SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 273, 24 December 1909, Page 3

SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS.

'BASED ON BLACKMAIL AND GLUTTONY."

The following is an extract from on' article in Truth, contributed in opposition to a paper oil the "Spirit of Christmas" from the "peace oil earth, go idwill to men" standpoint, which appeared in that journal, and which the present writer characterises as the "anserine twaddle of 'linoagc' journalists";— "The plain trutli ol the matter is that the -whole modern spirit of Christmas is based upon cupidity and lack of scifeontrol upon blackmail and gluttony. Extort all you can from all who are weak enough to give, and spend it on over-eating; that is the whole secret of keeping Christmas in the twentieth i century. I wonder how many' deaths could be directly traced —if any one were bold enough to publish the statistics—to the gluttony of Christmas Day? I <have personally little doubt .that, wlieic drink has killed its tens, Christmas has destroyed its thousands.

"For months past, all over the world, the great work of preparatory massacre lias been going on. Go to the markets; observe the hecatombs of turkeys, goose, Bhoep, beeves; of every other harmless animal t'hat can possibly be devoured by man; look at the expressions' on the faces of those who cluster round them; and if you do not become a vegetarian I ok the spot, it can only he because, like myself, you And it (Joes not suit your (Jigestion. Go into any housp throughput the length and breadth of England and see the family engaged upon the Christmas dinner. Mark tfho Gavgantean turkey, tho Hrqbdingnagian pudding, observo the flushed fa oo9 °' the convives, note tho devoted enthusiasm with whioh they sacrifice their future health, perhaps for weeks to come, in vain efforts to force more food into their bodies than the limitations of cubic capacity will allow. "Watch the discomfort of their own crammings, yet ever forced, by the precept and example of their ciders, to cram themselves still more, for all the world as if they were Sh-asburg geese being martyred to makij a pate' de fei gras. Remember the agonieji tyhioh they will endure irooji' ttw morrow—the yens of. h.fack draughts, the mountains of bltio pills which will bo needed, before they . are restored to comparative comfort once more; then go away and ponder, ,in solitude and alone. Atik yourself I whether you are in a Christian j honoring a great religious fipiyexswy. lof—wiafet