NEW YORK, Monday—On Saturday last Norman Thomas was 70 years old. He has led American socialism in this country for a half century. He still seems full of vigor and enthusiasm. He is no more afraid of new ideas today than he was 50 years ago.

It seems to me that men who have had a purpose, and have really worked for it, come to their older years still with a vitality and an interest in life which is lacking in those who have been less dedicated. Though he has not been elected to public office, Mr. Thomas has seen many of the ideas that he tried to persuade people to accept finally become acceptable in the most conservative circles. So I think he must have the satisfaction of feeling that he has done something to make the world a better place for the majority of people to live in.

I was very glad to see the other day that the U.S. tax court has ruled that recipients of grants from philanthropic organizations for fellowships in research and study are exempt from paying income tax on them. This will affect 32,000 foundations throughout the country and will make a vast difference to many thousands of scientists, scholars and artists who have benefited from grants and fellowships in the past. This decision reverses one taken by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in 1951. It took the stand of a courageous man who brought suit to get this reversal of the '51 decision.

The National Epilepsy League is making a great effort to draw the attention of the general public to the fact that further research is needed in epilepsy, and that people who suffer from epilepsy must be better informed as to where to go for treatment. Like so many other branches of medicine, they feel there is a lack of trained people in the field.

We need more neurologists. There is only one for every 650,000 persons in this country. Failure to train more neurologists and provide more clinical facilities for treatment is a waste of manpower for many epileptics could be made self-supporting if they knew help was available and received treatment.

The National Epilepsy League is selling this year a little Christmas card called "Little Christmas Town." The cost of this card is $1.50 and a whole dollar of it goes to the actual work carried on for epilepsy in this country.