The Pensacola journal., 1909-12-19

I NUI IlSNtl-cio AS1AAAle5s en- " ell. a &tOODV
subject ittingly has a title of like kind
! and even in this joyous Christmas sea.
! son it seems meet that we pause and
! contemplate the rugged as well as the
/ pacific in the great struggle of hui
manity.
/ To a fellow perched upon an arboreal
/ retreat gazing cut of the foliage at the
| passing throng along Iife's highway.
/ particularly at this. the SUPPOSEDLY
/ gladest season Of the year, the thought
! comes that there must be something
sadly out Of gear in the vast machinery
Of human endeavOr: the engineer must
/ have fallen asleep at his post or else
the fireman has stopped to light his
{ pipe and the temporary slackening OF
/ the speed Of the power has permitted
an unfinished product to 90 cut into
| the world, a living attestation TO their
/ csrelsssncss. From his elevated point
! of view, our sociological student in
the tree-toD muses. thus Wonder
who originated that great joke about
/ aIl men being BORN equaI2 Il is n
/ patent fact that the inequality that
hangs about some Of them-MOST OF
| them-aIl their lives began when they
were two seconds Old"
ANY day of the 365 Will serve the
, = tHuGul VI ltclAA III pursuit OF MS
studies. but Christmas dav IS the one
upon which certain gIarirE facts i'm
press themselves upon him. He sees
thousands, millions, of beings crowd
ing, jostling in the streets-men un-
couth and rough of speech and visaCe
branded with the ineHacable stamp OF
toll Worry and care OF i'll heaIth-wO-
men. care-wOTn and sick, struggling
with crying babies in arms and
dragging behind more babies Chill
dren, childreni-hOrdes of them with
bIanched pinched faces CrOwding the
show windows of gaiIy bedecked shoDs,
gazing wiStfully at the ''beStest doll
with eyes what shuts" and the sure
'neugh engine what goes; they are
chatteTing away like a barrel or
Simians Of the joys that are not to be
theirs Children, for whose sake we
sometimes believe the glorious Christ
mas day was Instruction whose
happiness fathers and mothers plan in
all walks of life. These are they OF
the masses, that great thrOng of the
worlds workers who never know the
meaning OF a square meal a COZy
home. q warm bed, a mothers knee
and evening pTayeTS-neVPT know the
ecstacy of a story from father or
Jolly gathering where all is light and
laughter when the chill of winter is
dissipated by warmth and cheer.
Then, turning his gaze to the street
he sees whizZing by in a gasoline get
about. representative of the other
class, be-diamond. be-decked and pos
sibly be-damned, flying hither and yOn
with no thought Of the poor, cringing,
crawling jamb of the worlds scum and
workers who dart out of the way of
their honking juggernaUt only to be
prOdded by a helmeted miniOn OF the
law and told to move on"
Something Wrong.
Move on" "2-where- to cherries,
fireless shack or rented hOvel or to the
dlluring saloon? The hUman-nature
student must conclude there is some
thing wrong in all this cruel blighting
inequality among men-chiidren OF one
Father-proteges of one God And
there IS, too. There is 4 vast system
at work in the whole scheme of life
whose Tamifications, throughout the
warp and wOof Of the social fabric de-
fies the brain of finite man 10 trace
to successful adjustment 'Tis sys-
tenn that demands toll of human en-
ergy and aspirations-of the life-bloOd
Of babies-Of the honor Of giTlhOOd-
the happiness of mOthers-the heart
! hopes of fathers. It is an Unsuitable
tontacle, grasping at the foundation of
human happiness-TObbing childhood
Of its heritage, of the right to life
in the. open and a share Of the sun
shine and air instead Of living death
in mill and mine, tenement and tender
Ioin.
There is a system at work deCTeeing
that ChriC4rg7o shall =
mOckery Of all that it is supposed to
mean-goOd will toward men, In its
present usurpation and Interpretation
it intensifies the fact that poverty Is
the curse Of humanity and ignorance
is its parent.
The Christmas season is a time for
unusual CiSpensation of charity and Is
the occasion upon which well-meaning
butterflies of fashion cOndesCend to
remember the less fortunate by con-
tributiOns Of a monetary character TO
organized agencies or individual acts.
Upon this day a fuT-wTapped, per-
fumed bit Of femininity of upper-ten-
dom Will pat some poor. ginghamed
sister upon the back with a beWitch-
ing smile, present her with a box OF
bon-bOns, and Oh. you poor dear,
merry Christmas when it was beet
steak she wanted and needed.
4 pOmpOus. putting old b0nd-Clipplng
suy with a wealth of worlds goods,
salves his conscience by dispensing
huge chunks of Christmas JOY to
ragged America in the shape Of Bar
low kniveS-ten cents each at Dresses
Then the butterfly and pompous gent
buzz home in "Best-yet. So, settle
to the enjoyment of turkey and con
Comitant peTqUisites of a conventional
Christmas dinner. rare vintages con
tTibT-e TO the board. laughter and
music, light hearts and gay youth, all
cOmmingie TO make happy whole
merry ChTistmas-fOr them, The
other side? a piece Of pork. or at
best a chicken, real bakers bread ana
a whole loaf of it. and each one around
the fCstal bOaTd-the kitchen cook t.
bic. quite HkGly-eloTieS in n bottle OF
CoCa-Cola while the kids supply the