TCIEL DECEMBER 24, 1919.
FOUR
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WEPNESDA, ' DECEMBER 24, 1919.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
To President Wilson who has become
invulnerable both to the germs that at
tack the body and to the senate Repub
licans who assault the soul ancf spirit of
a man.
To the little children whose ecstacy
is the melody rf many homes, the joy
. of motherhood, the pride of fatherhood,
the hope of life and the inspiration of
attainments. May the stockings of ev
ery one of them be plenteously filled
by the dear old patron saint of Santa
Claus.
To the aged ones, everywhere whose
backs the years are bending and whose
hands are being palsied by relentless
time. May the season bring to them
the riches of rekindled memories and
a renewal within them of their youth!
To the infirm and the disabled and
the shut-ins here and yonder, to whom
the delights of the holidays must be
more inborn than inbrought. May their
pains be soothed and their aches be
relieved during these days of delight!
To the poor of the community and
the unfortunate, the sight of whom
Is the sadness of the season, the trag
edy of the Christmas. May Santa
Clans not forget them tis time and
disappointment thus be added to the
unbroken pang of their poverty.
To the various trades bodies of the
city whose business it is to promote the
business interests of Charlotte to the
end that this may be a better city in
which to live, its people alive and con
tented, satisfied with their environment
and rejoicing in their good fortune.
To the men and women In the prisons
where they would not Be these holf
days if they had learned tho lesson of
"peace on earth and good will to men,"
those who are thus denied the pleasure
of witnessing the happy countenances
of those on the streets and in the homes
and of hearing the merry laughter of
little children.
To the employers generally whose
year has been not only one of fatness,
but one of frets as well because of the
many-sjded issue arising between them
and those whom they employed. May
the Christmas spirit get into them and
make them more conscious of their
obligations to their fellow-citizens and
to those upon whose-industry they are
immediately dependent for their suc
cess. To the employees here and every
where who have forgotten some lessons
I hey should never have learned and who
are beginning to learn some others they
should have learned long ago and who
have the splendid opportunity at this
moment to restore public confidence hi
their ambitions and to return sentiment
to them in their daily struggles to get
along in the -world. Let them also not
be unmindful that they bear upon their
own shoulders an increasing obligation
to give back In tho form of honest toil
that which they take from the store
houses of industry in the form of wages.
To the friends and patrons' and read
ers generally of this newspaper w ho seem
to be increasingly loyal to those in this
office who are engaged in the business
of developing such a paper as the pub
lic not only wants but needs. Their
spirit of appreciation is stored away
and cherished: their criticisms are in
structive and their praises are inspir
ing. To men everywhere,'the joy of tho
season! May the message of thejp days
bring a meaning and a purpose, the
message of peace which has not yet
come Into the world, the message of
goodwill which is not yet universally
maintained. Neither war nor pestilence
bring f their deadly spectacles to our
doors now, but strife and unrest and
bitter antagonisms still prevail and
these are mutilating social sympathy
and taking away the sweetnesses of
life. (The spirit of the Christmas and
of Him whose birthday is being remem
bered throughout the world bring to
mind how out of time are these notes
of jealousy and angry clamors and how
they strike discordant against, the di
vine mlnstcrlsy of the skies as the angel-songs
ring down the long way of
the centuries.
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS.
"And it came to pass in those days that there
went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should he taxed.
And all went to he taxed, every one into his own
city.
And Joseph j also went uP from Galilee, out of .
the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, to he taxed with
JVizry, his espoused wife, who was great with child.
And so it was that while they were there, the
days were accomplished that she should he delivered.
And she hrought forth her first-horn son, and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in
a manger: hecause there was no room for them in
the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds
ahiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
hy night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round ahout them :
and they were sore afraid. , .
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for,
hehold, I hring you good tidings of. great joy which
shall he to all People.
For unto you is horn, this day, in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the -Lord.
And this shall he a sign unto you : ye sha 11 find
the hahe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multi
tude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:
?
Qlory to God in the highest and on earth peace
and good will to men. Luke 2:1-14.
