The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-18
SANTA CLAUS AND MOTHER GOOSE

SANTA CLAUS AND MOTHER GOOSE.
1t is really distressing to note with
what alarm certain women's clubs
/ composed mainly. no doubt. of spinsters
of uncertain age-are regarding the
moral and intellectual deficiencies of
Santa Claus and Mother Goose. Why.
! these dear old people have actually
| been assailed by resolutions and
speeches in as many as a dozen clubs
during the past few months. The first
has been charged with being a pagan
myth, and obtaining presents under
false pretenses, and other things like
that. while at the door OF Mother
Goose have been laid the allegations Of
Stiffness, stupidity, lack of literary mer-
it. and so on.
For the sake of argument merely,
let it be assumed that Santa Claus is
a myth of pagan origin; does that les
sen his reality and his benefactions in
the homes of millions of non-pagans
every year? Can any sane person. who
is a parent. believe for one instant
that the beautiful sentiment that al
most casts a halo about the head of
Santa Claus is calculated to pervert
the mind of any little child? We are
strongly of the opinion that the enemies
of Santa Claus are to be found almost
exclusively among those who have
never known the delight Of watching
the emptying of the stockings on
Christmas morning; in whose hearts
there is no responsive vibration to the
shrill and ripping laughter of delight
ed tots in the finding of new wonders
as the stockings are investigated and
the packages united. But it is not to
be admitted for one instant that Santa
Claus is unreal actually. He is just
as real as can be. He is a composite
saint, made up of the aggregated mass
Of loving fathers and mothers who have
kept their hearts young and tender,
and find delight in delighting the inn
questionable innocents in their own
and other homes. He is the persona
fcation of tenderness and charity and
sweet affection; of the proverb, TT is
more blessed to give than to receiver"
of that correct principle that greatest
others happy.
And as to Mother Goose: Would
any person seriously assert that the
charming stories of Little Boy Blue"
or Simple Simon" Jack and the
Beanstalk," or "Old Mother Hubbard"
are singly or severally responsible for
any moral lapse in any child, or that
they are dangerous to chaf'acter-build-
ing? Nine hundred and ninety-nine
children out Of thousand, possibly,
are possessed of a better sense of pro-
portion than those adults who are OBJ
jecting to Mother Goose. The child
knows that the droll rhymes are merely
play of Imagination; but the wonder
full adventures of the imaginary people
of the stories are not the less enter
tanning for all that. If it were
the case that children were born
with fully developed minds, then
it might be possible to elimi-
nate Mother Goose and substitute
! Browning, or Omar Khayyam, or
| Shakespeare. But. happily, the child
comes into the world with a mind suit
ed to its body. 1t delights in quaint
imagery and verbal gymnastics. The
rhymes of Mother Goose serve as a
! diversion; they do not form habits
of thought or modes of action. No
child takes "Tom the Piper's Son" as
a model of department, but every child
delights to recite how Tom ran, and
was caught and beaten when his theft
was discovered.
Santa Claus, the patron saint of in
nocent childhood, and Mother Goose.
the favorite poet of the nursery, may
be ever so strongly assailed, but they
will not be deposed from the proud
positions they occupy. They are too
firmly entrenched in the hearts of all
save misanthropes to be disturbed by
| iconoclastic assailants.