WASHINGTON, Thursday—Yesterday morning, on reaching New York City, I went to see an old friend who has been ill. I found her so much better it started the whole day off cheerfully. I left and took the train to Trenton, N. J., in the early afternoon to go to Bordentown to speak for the State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs.

The State Industrial School, where this convention was held, is on a really beautiful site. The big trees shade the lawns and buildings and you look straight down the Delaware River. The day could not have been lovelier, so the exercises were held out of doors.

I was happy to see my friend, Mrs. Lewis Thompson, and Commissioner Ellis in the audience. It was nice also, to see Mrs. Maddox, of the State Federation of Women's Clubs, who spoke on the program. I reached Washington at 10:30 in the evening, and I must say that the weather man was very kind, for we could not have had a cooler summer day.

I had a good many appointments this morning, so I have been busy, for I am going back to New York City this afternoon to attend an International Student Service executive committee meeting this evening.

I hope that you all read the Vice-President's article last Sunday. He brought up a subject which all of us need to consider. What we do now and in the next few years will mean building for peace, or building for another war.

It seems to me that all of us should understand that rubber is just one of the many things which are important to the rest of the world as well as to us. They will decide our future relationships with the rest of the world. If we allow ourselves, because of the interests of any particular group in our country, to be inveigled into doing such things as putting tariffs on certain types of products, in order that we can carry on an international production at a high cost, we will add to our own cost of living.

What is much more serious, however, is the fact that we will cut down the opportunities of other nations to exchange with us on a free basis; and the cutting down of the free volume of trade is certainly one of the causes of war. This whole question is going to involve economic questions from the international and not the national point of view.

It is enlightened selfishness to build up the ability of other nations to a higher standard of living. We thus produce wider markets for ourselves as well as the rest of the world. But all this does require education on our part.