NEW YORK, Monday—I was deeply grateful for that test vote in favor of David E. Lilienthal last week in the Senate, and I hope that the final vote will take place today or tomorrow with equal success. I was proud, indeed, that both Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg and Sen. Alben Barkley made such good speeches in favor of civilian control of atomic energy and in defense of Mr. Lilienthal himself.

The few Democrats who voted in favor of further delay and investigation were the ones that one usually expects to find on the side which is opposed to the good of the majority of the people. They are all more interested in certain special interests and more apt to represent these interests in what they stand for.

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I saw in the press that Sen. Kenneth McKellar has served notice that he intends to continue his fight when the appropriation for the Atomic Energy Commission comes up. He remarked that he had been beaten before, and I sincerely hope, as I am sure many other people do, that he will be beaten again.

This commission has the possibilities of making life infinitely pleasanter for men and women all over the world. And somehow it seems that, since atomic energy had to be used first to destroy human beings, there should be some compensation in the future. The scientists who developed the atomic bomb grieved much over the destruction which their discovery brought about. They recognized, of course, that it was only used so that in the long run fewer lives would be lost, but nevertheless they will be happier to think that, in the future, the world will be benefitted by their work on atomic energy.

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Our countryside at Hyde Park shows very few signs of spring. Not even my willows along the brook look as though spring had come. Only the bulbs are pushing up shoots of green out of the earth. The snow and ice remain under the evergreens here and there. However, the other morning I woke on my porch to the sound of soft rain and of birds singing as the dawn came.

We were all very glad to be in the country again over the week-end, but the member of the family who was the most delighted was "my little dog Fala." As we walked in the woods in spite of the rain, he dashed off in every direction. He smelled the most wonderful things to chase, and then came back to run along the path and look with interest, just as I did, at the first little orange lizard we had seen this year. It wasn't sunny, so our lizard wasn't quite as brilliant in color as he is when the sun shines, but the little creature likes wet places so he seemed quite cheerful, and Fala did him no harm.