The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-12-23
Santa Claus Must
MOI Be Defhroned
"Wouter Van Twillcr" in the viii
Barre Record.

NbHl'T van lWllltT IN thc Wilkes
Barre Record.
NHOt WILL observe that I have found
w son,d,, some food for reflection i, in ,,, the
Ii the supply is by no means ex-
haustcd. For that busting young
city has habit of furnishing some very
interesting episodes now and then Here
is one of them: 1t seems that some of
the teachers in the public schools up
there. who have a holy horror of any
thing in heaven Or on earth that isn't
huttrcssed by hard facts. have been
teaching the children that there is no
such thing as Santa Claus. They gather
the little ones about them and tell them
| that this belief in the merry monarch
of Childhood's fair realm is very, very
wrong and that those who seek to instil
that belief into their minds are telling
| them horrid lies. And the poor little
| ones go home with tears Of disappoint-
ment in their eyes and ask their parents
If after all there is no such person as
| dear old Santa Claus. Some of these
parents who have no particular liking
| for the late Mr.. Gradgrind or any of his
| narrow minded followers complained of
| these MISREPRESENTATION teachers TO
| Superintendent Howell, and he. with rare
good sense, gave him to understand
| that they had Still great deal to learn.
| and that there are more things in heaV-
| en- and on earth than are dreamed of in
| our philosophy" Here are his words and
| commend them TO every parent and
| teacher in the land:
o
| "Somc one has said: Things seen are
| temporal. things unseen are eternal
| This is skeptical age and we are in
| clined to rely upon the sense of sight
believe only that which we can sec. But
| the only real things in the world are
1 a Il. I. M.
| see Love and devotion have real eX-
| istcnce. In fact that which gives to life
| its highest beauty and best joy is part
| of the unseen world. Faith, hope, ambi-
| tion, indeed all that ennobles character
| are unseen things.
| do / believe in Santa Claus? Yes, with
| all my heart and soul. This would be a
| world of gloom if We would shut out
the light Of childhood. No poetry, no
| romance, no folklore, no fairies. II would
| chill the marrow Of life Because you
| cannot see the fairies dancing on the
| chimney is no good reason that they do
not exist. There is heavy veil cover
| ing the unseen world which fancy only
| can push aside.
| God meant that we should teach
| Santa Claus. Had He meant otherwise
| He would have made the imagination
| our weakest, not strongest faculty in
| infancy, o, yeS, teach Santa Claus, and
make glad the heart of childhood. You
cannot make a mistake If you follow
Gods plan of child development"
To me. the saddest Of all sights on this
sad old earth Is that OF a mother who
takes her little one on her knee and
says, There is no Santa Claus, dear,
nor reindeer. nor sled, nor heaps of good
things stored away at the North Pole.
All these things are lies and 1t is very
h.1
hang up your stockings tonight it is not
Santa Claus, but your papa and mamma
who fill them with gifts. That Christ
mas tree there will not be decked by
Kris Kingle. for there is no such person
The good things YOU will find there In
the morning will be brought home by
papa tonight and he and ! will do the
trimming after you go to bed"
The mother or the teacher who utters
such words commits crime against
childhood, which can never be atoned for
| Why? Because it is the fret drop OF
the poison OF skepticism which may in
time develop into DOUBT Of all things
unseen. Oh, when these hard cold words
are spoken, what dear idols are shat
tered, what fond hopes are crushed, what
sweet visions dispelled, Gone, and forever
are the dearest deig.,S of childhood
vanished for all time the faith in a kind
, | " llONlutnCC, WnlCn DendS low TO lister
to their simple requests and never fails
90 grant them. Learned men, through al
the ages, have groped hlindly for a rem
| in the veil that shrouds the unseen world
only to confess failure to know and un
derstand, Some, unable to solve tn,
great mystery, have denied it's eNistenc,
, and sought relief i'm skeptiCism or inn
deity. Others have anchored their hopes
upon the rock Of faith, believing wher,
? they do not understand and i'm all mum
blencss learning the great truth that tn
finite mind can never comprehend Infn
ity.
why then. should we ask our Childrel
I | 10 comprehend what we ourselves can
MOI " ~ should we seek to kill thei
. | flith in thirg. unseen when that yer,
faith is the foundation of all religion
I | From belief i'm bcnehcent Santa Clau
I | It Is but step 10 belief i'm God. AS tn
child grows older the one naturally an,
impeTceptiblv merges into the other un
. Ill from faith In the jolly old spirit
Q | springs faith in the Creator of all things
So, my friends, he careful how you shat
| ter the idols of the child. For the bo
= or girl who now says, There is no Sant
, Claus" may be but the prototype of tn
D man or woman who says, There is N
p God"
Let the fancy of your little ones ru
s riot among the fairies, and gnomes, an
Y kelpios, and goblns, and spTites. ana kri
! | Kingles. Let their Imagination pierce tn
. opalescent veil that hides the seen fror
the unseen. Too soon will the veil b