The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-12-01
THE DAY

The official Thanksgiving day of 1899 is
past. with a Ions procession of others be-
fore il. Families have come together, some
of them scattered and from long distances;
the young father and mother have been
welcomed by the old ones, the children
made much Of. The turkey has been
carved and eaten, and the mince and
pumpkin pies and other viands have been
duly disposed of. Some people have gone
to church, some have played football, and
a great many have enjoyed themselves
without doing either. A large majority of
people. all, except the very vicious, the
very miserable, or the very ungrateful.
nave felt thankful in their own way, some
to Him whom they regard as the giver of
all blessings, and others to what they re-
gard as the good luck or good management
that has enabled them TO do as well for
themselves and their families as they have
done. Gratitude is an elevating emotion.
even if it has no spiritual aspect. 1t is, in
fact, a phase of religion whether the per-
son feeling it recognizes it as such or not.
"'Tis better to nave loved and lost than
never to nave loved at ALL" says Tenny-
thankful, even without any conscious rec
ognition of the divine source of blessings,
than not to have felt thankful at all. Graf
itude and prayer do not help the Almighty
any, and it is doubtful If they influence
Him. He can get along without them.
But they help the individual.
Perhaps the establishment Of an official
Thanksgiving day once a year. when the
President, the Governor or each State. the
press and the pulpit remind people that it
is their duty to be thankful has a tenden-
cy to make them less so during the rest of
the year. 1t is related that a certain in
dividual who had an academic belief in
the efficacy of prayer, but who did not do
much at the business. tackled a printed
prayer at the head of his bed, and wrote
underneath: Lord, these are my senti-
ments." The only Improvement on this
would be a observation-disclosures praying ma
CAlllC u JIG II Oh IA ANIL
of the voting machine. by which a person,
by simply pressing a button, could record
a straight prayer or a scratched one at
pleasure. But 1t is doubtful if that would
develop the sense of gratitude or benefit
the individual much. 1t is ever doubtful If
machine voting is as conducive to the de-
velopment of personal patriotism and good
citizenship as voting by ballot. There was
something peculiarly gratifying and sooth-
ing to individual pride in the old-fashioned
way of going to the polls with a straight
ticket in ones hand or pocket, untouched
by any stamp or pencil, a virgin ballot, as
it were, representing the voters share in
the government. of which no challenger or
board of canvassers, and neither angels
nor principalities. nor powers, nor things
present nor things to come, nor height. nor
depth, nor any other creature, could de-
prive him. The voting machine lacks this
personal element, and of course so would
a praying machine or a nickel-in-the-slo
machine for expressing gratitude. But the
question Is whether the establishment of
an official Thanksgiving day once a year
does not tend to make people less thank
full than they ought to be the rest of the
year. Gratitude has been defined as a live
ly sense of favors to come. There is rea-
son to believe that there is more of that
the year than there is of the other kind.
Does the official Thanksgiving day tend
to promote it? Do people think because
they indulge in the luxury of feeling
can afford to be ungrateful the rest of the
year? Because one gives a dollar to char
ity on the last Thursday in November, has
one a right to be close-fisted all the other
year? Obviously rot, and If any reader of
the Journal notes this disposition in his or
her case, let him or her be warned to meet
II at the threshold. The only safe rule in
such cases is ''Obsta Observation-Disclosures
the beginnings. 1t needs no to
prove that we have just as much to be
thankful for on the other 364 days Of the
year as we nave on Thanksgiving day-as
great a country and as good a government,
as much liberty and prosperity. as many
blessings, privileges and advantages-and
while one cannot expect to have roast tur-
key and mince pie every day in the year.
even If one were foolish enough to desire
IT, one can be thankful on much palmer
living Therefore, let us be. thankful that
while Thanksgiving day is past, there are
others.
CEN GRANT as a