I . .
THE SHIBBOLETH OF THE SEASON.
"Peace on earth; good will to men," the Christmas shibboleth is the song
of angels and not of men. For nineteen centuries these carols of the 'skies
have been resounding throughout the universe, uttered metallically by opti
mists but drowned In the monotonous discord of humanity. Magic they, are
in meaning, but still expressive more of an Ideal than , a condition. The
religion of Him whose coming these phrases announced to the world remains
unaccepted either as a formalism or as a practice -by a majority of the people
of every country. Christ himself has not been allowed to possess the hearts
of the people and until he completely enwraps and encircles and . dominates
them, there will not be a fulfillment of this prophecy of angel lips. :Sa long
as men consider themselves capable of running their lives, their business,
their government and every angle of their vactivity without th$ investment of
the Christ-sprit, we may as well expect the earth to be - filled with wild
shrieks and the sharp antagonisms of men to prevail. The fulfillment of
Christianity pre-supposes the acceptance of that religion by the race of hu
manity and until it is accepted and lived, by,-the world will not- come into
possession of that sort of peace and good will which can come alone. by! the
way of the Child of pethlehem. -
Rather sharply just now, we are thinking, the message of the angels in
proclamation of His birth is being broken to us. In the purely material and
physical appearance, there is no peace on the earth and good will does not
maintain between man and man. It is a fact that the Great "War which
sent its stout negation through the Christmas season for four years has come
to an end and the armies that spent their successive holidays in the . trenches
have gone to their homes, the men returned to their pursuits and the arma
ment or cattle thrown into the scrap
ceased and the hum of the deadly plane above is no longer heard on fearful
rnissions of destruction and death, but the peace that has come to the world
iy only nominal. And America is not even nominally and formally at peace
with its former enemies, while those
fixed motion of signing the protocol
hatreds against their old belligerents,
resting in the quietude of peace. There
quility.and feeling of fraternalism which
of the wars bitter finale. And greatly more to be regretted is the truth that
while battles between International armies have ceased, clashes and angry
clamors have arisen among the nations themselves; brothers are estranged
with brothers; households are separate from households, and classes are ar
rayed against classes, all making for turmoil and disquietude and unrest and
bloodshed. Christmas two years-ago found the sons of America lined up
against the kaiser's polished shafts; a year ago they were emerging, some of
them from te struggle of the trenches, enthrone in victory; today yet others
of them are found with their uniforms on, standing guard over American
property and keeping the outward establishments of law and authority from
falling to pieces. Bitter testimony, this, that good will prevails even, in pro
fessedly Christian America and that peace spreads its placid spirit over the
face of the earth! Thet scene has only shifted and the dimensions of the an
tagonism nave oniy oeen delimited. Yesterday, the agonizing conflict
raged from beyond the sea; today it is raging less spectacularly, but raging
with as an intense passion . at our front door, this spirit of enmity and es
trangement. The change, therefore, is only a change of date and a change
of territory; the old rebellion has suffered no mutation.
And thus- the message of the angels, the gloria In excelsis, suffers a bold
negation at the hands of the material appearance of things. Christianity
itself does not escape the assaults of the' cynics and the unbelieving for the
reason that it has not yet eliminated these passions from the heart of hu
manity and brought us all together in a common bond of brotherhood. But
the evidence of "peace on earth and good will to men" happily does not come
from the crusts of material sources nor does the effectuality of the ' Christ
depend upon the testimony of the streets. . The fact of Today is the fact of
Yesterday and will be the fact of Forever that the world inherently turns in
its troubled moments to the Bethlehem birth and the final certainty that shines
forth lustrously in the midst ofthis confused hour in human history is that
the ideals and principles and spirit of the Prince of Peace are on the highway
to victory. The real Armageddon as revealed by. the centuries is spiritual
and the world Is this Christmas-hour in the travail of a great and epoch
making spiritual renaissance, which ought to give to the Christmas song a
meaning and a mesc'tje it.hais never known since it first fell from the lips
of angels and-wp' oroken upon the rugged Judean hills. All the tempestuous
ness of these times, the upheavals in society, the goings to and fro of men.
