PAGE F01?“ TIIE GIiARLOTTETUIiN GUARDIAN

Morning Dally (Founded In I887)

dent: Lieut. CoL W. Chester S. Mel-urn PrmVlce-President: J. R. etl». FJ-l. Secretory: Lieui. Cal. D. A. Moolilnnon. 11.8.0. Editor and Managing Director: .l. B. Burnett. l‘..l.l. Associate Editors: Frank Walker and Llent. Ion A Burnett. R.U.N.V.R. (On Active Servlbet

‘The Strongest Memory is Weaker Th; the Weakest Ink."

FRIDAY.‘ DEC. 24, 1943

Christmas l9 4 3

This uill" ltc our fifth Christmas at war. and in this thought there is tuatter enough for sad n-fk-q-jntt. llut there is hope also. hone that grows ltritglltcr and utofC cotttidcttt as the dars pa».

_\ new chapter" is bcittg wrtttctt in lllllllilll lllslitl‘_\', :t Ciripttt‘ that should luring us, after tlte victim \\c l.'tlit\\' uill cottte in tlue time. nrarw in wirit titan ercr ltcfore to the tncssaee ht-artl h_v thc .~ltettltertls on the first Christmas ntornittg. .\= we ie-rcztd that ntcssage toclav. ' should h.‘ a li‘llllll\l€l‘ of the tretnettdous i=- t It‘ ~::tl\c in this \\:tr. attd the resuottsihil- ititw that will fall tinnn us aitcrtvztrtls. lt is conccivahlt- ' . aitcr this struggle wc shall be ahlc ti: i-t» a world itt which \\';tt' will cease

to ht". tat has hecn the hope of Christian peoples from time immcntorial. It has been ‘ tn ut rtll thc great philosophers and

(i l

'- .1 \'\ltt~tltct' or ttot we shall live to ttali/ctl, pour- ccut say. lhtt the plans the bnittwl Nations arc ntakitig for the pas‘.- war vcars all ltittqe on the cottcetit of a peace which w-ill endure at least for some gcttera- U-nts.

'1'.» llllilllllllll pence will not he citouglt, un- goodwill among the nations. .\lorc statcc . t and diplomacy will be needed .' that. The issue is essentially a moral and rcligirttts ottc-fltltat of putting the Golden Rule into practice on zut ittternational scale. It is us‘ simtfe as all that. hut after two thousand years we are only beginning to realize the ftit- ilitv of seeking other solutions.

(lift-airing is lmtnqercd tn some extent this Christmas by wartime restrictions. bttt there is no rationing of the spirit which shuttld he the ntaittgtrittg of ottr giving. \\'e can all give lotuetltittg of ottrselves, if only a smile and a cheery grectittg. We ltave with us still the punt‘ attri ticcrly. and thcv have fir~t claim upon on? sympalltv and heucfactiotts. The tncttibets of our service forces too, who are with us at this time-their hontes and loved ones may be far away; they should be made to feel the warmth of our Christmas firesidcs. It is hcartcnitig to reflect that ottr own young men and wonten are being similarly entertained over- seas. and that we are all truly one big ltappy

family in celebrating this glorious festival of ottr common Christian faith. Our church bells tomorrow will ring out

jovottsly in token of the glad news of the Nat- tivityz Speed the day when they will ring again throttgltottt the world!

To all our readers, young and old, a Merry Chriitmas.

Drew Government

Liberal members of the Ontario Legislature have agreed to co-opcrate with the Progressive Cottservative fioverntnettt of Ptemicr Drew "itt Ill matters which do not compromise Liberal principles "

This, comments the Ottawa Journal, is a sensible decision, and very practical. The Governmcttt grottp is a tninorityt in the Legisla- ture, and the Liberal and CCF groups, working together. could defeat it and force another elec- tion. The Liberals. ltavittg little hope of arty improvement in their position front such a de- velopment, do rot propose to assume thc re-

Supported

Sflfillfilhilllv of inrcittg the [lFOVlllCC into the extieusc and viii-rt of a catnpaigtt which cer- taiulv thc people tlu not want.

'l‘ltc main C(1l'.‘(‘l'll of thc people of Otttario is a stahlo and t-ificicttt adtnittistration, and (pl. lit-cu"; rvcoivl since he took office has c\'i<l<'|ttly' convinced thc electors that at least he should he given a fair trial. The position of the l.".l>t-ral~ assures. hint thc chalice to show his altilitv for his ill-b‘.

