CORAL GABLES, FLA.—Before boarding the plane in New York to go to the meeting of The American Association for The United Nations in Miami Beach I had a delightful early dinner with my grandson, Curtis, and his wife Ruth in their little apartment on Waverly Place which was great fun. They have made a lovely home for themselves and there is a great deal of taste and discrimination in their furnishings. I certainly enjoyed my short evening with them very much.

I slept on the plane coming down and arrived uneventfully at the Miami Airport where my old friends Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Gordon were kind enough to meet me although I expected no one at that early hour of the morning. I had about five and a half hours sleep and was ready by 9:45 A.M. for a press conference with television and radio interviews. After that Mr. and Mrs. Gordon drove me to a new information center on the United Nations that has been opened, and which displays publications of the Association and of the United Nations itself and also materials of other groups interested in international affairs. I was delighted to find that in the two weeks in which it had been open, they have managed to increase interest on the part of the general public and I hope the shop will be sought out by any groups who want such information.

We lunched at the home of our state chairman, Colonel Dunbaugh, and after lunch there was an informal gathering of the people of the state who are here for the meeting tomorrow morning of the whole state organization. At lunch the chairman from Sarasota brought in a lady who had worked with the Homestead people in Ravenscroft, Tennessee. She told me it was a flourishing cooperative community and she mentioned that the store which had started with only 12 members and $25 in capital now had $5000 capital, several hundred members and did a turnover business of $20,000 a year. It is encouraging to hear that some of the Homesteads have succeeded so well and it shows how much depends on the individuals who carry out an idea.

The Delano Hotel where we are staying gives us a beautiful view of the ocean, and on the twelfth floor of the hotel there is a balcony where our press conference was held and from there you can see water in every direction. It is tempting to look out and I wish that I had thought of bringing a bathing suit for I know that I could not resist going in for a swim, but our time is limited and so is the space in my small suitcase. This evening there will be a fund raising cocktail party at which Mr. Eichelberger and I will speak, and at 10:00 P.M. tonight I will be on a television show.

Although France has withdrawn from the Security Council I hope she will not withdraw from the disarmament committee and from some of the other groups where she is really needed. The eyes of the world are on France and while it is easy to understand her feeling about Algeria, still one must hope that she can rise above it, and realize that the preservation of the United Nations is even more important than any resentment one may feel about the infringement of rights. France has certainly shown how strong her feeling is, and now we may hope that she will, when this discussion is over, return to her full responsibilities in the United Nations.