the commotions of classes, the churnings of the State, the volcanic passions
that are sweeping through the world,
into the ideals of the Christ-child; they
toward the light of Christian truth
attainment.' Else why the gifts that
toward the pantries and the purges
is being displayed Just now and Just
-
"those In bonds" are, being remembered as never before? Else -why, too, the
complicated evolvements In industry by which: the ' contending factions ' are
trying to reach up to a new and loftier level of sympathy and co-operation
with one another, tho sort of co-operation that comes only through observance
of the Golden Rule? Else, why, finally, are there such movements among men
as indicate a search uniformly for the personal touch and a mergence of in
dividual purposes into group-purposes, all . destined to bring forth a practical
formula by which good will can be established among men and' peace in
actuality will come to tho earth. All of these things, despite the contradictions
of the everyday appearance of things, point unerringly to the fulfillment of
prophecy as uttered above the plains of Bethlehem, as words that announced
the errand of the coming of the Christ whose natal day we shall celebrate
and in whose all-encompassing spirit rests the hopes and aspirations "of the.
race. - - . ' ; -
- heap. The roar of the cannon has
countries that have gone through the
are secretly cherishing enmities and
so that the world is only ostensibly
is totally lacking the spirit of tran
were prophesied as the first fruits
are only the expressions of development
typify a movement onward and upward
and toward the high hills of Christian
are pouring from the Coffers of the rich
of thepoor, the unlimited "charity, that
here, right here in f!harinft ri
- - w v n uvi
" i--'-nmm--m . . , , ,v.r-.
THE FACT OF THE CHRISTMAS.
Every little child can repeat the song
of the angels announcing the birth of
Christmas Day. The message of the
Christmas is commonly known and un
derstood and the season is emphatic of
its phrase, but the big fact behind it is
seldom stressed. With the most of us.
Christmas is a trembling sort of a mem
ory hanging away back yonder in the
dim centuries, an irridescent, intangi
ble, dreamy thing upon which tradi
tion and history have informed us. It
is recessional and not processional. It
is entirely back yonder. And as such
it is observed. The gifting of gifts,
the singing of the Christmas songs, the
social pleasures that are emphasised
during the holidays are all the prod-.
ucts of the simple song of the angels,
that this is a season , for "peace on
earth1 and good' will," a time 'tolay aside
spites and prejudices,' to be kindly and
brotherly and helpful in ministry and
to have a good time, to be glad and
rejoice greatly. There is no" occasion
that this salient truth of the Christmaa
should be reduced in order to arrive at
a proper appreciation of another even
more important truth, namely, that
the first Christmas was more than a
song or an experience in which only a
mother and a few shepherds and "mul.
titudes of angels" had a part: that it
was a historic Fact and that it re
mains today the central truth of all
Christian experience. "Unto you is
born this day in the city of David, a
Savior," a phrase that means a great
deal more to humanity than the chant
ing of the angel-choir that, after long
and dark centuries of paganism and
idolism, "peace on earth and good will
to men" had finally' arrived.
There may be cause that Christmas
is not regarded as a great spiritua'l
celebration for the reason that its date
is not known certainly to fall on the
date of the birth of the Christ-child.
Common consent rather than chrono
logical accuracy is responsible that De
cember 25 has been acclaimed as the
date for humanity to celebrate the com
ing of the Messiah and thus it may
be accounted for that the event does
not take on the attachments of a spir
itual festivity, but is, on the other
hand, a" season for common frivolities
and social pleasures and pastimes. It's
the message and not the Man which
has been given pre-eminence in, the,
celebrations, of the Christmas only for
the reason, we take it, that the chron
Ologists have not been able to identify
December 25th with the date of the
Bethlehem birth. - The fact of the birth,
however, stands out as the great peak
fact ot. history and of the celebration.
