LINCOLN, Neb.—I have a communication from the editor-in-chief of foreign language broadcasts in Bulgaria.

"Each new year is welcomed by mankind with new hopes for a better life," he says. "Today, more than ever before, those hopes are mainly linked with the question of how to safeguard world peace and strengthen friendship among the peoples.

“In this connection we have the following request: Would you like to write and send us a statement on what you think about peace and what you wish the Bulgarian people on the eve of the new year?”

This seems quite a challenge to me, for the editor goes on to say that this message will be broadcast between December 20 and 30 over the Sofia radio.

There is much I could say on the need for peace and the desire for it among all our people. But the great question of how our people and those of the Soviet Union and its satellites are going to live peacefully together is difficult to answer.

The Soviet people are constantly being told by their leaders that we don't want peace, so the only way we can prove to them our intentions is to offer them concrete plans for the beginning of disarmament. I doubt, however, if we are ready with any such plans.

Perhaps we should put some thought into how we would meet disarmament if it came about tomorrow. Having thought this through, we would not be afraid of it, for it is one of the first steps toward a peaceful world.

We arrived at Lincoln, Neb., after taking an 8 a.m. plane out of New York, and I must say that I was a trifle uncertain of waking up and being ready when they called for me at 7:15 to go to the airport. I had decided that if I told my subconscious that I had to be up at a certain hour, somehow I would wake up, and I had no difficulty.

After an uneventful flight we arrived at Lincoln, and the rest of the day followed the usual pattern. A 5 p.m. press conference was followed by a dinner in the Student Union sponsored by the American Association for the United Nations and others interested in the U.N. At the evening meeting, when Clark Eichelberger and myself spoke, there was a panel discussion on "Current Challenges of the United Nations."

We were delighted to find flowers in our rooms here from the Jane Jefferson Democratic Club and some delicious fruit provided by the hotel manager.

In New York City earlier this week I saw an English play, "Look Back in Anger," by John Osborne.

This play created a sensation in England because it deals with quite ordinary young people and tells about their personal, emotional relationships and their reactions to political, social and economic issues around them. It is beautifully acted and truly dramatic material.

To me, the role of the principal young man who exhibits his anger with abandon, Jimmy Porter, seemed a trifle exaggerated, but those in the audience of a generation or two younger than my own found it entirely realistic.

I think everyone would find this an interesting play, but I doubt if everyone would fully enjoy it, for the frustrations of the characters are too many and too difficult to be completely shared by the audience.

I have just found a most delightful book to give as a Christmas present to any seven- or eight-year-old boy or girl. Written by Bob Hunt, it is called "Copper Top."

The young hero is a boy who lives with his grandfather, a gold prospector in the desert of the Southwest. They almost give up the search for gold when by chance those amusing and exasperating little animals called pack rats turn up some stones that show the coveted veins of gold.

This part of the story is based on fact, but it certainly is delightfully told, and I don't think anybody minds the use of an old Indian legend as a basis for a story any youngster would enjoy.

If you haven't finished your Christmas shopping and don't know what to give a young person of seven or eight, you will find this a welcomed suggestion for a gift.