A MERRY XMAS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 414, 24 December 1932, Page 4

A MERRY XMAS

f There are people at the pre- | sent time, and even at this fes- ! tive season who appear to regard a wish for a Merry Christmas as almost indecent levity. We are not among them. There are undoubtedly many factors whieh tend to place a damper upon the feast of reason and the flow of soul whieh is proper | to this season of the year, but man, after all, is "born to trouble' as the sparks fly upward" and brooding over our worries will not assist them to I disappear. There is no partieular virtue in pulling a poor mouth — a stiif upper lip, in these days '.of tribulation, is of infinitely ! more assistance. Portunately , also, though man may be born | to trouble he has also ingrained ; in him an invaluable streak of optimism whieh keeps him, with j Mr. Micawber, always waiting for something to turn up. And notwithstanding all the dire pre- [ dictions of the pessimists, it is | surprising how often that some- : thing does turn up. It is in no • spirit of "eat, drink and be | merry for to-morrow we die," | ■ that the world this year will I celebrate its Christmas, for how- , | ever difficult things may be, I j there are still very many rays ; of sunshine to strike a fugitive ] glint from the silver lining. Per1 haps the most encouraging of j these is the fact that the world ! is now down to hard realities | and is grappling with them. Boom times have departed and although the way may be hard, we have at least left a fool's ; paradise and are on the stony | road to recovery. In the past i year, there have been many momentous happenings, and all of them have been evidence of a desire to get to grip with facts. Lausanne, among the nations, Ottawa among the nations of the , Empire, have evidenced that spirit and have taken a forward , step toward that co-operation, ! both national and individual, j wihich alone wpl solve our ; troubles. Even the war debts j negotiations, have achieved something in this direction for J they have at least found a chink j in the American armour of isoI lation. Every where, there is a jnew spirit of seeking, born in adversity and nourished in trouble but nevertheless holding the world's greatest promise of I rehabilitation. There is nothing I more soul destroying than self complacency and it was toward that stage that the world was Jtendinor when the Great War

shook its very foundations. There is a Latin tag "palmam ' non pulvere' — the palm not withJ out the dust of conflict — and it is the dust of that conflict whieh to-day is settling around us. Toj day the world is struggling in 'the throes of its greatest "crisis but that crisis past, there is hope that civilisation will emerge clearer thinking and with a sounder sense of values. The upheaval through whieh we have passed has emphasised as nothing else could have done, the criminajl folly of war. It has read the world a grim lesson and with that lesson before them, the nations are at last organising

against strife. They have a long road yet to go before they reach agreement, but the first steps have been taken. It is some encouragement to British peoples that the Empire has given a notable lead in this direction and that the national courage and commonsense of the British race has proved a sheet anchor against adversity. It is courage and commonsense and good humour chiefly whieh can sustain us, and it is these faculties whieh will enable us to enjoy a thoroughly merry Christmas and look forward with determination to the problems of the New Year. In spite of its worries New Zealand is a very fortunate co.untry; it has great reserves of natural wealth and despite its unemployed, no surplus population. Hard work, reasonable thrift and a stiff upper lip will •see New Zealand through and it is in this hope that we wish our readers a prosperous New Year. The Merry Christmas will look aftei. itself.