NEW YORK, Friday—The talk, wherever you go, is still about the elections throughout the country and what they may mean. There is no question that the trend has been toward isolationism and McCarthyism.

That doesn't mean that everybody throughout the country approves of calling everybody else a Communist, but it does mean that people are very confused and because they are confused they are voting to pull in their horns. They don't understand what brought about the situation in Asia, and people, quick to accuse, are glad to have the State Department as a scapegoat. They think it is easier to decide that some political party or some individual is to blame and another would do better, rather than to sit down and think out what it is that the nation might do to improve its relations with the rest of the world.

Some people think it would be easier to wash our hands of the rest of the world's troubles and concern ourselves chiefly about our own nation. Those who are foolish enough, or rather, unrealistic enough, to think this is possible sooner or later will have a rude awakening. The well-being of the world is tied together. I am afraid no matter how hard we try we could not escape feeling within our own borders the results of what happens in other parts of the world.

From where I write this column I look out over a Manhattan skyline, tall towers reaching up above the neighboring buildings, far into the sky; the sun is setting and the colors are red with deep violet clouds, making a background against which the towers and the lights coming on in various buildings shine out.

As one looks one thinks of what has happened in cities in Korea. The towers are not so high or the buildings quite so solid, but the people are the same whether they live in Korea or whether they live in the United States. And the crumbling of their cities and towns is just as hard for them as it would be for us.

Therefore, it seems to me this feeling that we can ignore what goes on in the world and concern ourselves only with ourselves is just a desire to play ostrich and bury our heads in the sand. I am not in agreement with those people who would like to see us create more destruction in other parts of the world and not make any attempt to use diplomatic force.

However, I do not believe in appeasement. But diplomatic force can be used to bring about more sense of security on the part of other nations and a peaceful solution to the problems in Asia.

I am glad, therefore, that we are at least going to hear the Chinese Communists in the Security Council. Nothing will be slowed up by this action and we, and they, may learn something that may help us to use the force of diplomacy instead of continuing military destruction in these last stages of the Korean War.