6 DECEMBER 1946, Page 17

THE ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL

SIR,—It was my privilege to attend a meeting at Washington in September, 1936, when Mr. Roosevelt gave a stirring address before pressing a button to open formally the sluices at the Boulder Dam. On that occasion, not only did he make an impressive figure when standing alone at the usual reading-desk, but he actually walked on to the platform after the entire audience was assembled. Certainly it seemed to me that Mr. Roosevelt was rather proud of the physical achievement, although it is well known in America that another attraction was invariably planned to divert the attention of the audience from observing the President's dependence on the support received from his companion and the slowness of his progress toward the centre of the platform. I have a photograph of that event above my desk here, and I consider Mr. Roosevelt is there shown in the dignified attitude represented in the proposed statue.—Yours, &c.,