The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-24
LET THE TRADITION STAND.

AfEkl mn SAANDs
 The man or the woman who discred- Its, or attempts to discredit, the story of Santa Claus is no true friend to the little ones. Childhood days pass all too soon at best. The cares and bur- dens of life will not be long coming, and all too soon the pleasant myths and fond allusions will be swallowed up and displaced by the stern realities of. a hard world. Let the little ones enjoy their beliefs while they may. Let them go to sleep tonight firmly and loyalty believing that the patron saint Paul. Let them dream that they hear the pattering feet of his reindeer and the crushing of his loaded sled on the snow. Let them have faith that they will open their eyes in the morning to find their stockings bulging out with they slumbered.
 There is no harm in the belief. The good St. Nicholas who lived seventeen centuries ago was a real being and was the friend of the children. From him we derive Santa Claus. and the halo of romance and mystery surround ing him makes him all the dearer to the infantile imagination. The utilita- rianism of the age should not be allowed to destroy the sweet illusions child hood. In the words of a contemporary some people "are bitten with the con scientious duty to take away from their children the harmless illusions of youth, and who can see in the early morning pilgrimage to the nursery, where the mythical tree is, only the deliberate encouragement given an un- truth. They are not a pleasant peo- pie to have about, and if the truth were to be spoken on all occasions not folk to add to the sum and total of hu- man happiness as childhood experi- ences it."
 They apparently forget that they have once been children, and that they also had illusions which were more dear to them than any of the realities of life have ever been. It matters. not if the old visitor sometimes shifts his burdens on to the shoulders of human beings and lets them do part of his work. He is yet an actuality to the little ones, and all good people should rejoice with their children in his an- nual visits. As The New Haven Reg ister says Take him away from the children, bring themS up in the cold logic of the tradition and reduce the holiday season to a mere time for the exchange of gifts. and in a generation or two it would pass into history with other former practices, which had nothing practically sentimental to rest upon. Santa Claus is as necessary to the preservation of the spirit of Christ mas giving as the influence of honest men Is to the preservation of good government. If we are to continue to have the holiday season, as we have had 1t, since as far back as the memory of man runneth, we must retain Santa Claus, with all the attributes which the poets of the nursery have given him."
 
 belief that appeals directly to the best and holiest instincts of our being. It is the conviction carried to our hearts that the eve of Christmas Is a fitting time for generous deeds, for gifts of loving remembrance, and for doing something that will gladden. the hearts of those who love us and have faith fzt
 ents and friends they also cling to their belief in their patron saint we should do nothing to drive the belief from them. If 1t is an illusion 1t is one to be encouraged and strengthened. And, too, there is a matter of fact side to the belief. which we cannot do bet ter than present in the words of The Register from which we have already quoted:
 Nor is that all that makes the reten- tion of Santa Claus essential. Take him away from the children and we should impose upon thousands of peo- pie a fearful burden for them to carry Millions of dollars are annually ex- pended in preparing for his advent, and they are distributed among thousands of hard working people, whose labor is employed to make the wheels of the celebration go round. Some wise man has said of life as we have it today that if the production of luxuries was suddenly stopped, we should as sud- denly plunge more than half of the world into starvation. Even with the millions of waste in sight from modern methods of living, the old and wise world has no intention of returning to the days. when to live plainly was to think highly. It prefers what 1t has. Go ia with Clana IJa ic tial to the worlds prosperity. He is the man who keeps the wheels turn ing in the factories of the land and who gives genius a chance in the manage ment of the department store. He stim- ulates the skill of the artiticer, directs the hand of the artist and touches the imagination of the farmer. Do away with Santa Claus? Well we guess not; not until men have lost their reason. He is here to stay.