The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1942-10-09
N!!h'!!'''''!!;m!!;!:::;!!:{
E7@~-~ ~
Eleanor Roosevelt
SUCCESSFUL YOUTH CENTER

" AiAd0CtRk1op = AAoSA Vic EASetoeAAAs
experience of meeting Mr.. Eddie
Bowling, who was opening one Of his
shows there last night. He res
cued me by carrying my bag off
the train, for ! was surrounded by
some highly enthusiastic boys on
their way back to their various
camps. They can never see why
one hasn't the time to give an auto
graph to everyone in the group, but
unfortunately trains do not wait
while you sign your name.
When I reached "Youth City" I
was at once taken for tour Of the
Negro slums. AS in almost every
other big city, the low income group,
in which great many Negroes find
themselves in Philadelphia, suffer
from poor housing. It was joy to
see the new housing built on eight
city blocks which once were slums.
Today they are occupied by many
Of the same people and are clean
and well kept. When they have time
to do some landscaping, the whole
project will be very attractive. Aft
erwards we returned to "Youth
City," an old nightclub now turned
into community center. Most OF
the work there is done by the boys
themselves.
This group elects a mayor and
all the city officials, including judge
and police, in much the same way
that Father Flanagan organizes his
Boys Town. The real police CO.
operate with them. When juvenile
delinquents are found in the area,
they are brought in to be judged by
their own judges. Much of the work
in "Youth City" has been done by
youngsters working out their SEN
fences. The situation as regards jul
venile crimes among boys and girls
in the neighborhood, both colored
and white, has vastly improved.
The community house staff organ
ICES basketball teams, table tennis
games, etc.; in fact, they keep the
young people busy out of school
hours and after work hours. In adj
dition, these boys and girls are
learning to be good citizens.
Many of the boys are now in the
services, but they write back to
their director, Mr.. Samuel Evans.
MANAGING THE WHITE HOUSE
l have been asked to write col
umn on how the White House would
be run on $25, 900 year. Of course,
the question is rather foolish, be-
cause the White House is not the
property of any private individual.
It belongs to the people of the Unit
ed States and those who live in it
are there only temporarily.
Such hospitality as is dispensed
there, is the hospitality of great
nation. Therefore, it is impossible
to discuss adjusting life in the White
House as one would adjust life in
ones own home. s
If the question had been asked
me in this manner-how are you
going to adjust your life to an in
come of $25, 1000 year in your own
home-I could have answered it
with great ease. My home can cas-
lily be run on that sum of money.
My life can easily be so arranged
that I can live on whatever l have.
If can not live as I have lived in
the past, l shall live differently, and
living differently does not mean liv-
ing with less attention to the things
that make life gracious and pleas
ant, or with less enjoyment of things
of the mind. PR
So this question of how the White
House is to be run on $25, 1000 a
year, shows that the individual who
asked it has no idea of how the
White House is run. Congress pays
and prescribes the number of en-
ployees. 1t provides for repairs, for
the general up-keep and official en-
tertainment. The President must
pay for all the food eaten by every
body in the White House, except on
official occasions, and that is some
times a pretty expensive bill.
Since he is required to pay for the
people who are not there for his
personal comfort, and since his
whole life in the White House is
not personal life, but public one;
I do not think a ceiling which could
quite rightly be applied to all of us
in our personal lives, could be ap-
piled at all to the actual life lived
in the White House, or to the Presi-
dents public life anywhere. The
conditions would have to be clearly
understood by the people, because
there are two entirely different situ-
atoms to be faced.
No one / know, the President or
anybody else, would hesitate for a
moment if they were faced with the
simple problem of readjusting their
lives to keep below this personal
ceiling of income, or any other cell
ing required for the good of the
country. If such a tax brings the
war to a close any sooner or saves
any young lives, I feel sure all Of
us would accept it with joy.
Washington continues to treat US
to a warm, muggy weather, which
makes us long for a real brisk au-