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Show THE COMING YEAR. With the passing of one of the most eventful years in the history of the world almost instinctively we turn to the future for the realization of our hopes and aspirations. It has been well with us for the past twelve months, and our prospects are as bright as they could be at a time when half the world is at war. Possibly mistakes have been made and errors committeed that could havo been avoided had we exercised exer-cised due care. Being human, we are prone to err. But let the dead past bury its dead while we gaze hopefully into the future and promise ourselves that the mistakes of 1916 will not be repeated during the coming year. On the other side of tho Atlantic ocean the advent of the New Year will find the most powerful of the nations ; of the earth engaged in a war which ' has no parallel since time began to be 'recorded and men first banded themselves them-selves together and laid the foundations founda-tions of our boasted twentieth century civilization. - Tho people of these na-1 tions will take no pleasure in contemplating contem-plating the events of the closing year. For them it has been a period of death and destruction, of suffering and sorrow, sor-row, of blasted hopes and withered expectations. ex-pectations. There are signs of mourning mourn-ing all over Europe for the youths who have gone down to death, while a nameless dread benumbs tho fathers and mothers of the boys who are marked for the grave on the morrow. With the prospect of another year or two of the war before them the citizens citi-zens of the warring nations must contemplate con-template the coming twelve months with feelings of horror, for new vials of wrath will descend upon them and their woes will be multiplied each succeeding suc-ceeding day. The dense gloom that has settled down over Europe cannot be lightened by tho hope of victory, for the toll of human lives must be paid and the families of the Boldiers must drain their bitter cup of woe to the very dregs. Under such distressing distress-ing circumstances they cannot hail the advent of the New Year with joy, although al-though they will not regret the passing of the old one. The contrast between conditions in the two hemispheres is very great and we should rejoice and be glad that on our side of the world there are few dark Epots while the storms of adversity are bursting with unexampled unexam-pled ferocity upon tho heads of our brothers and sisters in other lands. |