THE HUNTLY PRESS. PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT 1 P.M. FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1916. The New Year.

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 4, 7 January 1916, Page 2

THE HUNTLY PRESS. PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT 1 P.M. FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1916. The New Year.

AS one turns over a new page in his life, and looks out on the uncertain sea of a new year, he naturally looks baok on the old year, and wonders whether the new will be better and happier than the old, or the reverse. Frequently, one is tempted to prophesy and to say what will happen in the year which is commencing, but it often proves much wiser not to prophesy, but rather to look forward in hope and make the best of things as they come.

To prophesy at any time is venturesome, but in times such as these, when our Empire, and the World too, are in a death agony seems most preposterous, and yet there are many who are courageous enough or foolish enough to do it, as witness the first issues of nearly any newspaper or periodical of the day. The prophets are not all agreed as to what is to happen, for some take a gloomy and others a more hopeful view of things in general but in most cases it is evident that the wish is father to the thought. There is only one thing certain about the present year and that is that it will be an eventful year for the Empire.

Whether the events will make for the uplift or downfall of the nation, will depend largely on how the various Governments on the one hand, and the individual on the other discharge their duty to the State. We hope and believe, that, as a consequence of the dreadful trials through which the nation is passing, both the ruling powers and individuals are learning more and more what a responsibility is theirs, and how the whole nation must suffer if there is any failure to faithfully discharge those responsibilities.