NEW YORK, Tuesday—Last Sunday morning Mrs. Henry Morgenthau, Jr., and I drove from Hyde Park to South Kortright, N. Y., where the International Assembly of Women was being held. It was a beautiful drive and the colors on the slopes and in the valley, just after we crossed the Rip Van Winkle bridge, were as beautiful as any I have ever seen. We reached the meeting in time to hear Miss Katharine Lenroot, head of the U. S. Children's Bureau, discuss standards of child care.

I hope the findings of the discussions of these American and foreign representatives of the women of 54 countries will be presented to the United Nations Assembly. I think they will emphasize the interest that the women of so many nations have in the establishment of peace. They cannot help but stir the enthusiasm of the Assembly to do its work with greater concentration.

* * *

A meeting of the U. S. delegation to the United Nations began yesterday morning at 9:30, so I had to get up early to drive down to the city from the country. The meeting lasted until 1 o'clock, when I came home to have lunch with two pleasant British visitors who had brought letters from my husband's cousin. Then back to the afternoon meeting at 3 o'clock.

John Foster Dulles and I left the rest of our delegation still working hard and went to a broadcasting studio at 5:10 to talk on the subject of what we hoped for from this session of the Assembly. I liked Mr. Dulles' simile that this organization is a seed. At San Francisco, they envisioned a full-blown flower, but now the delegates of the member nations have to cultivate the seed and wait for the flower. People have to be patient, since it may not grow too fast.

* * *

On leaving the broadcasting studio, I went to the center at 47th Street and Broadway where, during the war, so many GIs found rest and relaxation. This place has now been turned over to the Hospitality Committee for the United Nations. Under the leadership of Mrs. Winthrop Aldrich, it will be used for the delegates and their families.

As this is a very central location, the comfortable lounge will be a convenient meeting place, whether one wants to go shopping, to the movies or to the theatre. The lounge will be open from 11 o'clock every morning until midnight. It will be staffed entirely by volunteers, and refreshments can be obtained from noon on. I am looking forward to dropping in there occasionally and I think it may provide what is badly needed—a place where delegates can meet casually and really chat together.

Yesterday, on the Queen Elizabeth, many notables arrived for the Assembly session, and even in this crowded city, one begins to feel their presence.