WASHINGTON, Thursday—The Vice-President and Mrs. Wallace, Mrs. Henry Morgenthau Jr., Mr. and Mrs. John Golden, Mrs. Dorothy Roosevelt and her three daughters, Mr. Earl Robinson, and the cast from Mr. Golden's play "Claudia," which is now playing a return engagement in the city, spent a unique hour with me after 11:00 o'clock last night. In the first place, Mr. Earl Robinson played his composition, which I hope will soon be heard on the radio because it is a contribution to the understanding of America and tells us what we, the people, must remember.

Then, in lighter vein, Mr. John Golden and Mr. Arnold Johnson entertained us with reminiscences of bygone days. The President could only spare a few minutes between important conferences early in the evening, but he told me this morning that the songs really had been a joy to him.

The war news is bad today. Even though it has been hanging over us for weeks, so many of us had hoped that courage could dominate hunger and weariness and over-powering numbers. There is no bitterness in this defeat because it carries a pride not only in the heroism of our men, but in the magnificent intelligence with which they fought their battles. Having no bitterness, however, does not mean that the determination is less strong to win in the end, and to give back freedom to the people who have so long looked to us for the ultimate fulfillment of their hopes of self-government.

Fighting in Bataan has been an excellent example of what happens when two different races respect each other. Men of different race and background have fought side by side and praise each other's heroism and courage. That lesson should be learned everywhere.

It is raining this morning and I am glad that all of my appointments are here at home. An acquaintance of mine came to tell me of a trip just completed, that covered many miles in the United States. One of the things he mentioned was, that after his talks to different groups, one question often asked of him was: "Are the people in Washington turning the Capital into a gay and giddy city, with parties of every kind still going on?"

This interested me because I think someone must have planted this idea in people's minds, for it has been coming to me often by letter. I can only speak with authority on the life in the White House. There is certainly a complete change here, no formal entertaining of any kind. A great many people come here, but with a serious purpose and everything that is done by any member of the household has a connection with the war and war work.