HYDE PARK, Thursday—I received a letter the other day from Mr. Joseph D. Lohman, of Chicago, who is secretary of the National Committee on Segregation in the nation's capital. The letter carries very heartening news as regards the fight for civil liberties in this country. He tells me that the courage of the President and the Secretary of the Interior in running, on a non-segregated basis, the swimming pools in the District of Columbia, has proved successful. This has resulted from the careful planning and training of the police, park service personnel and the organization and cooperation of the community groups. Mr. Lohman points out that St. Louis without this careful planning had difficulty but, that nevertheless, Judge Rubey Hulen of the United States District Court has handed down an opinion which ordered the city of St. Louis to refrain from segregating their pools.

It is heartening to find Democratic principles being firmly established in the nation's capital, and in such big cities as St. Louis. Each time an accomplishment of this kind is brought about, it has a far reaching effect. It would not be so important if the effect was only in our country but it will reverberate around the world, and be of value to us in every country where the population is largely of another race and color.

On Tuesday there was a notice in the metropolitan papers that the United States has paid the New Jersey potato farmers, who have a bumper crop of potatoes this year, to spoil forty percent of their crop and spill them out over the land. No doubt they are useful as fertilizer and this is better than doing nothing with them, but I revolt against the idea that these potatoes cannot be used for dehydration, and sent to countries which are short of food, particularly this kind of food.

I am happy that the United Kingdom, the United States and France have signified their willingness to consider India's offer to form a committee of the smaller nations in the Security Council to study the Korean situation. The USSR's position is not greatly helped by this suggestion because they have contended right along that until the Communist Chinese government is recognized they will not consider anything else. It might, however, be wise for them to accept this way out, since a continuation of the fighting in Korea will mean no solution on any question.

We have now had added to the critics of the State Department that "great" statesman, Senator McCarran, candidate in the primary for renomination for the Senate from the state of Nevada. He will undoubtedly be renominated, and his attack on the Administration of his own party is hardly needed to accomplish his renomination. Apparently, he has only one interest in the Far East. He wants to recognize and back the Nationalist government of China. His other "great" contribution to our foreign policy is his desire that Franco's government in Spain be given a large sized loan. It would seem that he is not so much against communism as for fascism. Of course, the two are very similar and before we know it, he may make another about face. Somehow he contributes comedy to the scene were it not such a sad and tragic kind of leadership.