HYDE PARK, Monday—I have just received a pamphlet entitled, "Touring With Towser," which should be a great help to any of my readers who like to take their dogs travelling with them.

It is a directory of hotels and motor courts where dogs are received willingly. Of course, in some cases, certain conditions must be met, but these are clearly outlined. Also, there are suggestions of things which one should bring along to make it easier to travel with dogs, and there is instruction in the matter of arranging for their food. This pamphlet, it seems to me, would be particularly helpful to those who never have taken a dog on an extended trip.

Since I now have two dogs, I feel that they keep each other company, and I rarely take them to New York City with me. The country seems a better place for them, and they can be happier and healthier there than in a New York City apartment.

This year I am not going to our house on Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada, so I have not been faced with a trip where the dogs had to spend the night with me somewhere on the way. I find that they enjoy driving with me if they can stick their heads out of the window of the car, but long trips are no pleasanter for them than for small children. They like to move around too much. So I really do not think that travelling with dogs is a joy for them and they shouldn't be taken along unless it is absolutely necessary.

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The British journalist and lecturer, George B. Catlin, and his son were with us for the weekend. Mr. Catlin is currently lecturing at Ohio State University.

He thinks we very badly need some brief definitions—perhaps in pamphlet form—of some of the beliefs of democracy. He urges that we Americans should bestir ourselves to state our point of view clearly in order that we may not be open to certain attacks by the Soviet Union and to misrepresentation even in the Western democracies.

In line with this idea of getting clearly before us some of our beliefs, the Federal Bar Association in Washington, D.C., which is an organization of attorneys in the service of the Federal Government, is going to sponsor a series of formal debates next winter.

This group feels that the art of formally debating an idea for the education of the public is almost lost. It maintains that the projected series will be of value to bring together people of opposing beliefs, both in this country and from abroad, and to have both present their points of view and answer each other.

Col. T. A. McInerney, who played such a large part in the Freedom Train program while serving as Information Director in the Department of Justice, is the new consultant on national affairs for the Federal Bar Association. The debates are his idea, and it seems almost as though the past were projecting itself into his thoughts, for the office he now occupies was the home and law office occupied by Daniel Webster. We all know that this great American patriot was one of the best exponents of the debating art.