The Pittsburgh Press (December 24, 1943)
Editorial: Always a Christmas
There always will be a Christmas.
The fortunes and misfortunes of the world may alter the lives of those civilized peoples who celebrate the anniversary, but the spirit of Christmas is unalterable, even in war.
This year we observe Christmas with hopes high – too high, with some of us – and in overwhelming confidence that, ultimately, we will cleanse the world of the two great anti-Christ powers.
It is our attachment to the ideals of which Christmas is the great symbol that makes us an indomitable people.
We reach this 1943rd Christmas with some trifling inconveniences with respect to the usual amenities.
Santa Claus stores, jampacked with customers, have been short of many gift items, some of the merchandise has been slightly ersatz and service delays have been commonplace because so many of Santa’s usual helpers are absent fighting a war.
Transportation via the public utilities is more difficult and gasoline rationing has restricted auto travel.
But, for children in this country, Santa will be on the job as usual. His absence in the occupied countries of Europe and Asia should make his activities here the more appreciated.
Christmas is a good time for pondering the events to come before the next Christmas, and the fate of ourselves and the rest of the world in future years.
Public opinion can hasten the end of this war, force a just and practical peace when it is won, and prevent another holocaust.
Public opinion originates in the homes of America, the homes around which all Christmas observance centers.
If we do not forget, on this Christmas Day, the grim facts of history, or the grim certainties of the immediate future, we will have done much toward arming ourselves with policies which will assure the blessings of the Christmas spirit in perpetuity.