The men who came to Christ in Hi.i
cradle were not looking in upon him
merely because they were jubilant that
an old order was to be overturned by
reason of His coming: or that a new
dispensation of peace, and good ' will
would be delivered to the people. They
were interested chiefly in the Messiah
ship of the Babe that had been born,
eager to ascertain if He were actually
the - Saviour that had been promised.
And, we submit, the central fact of ex
perience today in connection with this
annual event is that it is celebratlve of
a birth rather than a message, that it
symbolizes 'the cOming into the world
of Him by whom alone the world can
recover rather than it foretokens mere
ly, an era of '.good fellowship " on this
planet. . This is the quieting truth ofT
these times," We can await in patience
the 'fulfillment' of' the message of that
far-away angelic minstrelsy. -. We need
not be muchv perturbed about the de
lay in the, awards, of prophecy that
peace shall some time come to earth
and that good will shall prevail if -only
it is accepted as incontrovertible that
the Author, the very Prince of. Peace
has already been" borji into the world
and that His name. Is Wonderful, Coun
sellor, Mighty God and Everlasting Fa
ther. Others, myriads others, have
waid for the fulfillment, "have Iflhged
to witness the experience of, peace and
T: 'YESTERDAY, AKD TODAY, AND FOREVER"
fraternity on earth and have died, leav
ing their faith to span the long
stretches of expectant milleniums. And
we in this magnificent era can wait,
too, if supported by the faith of these
fathers, these modern Simeons, who
have been content to die because ihey
had seen the salvation of ilv Lord
"UNTO ONE OF THE LEAST OF
THESE."
Well -filled 1 baskets provided by the
charity of the good people of this com
munity are going today into the homes
of the poor and the deprived of Char
lotte, finding their way into the prisons
and almshouses and brightening the
season for the aged, -the infirm and
those who are shut in, from the pleas
ures of the great external world. Christ
mas would be worth all that it entails
if it brought no other enjoyment save
that of putting a white light in the
clouds that hang so constantly and so
conspicuously over this class of our fellow-citizens.
And it ought to be vastly
more enjoyable to those who provide
these things than to those who receive
them, for there is, after all, no contra -
diction of fact in the Scripture that "it
i3 more blessed to give than to receive."
The mere performance of giving gifts,
especially to those in need, makes for
1 self-respect and plants one in the direc-
tion of a genuine spiritual attainment.
Christianity has no more vigorous pro
clamation to make than is manifested In
the fulfilment of duty toward those
who are in bonds. "Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these,
ey have done it unto Me" is the shibbo
leth of practical and applied Christianity
and the religion 'of Him whose natal
day is to be celebrated tomorrow lays
upon its believers no more insistent
j injunction than that they "bear one
I another's burdens and thus fulfill the
law of Christ."
We should think, from the evidences
coming under our observation, that
never before have the warm-hearted
people of this community showed more
tenderness and compassion-and love,
toward those who have been stationed
in the obscure places of the, world and
deprived by misf ortune of the better and
more enjoyable things of life. It would
be fine to believe that there would not
be a home in Charlotte on Christmas
Day failing to receive its share of the
fatness of the season, not a home that
would not be comfortably heated and
its tables abundantly provided with the
toothsome edibles of the season; fine,
too, to believe that there would not be,
an empty stocking in the whole big city
when childhood wakes tomorrow morn-
1 jicr v'th anxiorv? and expectant face
and makes its way to the old familiar
LLatuiL-j to receive xne Deneiact.ons
of the season's patron saint. That would
be fine, for the unfortunate who would
thus be made to understand that they
"belong" to the great iamlly of citizens
of Charlotte and are not outcasts and
repudiated members of this big-house-hold.
But infinitely better would' it be
for those who would cause such a
laden Christmas to be realized that
they had a part in the bestowal of these
benedictions and that it was because
of their kindness of heart and charity
that these in bonds had been made to
rejoice and be glad. The light that will
shine lustrous in the faces of those to
whom such a Christmas would be taken
would - pale before the more brilliant
transfiguration in the faces of those
who did their duty toward one "of the
least of these." ' .
