The Dominion. THURSDAY, DECEMEEE 24, 1914. THE APPEAL OF CHRISTMAS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2341, 24 December 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, DECEMEEE 24, 1914. THE APPEAL OF CHRISTMAS

It is quite evident that in New Zealand the shadow of the war has done little to dim the glamour and appeal of Christmas. The tide of celebration runs almost as joyously as if there were no war. Daily the streets and shops are filled with happy children revelling in the innocent pleasures of the season, and the trade in toys and other Christmas goods is as brisk as ever it was. Evidently New Zealanders have no intention of forgoing the festivities of the season, and there are many reasons, some of them of a strictly practical character, why it is as well that this should be the case. Side by side with the call for sacrifice and exertion which the war entails there exists tho need for keeping the affairs of the country as far as possible on a normal basis, and the country never better does itself justice than when, having discharged tho special_ duties and obligations of the time, it turns to cheerfully pursue the ways to which it is accustomed. Apart from the graver things which lead to its perpetuation the celebration of Christmas is a normal feature in the life of the community, and the same applies to the trade and business bustle which is customarily associated with the Christmas festivities._ Like any other variety of trade it is interwoven with the life and work of the people, and cannot be set aside without injuring the general prosperity. New Zealanders are doing their part in the war. They havo ungrudgingly contributed men and money, and have done something to relieve the afflicted and alleviate distress at home and abroad. Having done these things and being loyally prepared to continue doing them in the future they have well earned the right to enter the greatest of their annual festivals with a good heart and untroubled spirit. They would servo no useful purpose by pulling long faces and sitting with folded hands because their nation is involved in a devastating'war. It is a time for action and optimism, and it is altogether right that at this season optimism should be given free play. ' • It would be'idle to pretend that this is an ordinary Christmas or that only gay thoughts will come to those engaged in its celebration. There never was a time when the union of hearts had so wide and deep a meaning for all true New Zealanders. In the midst of festivity many thoughts will go out to the brave and gallant men, on land and sea, for whom Christmas will bring no respite from the . grimmest conflict known to tho history of war and not least to our own soldiers in Egypt and Samoa, who will happily be able to spend their Christmas under pleasanter circumstances than their comrades on French and Belgian soil. New Zealanders will not forget either, even in their merrymaking, less fortunate people who have feit the crushing weight of war in their_ own towns and countrysides. But if these things are in the hearts of the people, and not to be forgotten even at a time dedicated to pleasure and rejoicing, they will not destroy the time-honoured associations of the season. "The British nation has often had to fight and strive for the things that it holds most dear, and the spirit which finds one avenue .of escape in a tide of joyous merrymaking at the Christmas season has never failed 'it in the past, and it will not fail it in the trials of to-day. The Christmas festival has deeper aspects which must find full expression in their proper places, butwe prefer to deal with it to-day in its_ immediate aspect as a popular festival and an indication of the joyous and indomitable spirit that has enabled the nation to achieve great things in the past and during the war", and will enable it to achieve yet greater things in the future.

_ The Christmas rejoicing of the nation is an expression of the spirit of the whole people deriving its inspiration at bottom from those rootqualities which have made the nation great and strong. The fnspiration of the season will not be wholly lost even on tho field of battle where our soldiers are pursuing their grim and deadly task with what has been happily described as "conquering elation." War in its immediate presence goes far to obliterate the ideals of which Christmas has been the symbol from time immemorial, but while justice and truth are upheld in the world even the deadly blight of war cannot wholly blot out these ideals. The darker side of tho war is redeemed by the bravo and conquering stand that Britain and her Allies have taken for the noblest human ideals, and tho people who have taken this great work in hand are able without hypocrisy to continue their celebration of the festival which is the supreme expression of idealism. Even in its more, limited aspect as a season of popular enjoyment and rejoicing Christmas is well worth maintaining and perpetuating, and doubly so at a time when the future is dark and troubled in a degree that would still tho spirit of mirth and pleasure in a nation not keyed up to a firm pitch of endurance and achievement.