Show the meaning of christmas the season of 0 christmas Is at al he hand n d in every city town and ham let in the united states the people have been busy during the past few weeks seeking something to present to the loved ones at home and a brond for it la iq at this time of year that we seek beek especially to remember those who aro are near and dear to us either by ties of 0 blood or friendship the christmas custom Is an old one antedating ante dating our christian civilization and when the christian fathers converted the savage tribes who formed the ancestors of most of us they changed pagan customs to christian ones so now christmas day observing the birth of the christian savior Is quite properly the day upon which we hang up tile the stocking trim the tree and radiate peace good cheer and brotherly love and because this flits christmas season seabon la Is so BO time honored we have come to regard it as a matter of course few of us therefore ever stop atop to consider what might happen to our economic system if this christ mas season with its customs were suddenly in some supernatural manner nar wiped out of our human existence for every year factories in europe and america are busy manufacturing christmas goods giving employment to hundreds of thousands of people everywhere then these goods find themselves on the shelves of the merchant in the united states and every other civilized land and are sold to the people who observe the christmas season december consequently la is the biggest retail business month of the year and hundreds of millions annually are spent to make the christmas season a real holiday it is easy to see then that it if the christmas spirit were suddenly to disappear there would be a real economic calamity in every christian nation as stimulant to production nothing can surpass the christmas spirit the economic loss however would not be in any degree so great as the ethical loss for the good cheer and generosity of christmas send a tine fine impulse over tile the world lasting a great deal longer than the christmas season itself what christmas mearn to our children and to the memory of our own childhood la is worth a thousand times what it costs and the spirit of which christmas day engenders to say nothing ot of its purely religious phase to is worth another th thousand usand times the cost that Is why in addition to its purely spiritual significance christmas means so much to us it Is tile the one season of the year when we feel that e can forget our little petty troubles and differences of opinion und and join in the tun fun let us not forget our friends on oil this one big day of the year even a kindly message will suffice it if we cannot remember them more substantially ly for after all it la is tile the of the gift and not the intrinsic value which counts the santa claus spirit entirely tor for the children it concerns the grownups grown ups upa too who after all are only the children of yesterday three cheers tor for st nicholas then and may hla his trip this thia year be so suc consul that nobody will be neglected and it there Is any danger that any one will bo be missed let our good fel lows iowa BOO bee that st nick 18 provided with the name and address amera america ca la Is at the high tide of prosperity this year everybody especially ev ery youngster should have a visit from santa claus the roosevelt standard |