Show J ws m ff M WK U liu MU wo M m NI tv d 7 HE year that lies before is ever tho the year of opportunity the year 1914 on whose threshold we now stand contains greater possibilities of individual growth and national prosperity I 1 than a any ny previous year over ever promised individual effort Is encouraged cou raged by condi conditions inspiring confidence in results and the nation finds incentive in its own achievements and natural blessings to misuse which would constitute a national crime if the individual and the nation are guided by the experiences of the past as they should be the new year will be marked by progress and prosperity such as they have never before enjoyed at the very outset it should be borne in mind that the individual Is the fountain source of national progress and prosperity the spring feeds the tha tream stream streams unite to form rivers and mighty rivers replenish the rating oceans let the spring fall the stream dries up the river falla fails and the ocean below its natural level so the individual even the hum bum blest must continue his contribution to the rising tide ot of prosperity it he be would draw from that prosperity for his bla personal needs just as aa the spring draws from the ocean through them the con sensation densa tion of its iab evaporated waters the rain that waters the land the element of personal responsibility cannot be discounted without endangering tho the welfare of all neither by the individual himself nor by society A proper sense of responsibility compels seizure upon every opportunity within reach each if there has been one idea more mischievous than another as aa regards individual activity it has been the one embodied in the oft repeated phrase the world owes owea me a living it joes does it one earns it but the world has nothing to give to the lazy the indolent the sluggard in its compensation the world to Is reciprocal it pays hall bach on the average just about what the individual contributes sometimes rewarding meritorious effort generously success comes to those only who make good there la is natural law in the business world and obedience to that law la Is as essential as observance of oc civil law it if there is to bo be individual prosperity certain it Is that tor for violation of all law there is penalty which Is sometimes severe nor la Is thero there any excuse for failure to do ones part because of the apparent prosperity of others at his expense human experience has shown that a part of society cannot long prosper at the expense of the whole and that a part cannot long prosper at the expense of another part this experience peri ence has baa also accorded with natural law which rules on the principle of general averages in spite of many man apparent exceptions the second great mistake lies in arguing from exceptions a mistake which Is always productive of erroneous conclusions exceptions but make good the rule which only can be the basis of reason which in turu turn it if goad excle excludes des exceptions sound reasoning rea soLing demands lefiti excuse cannot da be found in individual failure therefore Ther eforo the new year with all its opportunities appeals to you it places responsibility on you its message la Is its up to you it if 1914 shall prove i year of prosperity to you it Is because you will have merited success suc ceas it if on an the other hand 1914 shall have proved a year of failure you will have in some measure at least been responsible As with the individual so with the nation let the cynics say what they will theres logic in the joy the world finds in now new years one day may be much tike like another but every day is a fresh beginning the years come and go bearing nearly the same freight of sorrow and failure and bitter disappointment but always hope feels the thrill md ind uplift of a new chance for humanity at the turn 0 the year and all that makes life i worth while la Is touched by hopes ma magic gic N new ow years comes with the increase if at light and the slow blow retreat of dark h 11 S ness in the northern halt half of the earth it tells of another spring approaching arid and who knows but it will prove the most perfect spring the world has baa ever seen 7 and there to Is another summer beyond which maya may be the ideal season neither too hot nor chilly free from drought and e excess i of rain just juat what summer ought to be and with natures new opportunity to fulfill the hopes ol of men and women comes one more chance for them one more great division of time which la Is the measure of life they meet and greet it in joy because it is unspoiled unmarred altogether clean and open for a fairer and higher record than they have ever lived into any twelvemonth gone by what it the hope of such advancement falls of realization in the larger sense and with few exceptions grows feebler and dimmer until it dies when the new year has grown old there are exceptions and they are beacons lighted tor for the guidance of humanity on its upward way in the glow of these triumphs of high endeavor which ena bleus all to keep our dreams alive the world discovers foothold tor for its climbing steps all this reasonableness of new years hopes and joys this consciousness which Is felt rather than rea boned of the infinite possibilities of life Is especially easy and natural in america here the balance between good fortune and ill inclines most often to the side of joy here the opportunities port unities which minister to hope are easiest to find and seize always and everywhere it if mankind is not to slip blip back into the mire of utter ignorance and bestiality from which the race emerged before history began there must be visions of better things in the future than the past has baa given such pictures call to the savage abeln in his hut and the barbarian in his tent without hope the inner life of the world would taint faint and die where there Is no vision the people perish but in america these stirrings of the h vital force which urges man mail upward and onward despite unnumbered fall ures and losses leap in the heart with new strength the hope in the soul Is in harmony with the environment of the race optimism is native to the soil boll the continent spreads wide aldei the fields of opportunity I 1 never was the uplift and joy of the new years coming more reasonable than it Is s today never was the outlook fairer for the progress of the nation and the world in thought aba cba acter and deed the old earth begins its wisest year its richest its best the close of the year brings with it a mingled feeling of gladness and melancholy of gladness in the anticipation of brighter days to come with the advent of the new year and of melancholy in reflections on the fleeting na ture of time and the gradual approach of the inevitable goal in ill the race of life ring out the old ring in ili the new ring happy bells across tho the snow the year Is going let him go ring out the false ring in the true that so interesting an occasion as the departing of the old and the ushering in of a new year should be distinguished by some observance or ceremony appears but natural and we accordingly find various customs prevail in different parts of the country and of orabe the world some are of a si sportive ortive character others serious and in others othera th both mirthful and pensive moods are intermingled ono one of the best known and most moat general of these thesa customs la in that of remaining up till 12 on the night of december 31 either in t the he home where a little family party may be gathered in the church where religious bigla us watch night service Is hold held or on the street where promenade rB re maka merry in no place in the world a the celebration of new years eve made of so ao much account as la in philadelphia in a great measure this Is due to the fact that it Is the cradle of liberty of the country catra try and the bell on independence hall is used to announce the age of the republic with the dawning of the new year thousands of people congregate about independence hall and when the clock points to midnight and the bell begins to toll oft off the years pandemonium Is let loose with the firing of small arms the tooting of horns and noises of all characters the celebration Is carried along all the thoroughfares in the heart of the city and es ea pec lally around the large public buildings which are ere elaborately illuminated new nev years eve is a favorite occasion tor for social gatherings in scotland and the north of england and when the eventful hour has struck the guests all proceed to the house door and unbar it with great formality to let out theold the old and let in the new year the making of good resolutions with the dawning of the new year Is a very old custom and one which has no doubt been followed with much profit it affords a splendid opportunity eunity to lay aside futile reflections on pa past st imprudence and mismanagement and to resolve for the future to do out ou utmost in fulfilling our duty to god and our fellow men ring out false pride in place and blood the civic slander and the spite ring in the love of truth and right ring in the common love of good |