Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-11-21
APPOINTING THE DAY OF THANKSGIVING
PROCLAMATION FROM THE WHITE HOUSE IS ONE OF THE
MOST SERIOUS DUTIES THAT DEVOLVE
UPON THE PRESIDENT.

nations. All the Thanksgiving proc.
lamations ever issued by the presi-
dents of the United States are filed
away in its archives-back even to
1895, when George Washington set
aside the 18th day of February, in that
year, as a date on which the people
should thank God for exemption from
foreign war and from insurrection."
Consequently, the engraved proclama-
ton is retained by the department for
keeps" and it is a copy that is sent
by special messenger to the govern
ment printing office, to be put into
type. Printed copies are given to the
newspapers, Or to anybody who wants
them; but there must be typewriter
copies for the governor of each state
and territory of the union, and these
are made at the White House and
mailed from there.
1t will thus be seer that the issuing
Of the annual Thanksgiving proclama-
ton Is, from beginning to end, quite
an elaborate piece of business. There
is no law to compel the president to
make it, and Mr.. Roosevelt, if he had
so chosen, might have omitted it this
year or during his administration. Or,
if it should seem proper to him next
year, he might choose another day
say, the LIST of January-instead of the
last Thursday in November. But 1t is
reasonably certain that he will do
neither of these things, for custom
holds fast in the bonds of usage the
I chief magistrate of the nation equally
with the plainest citizen.
AS everybody knows, the celebration
of Thanksgiving day dates back to the
Puritans. At irregular intervals, after
their arrival in this country, they set
dates by public announcement for
prayer and feasting, in recognition of
blessings v~ouchsafed from on high.
Following this example, in the early
history of the republic, days of thanks
giving were appointed by the president
for special reasons.
But somehow the pious custom fell
into allegiance, and for many years
there was no national Thanksgiving,
until, during the civil war, a woman,
Sarah Josepha Hale, who edited a
woman's paper, and who had been
chiefly instrumental in raising $4,000
to complete the Bunker Hill monument
took up the matter, and persuaded
Abraham Lincoln to take an interest
in it. Thus it came about that Mr..
Lincoln issued a proclamation in 1864,
appointing the last day of November
of that year as a day of prayer and re.
joicing. Since then the custom has
held, and there has been an annual
Thanksgiving celebration for the en-
tire nation, at the instance of the pres
idant.
At the White House, Thanksgiving
day is always very quietly spent, with
out any special celebration-barrine
the fact that each married member
of the official staff, including the DO,
licemen who guarded the premises, re.
ceives q fine turkey. Nearly 70 fai
birds are distributed by Col. Crook.
the executive paymaster, who is him
self an interesting parsonage, mas.
much as he nag been attached to the
White House staff, in various capaci
ties, since Lincoln's time. Mr.. Roose
yelt usually has several turkeys,
which are sent TO him as gifts.-Rene
Bache, in Brooklyn Eagle.