THE SCROOGE WHO WOULD NOT GIVE A SUBSCRIPTION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 32, 10 December 1943, Page 3

THE SCROOGE WHO WOULD NOT GIVE A SUBSCRIPTION

"Here is Christmas with us once again—and Christmas is marked by a kind, of outburst of. beneficence. We give presents to one another, We think of absent friends. We remember our poorer neighbours. It is all very beautiful and delightful when it issues from a loving heart.

"But Ii imagine some people find Christinas more, than a bit ol a nuisance. As a matter of simple decency, they are bound to do something in the way of giving. But theA cut it down to the barest limit, and Avliat they do they do grudgingly. They get annoyed by the multitude of appeals which Christmas brings with it, even though they do not respond to any of them. Such people know nothing of the fun of Christmas, and such gifts as they make don't carrv very much pleasure with them.

"They are in the condition Scrooge was in before the spirits appeared to him —the Scrooge who Avouldn't give a subscription to make a happy Christmas lor the poor ; the Scrooge who accused Bob Cratehit of robbing him of a day because Christmas Day was a holiday; the -Scrooge who called Christmas humbug and who wouldn't go to his nephew's for his Christmas dinner..

"liul. Scrooge. alter the visits of the spirits, is the man to imita'te—■ the Scrooge who gives with his two hands, with a certain lavishncss and extravagance; the Scrooge who .sent the. prize turkey to Bo!) (Iratchit's, not the little, prize turke}", but the big one; the Scrooge who gave the boy half a crown to go and bring the turkey with him within live minutes: the Scrooge who, meeting the old gentleman whose appeals he. had so ruthlessly refused the day before, takes his breath away by the largeness of the subscription he olTered; 'the Scrooge who turned up at his nephew's after all. and who was at home with everybody in live minutes. and who had such a wonderful party; the Scrooge who. next morning, gave Hob Cratch it such a dig in the ribs as almost sent liiiu staggering into the tank, and said, "L am not going to stand Ibis sort of thing an}* longer, and therefore 1 am about to raise your salary."' What a Christmas Scrooge had. and what a Christmas lie gave ! "I'or giving is the quality of 'mercy' which comes from the glad (Continued in next column)