The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY; AUGUST 31, 1943 THE GUEST OF NEW ZEALAND

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 205, 31 August 1943, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY; AUGUST 31, 1943 THE GUEST OF NEW ZEALAND

yiiE visit of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt to New Zealand is an important event. Not only is she the wife of the -President of the United .States, but she is also a personality in her own tight. To listen to the broadcast of her speeches.is to know why she has so great a bold on the people of the United States of America. Despite her many engagements and the speeches that she had already delivered during the day, Mrs. Roosevelt spoke with strength and conviction at the gathering of women on .Sunday night in Wellington. Her voice came over the radio strong and distinct and what she had to say was attuned for popular consumption. Born iu the political tradition of the Roosevelt family, Eleanor Roosevelt must have come under the dynamic influence of the famous “Teddy” Roosevelt, her father’s eldest brother. Had she not been a strong personality she would have been eclipsed by her dynamic husband who, moving upward in the politics of New York State, came eventually to the Presidency at a time when the whole of the people of the country were distracted and bewildered by that economic avalanche, the Great Depression. While not competing with her husband she has ably seconded him as a second nation-wide personality and she is truly the First Woman in America. Representative public personalities are interesting for what they advocate, but they are equally interesting in that which they interpret. Mrs. Roosevelt represents American womanhood, but she also interprets that other less articulate half of America which stands beside the men of action, aiding them, supporting them, encouraging them. To have her in New Zealand permits of a fuller appreciation of the American mind being achieved by the people of New Zealand, and makes for a closer understanding- of the bond which, ties that great nation to the tremendous conflict and the tasks which are associated with it. Mrs. Roosevelt can and does present to this Dominion the mind of America on its best side. That Mrs. Roosevelt is so popular in her own country is the strongest evidence that could be provided that the views to which she gives utterance in New Zealand are widely held by her and the citizens of her country. While Mrs. Roosevelt is interpreting her own countrymen she is also viewing with deep perception the work and the character of the people of New Zealaiid. She will return to the United States to tell what she has found here. Will that which she finds be worthy of this Dominion? If it is then her voice will be raised to interpret to the world that which the world would be glad to know. New Zealand has need of being properly understood by the American people, and happy shall this Dominion be if Mrs. Roosevelt is able to go back home with pride and joy at what she finds here. There are young American soldiers and Marines in New Zealand who have found friendships, who have eome to a fuller understanding- of our ways of life and our channels of thought. They too will go back to the United States to add to Mrs. Roosevelt’s testimony—but not yet. Meanwhile, it will be Mrs. Roosevelt who will be the major interpreter of New Zealand to the people of the United States of America.