Imperial Valley press., 1936-12-24
IS THERE
A SANTA CLAUS?

4 SANTA CLAUS!
rs there Santa CLAUSE" is the most famous
editorial that has ever been written for children
the subject of Christmas cat least, it was
intended for children, but grownups usually
enjoy il just much youngsters) The
tele was the result of question put to the
editor of The New York Sun in September,
1897 Edward p Mitchell the editor, turned it
over to his assistant Francis P. Church. to an
sWer-and out Of Mr. Church's sympathetic ma
ture, mellow wisdom and sound craftsmanship
came rs There A Santa CLAUSE" 1t is a gen.
Grafton since this piece originally appeared
little Virginia OHanlon who asked the ques-
ton is Mrs. Edward M Douglas. a vice.
principal in the New York public school system
yet year after year people write in TO The
Sun and ask them for copies of the editorial.
It has been published in every conceivable form
in every quarter of the globe And pre-
sent it to you, with hope that those of our
young readers who have not seen il will find a
thought in its words and with the conviction
that our older friends who have seen it before
will enjoy reading it again.
We take pleasure in answering at once
and thus prominently the communica-
ton below, expressing at the same time
our great qualification that its faithful
author is numbered among the friends
of The Sun:
Dear Editor:
| am years old.
Some of my little friends say there is
no Santa Claus.
Papa says "If you see it in The Sun
it's So
Please tell me the truth, is there
Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon.
lis West 95th Street
Virginia, your little friends are wrong.
They have been affected by the skepti-
cism of skeptical age They do not
believe except they see They think that
nothing can be which is not comprehen-
sible by their little minds. All minds,
Virginia, whether they be mems or chill
dren's, are little. In this great universe
of ours man is mere insect, an ant, in
his intellects, as compared with the
boundless world about him, as measured
by the intelligence capable of grasping
the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is Santa Claus.
He exists as certainly as love and gener-
osity and devotion exist, and you know
that they abound and give to your life
its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how
dreary would be the world if there were
no Santa Claus! 1t would be as dreary
as if there were no Virginias. There
would be no childlike faith then, no
poetry, no romance to make tolerable
this existence We should have no enjoy
ment, except in sense and sight. The
eternal light with which childhood fills
the world would be extinguished
Not believe in Santa Claus You might
as we'll not believe in fairies! You might
get your papa to hire men to watch IN
all the chimneys on Christmas eve to
catch Santa Claus, but even if they did
not see Santa Claus coming down, what
would that prove? Nobody sees Santa
Claus, but that is no sign that there is
no Santa Claus. The most real things
in the world are those that neither chill
dren nor men can see. Did you ever see
fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course
not, but that's no proof that they are
not there. Nobody can conceive or i'm
agine all the wonders there are unseen
and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby's rattle and
see what makes the noise inside, but
there is veil covering the unseen world
which not the strongest man, nor even
the united strength of all the strongest
men that ever lived, could tear apart.
Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance,
can push aside that curtain and view
and picture the supernal beauty and
glory beyond. Is it all real? All, Vir-
ginia, in all this world there is nothing
else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives,
and he lives forever. A thousand years
from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten
thousand years from now, he will con-
tinue to make glad the heart of child
hood.