The evening times., 1898-12-26
FIGHTING SANTA CLAUS.
A Milwaukee scheme to Repudiate
the ChiIdren's Old Friend
(Frcm the Chicago Post.l

Iconoclastic Milwaukee Baptists who
have shattered the traditions of Christmas
time and barred gray-headed, kindly-yis-
aged and gift-laden St Nicholas from the
Sunday school holiday celebrations get
small sympathy from Chicago men and
women for their crusade. which is laconi-
cally dubbed ''Scroogeism."
esterday the Baptis, primary workers
of the Wisconsin city held aeeting to
take action on the subject, and the old
Scrooge element Of the organization sus-
ceeded in placing the ban on Santa Claus
denouncing the old fellow as Il fraud and
a sham, and declaring the childhood belief
in his yearly coming kissing and a by
word. This Christmas Milwaukee young
sters OF the Baptist faith Will not wait for
the mythical saint with his reindeer and
sleigh. and there Will be no anxious peep
ing up the chimney and listening for the
jingle OF his bells-that is. among those
families who will stand by the mandate of
the association. But there are a few who
defend the old legend of the northlands
and who will continue to foster Juvenile
faith in the children's patron saint, even
though he is refused admittauce to the
sayeties Of the church festivities.
Here in Chicago there seems to be n
prevailing impression that the Milwaukee
folk have agitated themselves unseeming-
ly. Most of those talked with today were
Vi lHG OlllIuii lIdl Il Sp1rCn tnfOO2n0ut
Milwaukee would possibly discover con-
ditions that would warrant a transfer of
the enersies of the primary workers from
an attack on childish romance. DR.. P s
Henson of the First Baptist Church. is
one of these. He said:
Il don't think much of this Milwaukee
crusade They might as wei. begin an
attack against Aesop's fables and .he
Mother Goose rhymes The children en-
nj h..y-
! they soon come 10 understand it's object
l see no hurt in it. These deStroyers Of
romance would make life not worth liv-
ing. These fairy stories all have moral
| and they give color to nursery life We
should do everything we can to make
| childhood happy, and | believe these Mil
! waukee people could find something
worthier of their energies
| Il get disgusted with these church peo-
| pie who worry themselves with silly
| movements when there is so much work
| of real Importance that demands attcn
| ton, said DR.. William NJ. Lawrence of
| the Second Baptist Church. They can't
| discriminate. and they believe great
| moral principle is involved where there
! isn't any / was reared with no idea of
| Santa Claus, and to my mind my child
| hood missed something, so here at home
we have believed in the old tradition " c
| have had delightful times, nobody has
been seriously deceived and nobody has
| suffered from the belief But there are
| two sides to the question, and L take
| neither. l ignore 1t. Monday l shall be
bombarded with protesting letters from
| cranky people. and 1 wish You would say
| that | will be grateful if no one writes to
| me on the subject. 1t is childish"
DR.. Julia Holmes Smith emphatically
declared her opposition to any movement
| that tends to eliminate romance from
childhood.
do you mean to destroy this belief?"
she said. 'Why it would take away the
poetry of Christmas and eliminate the
| most beautiful part of the seasons joy
BUSINESS. st. Nicholas typfies the love of
humanity so beautifully that l regret any
crusade against the acceptance of the
myth by childhood. The sentiment is al
most fairylike, and we don't have too
much romance in this century I am
tired of facts. There are too many of
them
DR.. w. III. Thomas says he looks on the
whole affair as joke not to be taken
| seriously, but he believes the faith in the
| tradition is carried to extremes. This be-
lief in Santa Claus has existed long
enough says DR.. Thomas. I'VE need
truth, not foolishnesS. l never opposed it,
| however, as the children know they are
| fooled and like to be fooled; so there
may be no harm in it. But it was the be-
| ginning of the first real doubt of my
| life and it was serious matter with me-
! 1t sometimes destroys a chiid's faith, and
| when he finds he has been deceived on
| that he may refuse to accept other teach
| ings of his parnts.''
The harmless traditions of childhood -
| said Mrs. Matilda B. Carse, should be
| kept up, l believe, for they add so much
| to the happiness Of the young. To aban-
| don the belief In Santa Claus would be to
| remove one of the great landmarks of
Christmas time. These legends, / believe,
! are needed, and / think the Milwaukee
! people who oppose them will have little