It is the hope of this newspaper that
the melody of this event shall reach
the hearts of all the people; that the
ecstacy that belongs so exclusively to
the little children shall be denied none
of them; that Santa Claus will come to
night to every household in Charlotte,
forgetting not a single one and that the
mqrrow's sun shall find the people re
joicing in the great inspiring fact of
friendship and in the truth jot the ages
that ' fatherhood and motherhood are
instinctive and universal and that Child
hood in everlasting.
THE SEASON'S GREETINGS TO ALL.
The' News extends to its host of
friends the greetings of the season. This
ought to be an exceptional Christmas
and the promise is that it will - be.
Neither war ndr pestilence hang their
shadows across the faces of the people.
Nominal peace at least exists on earth
and no era in history, has brought &
greater baptism of good "vrlll to men.
For these causes this Christmas should
be celebrated with triumphant exulta
tion. The year coming os soon to 'its close
has been filled with fatness for the peo
ple of this community. Goodness has
been favored them by a ' kindly-Providence,
'the' barns are filled with plenty,
the store-houses are .well supplied And"
an. uncommon measure of prosperity "is
being enjoyod by our citizens of every
degree. The' News, sharing in the good
things that .the community has been
enjoying 4o uniformly during the past
twelve-month, t recdrds its very sincere
appreciation of the many tokens of the
1 community's esteem and good-will. Its
1 great growth - has come about be-
cause of the confidence and interest of
the people in its well-being and because
it. has been its singular mission to serve
them in its chosen field as acceptably
as possible. And on the eve, therefore,
of the celebration when friends -are re
membered, when the better emotions are
allowed to sway resurgent and when ex
pressions of fellowship are appropriate.
The News desires to send the greetings
of the season to its widespread family
of readers, and it wishes for every one
of them. very Merry Christmas and a
New Year of extended prosperity.
W. C. DO WD,
Publisher and Gen; Man.,
News Publishing Co.
TO BRING BODY BACK.
Coruna, Spain, Monday, Dec. 22.
The American destroyer Thornton ar
rived here today to take to the United
States the body of. Corporal Thlsmor
ton who was killed when an American
ship was torpedoed oft this port in
A Lazy Liver
Causes a great deal of trouble, bil
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headache. Do not "put up with it;
correct it at once by taking
Hood's Pills
. Made by C. L Hood Co., Lowell, Mass.
I '
JUST RECEIVED
Shipment' of 10 New Models.
while they last.
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NO ISSUE OF THE NEWS TIIURS
. DAY.
There will be no edition of The New?
Thursday, Christmas Day. Those who
constitute the working force of this
newspaper are entitled to the liberties
and relaxations of the Christmas holiday
and for this reason publication of the
paper tomorrow will be suspended.
The News takes this occasion to x
press in this public manner its appre
ciation or tne loyalty or tne men ani
women connected with this establish
ment, their devotion to their tasks and
their unfailing co-operation in the mak
ing of this newspaper. Because of their
diligent efforts and fealty to their duty.
The News is coming to the close of the
best year in Its history of tnore than a
quarter of a century and by the main
tenance of these pleasant relations and
thes high ideals of service, we are in
spired to the determination to allow r
limit to be placed to the continued do-'
ment of the paper.
In appreciation of the services '
the men and women constituting V--mechanical
and business and editori.. i
staffs of The News, they will not 1"
called back to their tasks tomorrow an !
we express the confident hope and 1--lief
that they will have a Merry ChrL-t-mas
occasion.
w. c: DO WD,
-n Publisher and Gen. Man..
News Publishing Company.
F. D. A.
GREETINGS
- In -this festive season
Let us not forget the
Origin of the day, neither th
Event that brought
Joy Peace Life
To all Humanity
MAY YOU SHARE niCIILY TN
THESE ID2AVEN-BORN GIFTS.
ALEXANDERS
F. D. THOS. L.
v -
WE ARE
EXCLUSIVE
DEALERS
, l: C. SMITH
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