisco and Los An
geles. The local council of defense
was setting up its volunteer Office
also.
Guards had already been placed
on watch at all strategic places
such as bridges in the state. The
need for money was already being
canvassed and the governor was
making necessary preparations to
meet the requirements.
Director LaGuardia made an ex-
cellent speech and it was splendid
to see the response to concrete sug-
gestions. In the afternoon, the meet
ing was divided and Mayor La
Guardia went to a meeting Of the
section Of police and fire patrol.