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Show JIS Published Every Saturday BY GOODWIN'S WEEKLY PUBLISHING CO A. W. RAYBOULD, Business Manager INC. pay-sbl- SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: Including postage In the United States, Canada and Msxlco, $&50 per year, HJO for six months. Subscriptions to all foreign countries, within ths Postal nlon, $4.50 Single oopleat 10 cents. e Payments should be made by Cheek, Money Order or Registered Letter, to Ths Citizen. Address all communications to The Citizen. Entered as seeond-elas- s matter, June 21, 1919, at the Postofflee at Salt Lake Aet of March 9, 1879. City, Utah, under the SI MM3 Neas Bldg. Phone Wasateh 8409 Salt Lake City, Utah. psr year. A CHRISTMAS ANALOGUE What are the wild waves saying these troublous days? Are we still disusing Europes bickerings, Clemenceaus visit, the tribulations of the Far st? Are we intent on the near tragedy of the Near East? Are we still suing lengthy verbal volumes anent war debts, agriculture, the labor problems, immigration, the weather, golf? Nothing of the sort! For weeks now, we have been struggling with the nnual Christmas burden! Where two or more people have crowded Christmas was the absorbing topic. The anticipated joys of that world-tid- e holiday furnished a never languishing theme for animated conversation and sewer-diggto statesman lor all classes of people; from nd plutocrat; from laughing children, filled with the elixir of life, to the bed and sear, who calmly wondered if this will be the last Christmas celeto the haughty social bration they will ever know. And from s lames of the the glad spirit of the Yuletide was passed bound, gaining momentum as it sped along and gathering gladness from far laid near, intimating that none in this great land would be left out of the to-eth- er street-sweep- er er scrub-woma- n super-mansion- linal reckoning! And why? Because Christmas ushered in the era of Good Will two thousand vears ago. It is recorded that before the birth of Jestis class hatred was rampant and racial hatred most bitter. The Greek savants, Socrates, Plato laid Aristotle hands were branded with disgrace. taught that Cicero made it known that he who worked for a living was lacking in quali- toil-harden- ed for a gentleman. So Jesus came and told them of the equality of mankind; of the real forth of those who toil and of the trouble the rich would experience in aties fit His teachings were liiametrically opposed to the best thought of the times. His views were neither ranted nor accepted. He was the advance agent of peace and equality in the world, but they did not understand, so they crowned Him with thorns and tempting to break into heaven. So they crucified Him! liailed Him to the Cross. But His message has left its imprint on the civilization of two thousand Never has it been entirely forgotten probably it never will be forgotten! Tliis Christmas finds us all Christians Christian in the broadest sense of the term not in that circumscribed terminology which applies only to We are all chnstians who believe in that message Dse who go to church. I has not been duplicJesus conveyed to a sinful world that message which ated in two thousand years! And moreover we are all Christians, today, ready to lead the most exact-linchristian life during the Christmas season. But it seems funny that so many of us make being a christian a mere seasonal industry. But there is a bit of ancient history connected with the celebration of the Christian fete with which few now living are familiar. Of course we all the mass know that Christmas originally designated as Christes Masse of the church festival of Christ is the English name of the day on which the birth of Jesus Christ is observed in all Christian countries, being a legal of holiday in most of them. Many do not know, however, that the period of feasting and rejoicing the year when Christmas comes has been a season by every race, pagan or christian, since earliest history. It is explained that the winter solstice which occurs about December 22 I rears. en-tire- ly g I I is the time when the sun, having reached its greatest declination seems to slow up a bit and show an inclination to assume regular habits. Instead of grow- ing shorter the days now become longer and the sun, in its mighty sweep from east to west, gives faint hint of the balmy spring tide. In the early history of the world all people were profoundly interested in the sun. Sun celebrations were observed by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Teutonic nations, and by others who worshiped it. It is an indisputable fact that our Christian custom of the present, was handed down through the centuries from these older pagan races. During the ancient celebration of the festival of the winter solstice, in many lands, all laws were practically abandoned, the utmost license obtained and rank disorder reigned unchecked. That seems to mark the origin of the present-da- y expression Saturnalia as indicating riotous revelry. In ancient Scandinavia, Germany and Britain the same character of celebrations took place at this season of the year. The Goths and Saxons named this festival Jol or Yule, a word still used as synonymous with Christmas. During Yuletide the Scandinavians lighted great fires in honor of their god Thor. This is the origin of the lighting of the Yuletide log, which in our own early times was one of the principal ceremonies of the Christian observance, and is still common in many parts of England. While it is true that many of the customs connected with the observance of Christmas of today can be traced back to these pagan celebrations, little is known about the origin of our own Christmas, or when and where it was first celebrated. No one really knows if December 25 is the exact date of the birth of Jesus. Many theories have been advanced concerning the date of the birth of Christ, but they are not backed by any facts. The Bible is silent as to the date. The early Christians considered the celebration of birthdays as heathenish, and the birthday of Jesus was no exception to the general rule. . In the course of time this prejudice vanished and the proper date for observing Christmas was looked into. It was then found that the Western churches observed December 25, and the Eastern churches gave preference to January 6. It was finally agreed to compromise and the custom of the Western churches was adopted. Thereafter both branches of the Christian church celebrated Christmas on December 25. History fails to record the exact date on which this compromise was accomplished. The best authorities claim, however, that fixing of December 25 as the date for Christmas was the act of Julius I., pope of all Christianity from 337 to 352 A. D. Certain it is that by the end of the fourth century this date was accepted by all Christendom and Christmas has been celebrated on December 25 ever since. WHOS WHO IN PROGRESSIVE RANKS. A fair summary of the personnel of those called to meet with Senator Bob LaFollette in the recent conference, heralded to the nation as a gath- ering of the progressive clans, raises the question as to which direction is drifting. pro-gressivcis- m How far removed it was from a purely progressive conference, aside from the few Senators and Representatives who attended, is disclosed in a brief sketch of the personal activities of numerous invited guests, which lent |