Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-01
THURSDAY, JANUARY /, 1920.
What of the New YearI

Throughout the entire world, even by
rnsny In distracted and war-toTn Russia
the New Year was hailed with acclaim,
th,s morning II WAS IS though January
4. IN the Year of Our Lond one thousand
nine hund.ed and twenty, ushered In a
nrv era, one reh in the promise, even
scsuranccs, of untold blessings
Yet, as n,stter of fact, the initial day
vi the New Year, of itself, stands on all
aours with the days that have gone before
end those sh.t are to follow. Yesterday,
zodsy and tomorrow sre rs one, so far as
tune is concerned. Time Is simply time,
sIwnys progressing, forever impressing the
potent fact that old Tempus" is 'fugit-
ing right along without the pause of an
instant IN his tircless journey.
Time Is stirvided into integra parts, from
sseoonts to years and decades and cen
tyrrie.s for the convenience Of man in the
s.ransSsc ction of the various affairs of life
That tins Is necessary has been amply
psiarnonstrsted by experience. But one
day, so far as time is concerned, is no
more important no more significant, than
lanotber.
But the divisions Of time, hong accepted
hsTrd long recognized So essential to human
progress and comfort, brlng certain occa-
Sons into prsninence by reason of special
interest that sttacher 20 them. And one
scf the mnst important occasions is New
Ycarb Day. marking the beginning Of a
ncw anr-al section Of time and prog esss.
Alwaxs It u h.i,ed with acclaiu; always
with hore and toyo1s anticipation. For
with painful ,ecoIlection of sil that was
hurtfuI, or regrettable, or evil during the
yesr Just closed. the hurnanmind naturally
hooks forward to better things during the
year TO follow And even. IN the joys Of
retruspect1on there are mingled fond
hopes of even greater benefits 10 come.
And 50 we enter upon the New Year,
upon each recurring occasion. with more
of hope than of fear, more Of Joy than of
fo~eboding. And this time we have reason
for optimism The shadow OF war has
been removed from most Of the world. sn,i
there is expectation that before the de-
pArtur- Of the year peace VIII be fully
restored. We have reason TO expect that
soon great and potent move II tins
direction vii be made by our Congress
st Washington, IN the ratification Of the
Trraty OF Peace and the League Of
Nations Covenant without reservations
that VII impair the integrity of either,
Here In ou1 country we have expects
rfors of year of unexaTnpled industrial
and commercial prosperity, even exceed
rng the profitable, although feverish, con-
ditions of the war years, and OF the first
wear after the cessation OF actual hostiII-
ties An impoverished and battered
Europe Is engaged N the work Of repairing
the ravages of war and supplying the |
needs of devastated people. This /
situation alone indicatcs great activity +
III our own country TO supply these I
pressing needs of Europe Only 5 con
dision of grave industrial unrest, with /
Interrupting strikes, would operate to .
seriously impair this pleasing prospect, I
and it is encouraging to note the recent /
decided trend In the direction Of such /
measures Of conference and agreement /
between capital and labor rs may reduce I
this disconoerting possibility to the /
minimum
Indeed, progress along all lincsis indi-
Gated for 1920. Activity is IN evidence
in an the agencies Of civilized life. There
i. vlgor of purpose 10 all Industrial and
commercial enterprises Manufacturers
are reaching out for new markets Com
merce has an assured prospect Of pros
perity. The church was never more
awake 10 it's mission for the continual
betterment Of humanity. Society never
was more Interested In measures for the
afneioration Of the condition Of poor and
unfortunate mortaIs who cannot help
themselves. Science never offered such |
brilliant prospects for success in the
battle against disease. And there is even
hope for reduction Of the high cost Of
living. In fact, the picture Of the future is
really roseate.
However, time will tell But the world
certainly has Welcomed the New Year
most heartily and hopefully.