In Canada

'l'ltvt'e are 5.105.543 ltoolcs in the public and lulu; lil-rzti-‘tx- hf ('ait:|<l:t and itt 104i they attztitr-d 1t circttlttii-tit pf zoeRtfitfi among t.- Yct (‘ztnatlu i< our of the tin-st tutt-ve-l- .\(‘!‘\'(‘1l of countries itt thc 1111i‘.- tcr of v l rirculzttiittt. Thusc and other inc . t~ Pvcalcll in :1 survey for 1940- 12 rallwl lnhrttries in ciiltflllfl. rcccttllv l5>tlCIl

Libraries

t\_i,'._;_(f\ li|t'ro\"t-1'~‘.

lu- tlu- llnitiiifi-tu llurt-att of bdatistics.

\\'cll f-vi-t" hztlf thc oopulzttirtn of (‘attada is still without rtzhlit‘ lihrztry service. as compar- rtl with r-ttr-tpttrtlt itt the lfttiterl .<tatc< and less tlrut 1 prr t-cnt in llritaitt. lixticttvlitttrc for

lihtwtries llf'l'(‘ continues to he less tltatt 20 rents per cztpita. while it apuroacltc: m cents in l I lain antl is ntorc than .10 cents in the Uttitczl Ftatci _ The Q(‘lll'l‘I\l picture of library voluntes and circulation is slv-wv in the following table: Volumes Circulation

PEI. ‘ 57.526 227,239 N S 121.522 174,167 N E 102.797 233.036 Ontario 3.640.050 13,596,079 Manitoba 125.625 820.566 Saskatchewan 241.979 1.034.107 Albeflu 278.501 1.148.791 British Columbia 361.249 2.033.877 In per capita circulutiott of hooks there is 1

wide rliffct-t-ttcc bctwet-tt various centres. Syd- ncv is lll\\'(‘>l with 0.2. and St. Tltotuas ltigltcst will, 9,7. 'l'l1cre zit-e scores of places with no lib- rttrics :tt all, ltmrcvcr. ltt thc principal cities, 'l'oroitto comes out on top with a Clfflllfilfofl 0f 5.6 books per cttpitn, attd next come Wittdsot with 4.8, llamiltoit with 4.5. Ottawa with 3.9. Wiunitieg with 3.5 tuul Vattcottvet- with 2.9.

Olliwa- min)’ government officials use the Parliamentary library. The latter contains 426,- ooo volumes (compared with 178,000 in the Ottawa public library) which ntakes it the larg- est library in Canada with the sittglc exception of Toronto public library, which cotttains 042.- 000 volttntes.

- Eotromai. stores _

The Post Office announces the two-outtce “"6811! limit on air mail to the United King- dom has been removed. '

v u a

Boxing Day, ‘Monday, is being unofficially observed by many businesses as a ltoliday, giv mg employees and employers alike a little more time to recover froln the ‘Christmas season rttsh.

I

‘ The Social Credit Govcrntnent won the scat 1n the Red Dear provincial by-elcction, their candidate Mr, David Ure trimming both the Ittdepct1dcttt_and CCF candidates. The final vote gave Lie (SC) 3,539 and Erl-ggir (Ind) 2T4. \'ottttg was under the sittgle-transfer- alilcrsystcttt and the CCF candidate, Alderman l5. Li. Johns. was clinlinatcd on the first count l l U

“Shottlduhcre be an election soon in Sas- lcatcltetvart,’ writes L. L. L. Golden. in Tor- onto News, “the CCF will form its first ad- ministration in Canada. So Mr. King is in attotltet" of his spots. And spots, political crises, are his meat and drink. They make up for a lo: of other fun he has missed in life. In no place does Ur. King show ltimself more adept than tn a political crisis, and the tottglter it is the more he thrives on it. It is tlte tonic of the best dtvtde-and-rule tactician Canada has ever had. ‘Meanwhile figuring and guessing really do notttncan a great deal. For in election mat- ters. no one can for long follow Mr. King's tntttd. His election decisions are his own. His tricks rarely are repeated". u a a u , _ \\"illiattt llakcprace Thackeray, British novel- ist and lnnuottrist, died this date I863; aban- doned law fpr jottrttalisttt; studied painting in P3115; with Vanity liatr” he attained celebrity as a novelist, and its publication was followed by a long sertes of_stories all of which command- ed large circulations; as a novelist he combines nutnottr and pathos, with a streak of cynicism; lllS stylevts cultured and htscraftsmanship r1135- terly: Apthtng like blood, sir, in horses, dawgs, and men What tuoucy is better bestowed than that of a schoolboys tip?...“'l‘he wicked are wicked, no dottbt, and they _go astray and they fall, and they come by their deserts; but who can tell the mischief which the vcry virtu- ous do?" u n- n- at

\'§f._\\'c'rc pretty smart. retttarks the Brook- l.\'l1 lrtbttnc. the can outfly the birds, outswim the fish. \\e can talk banalities across the world. We know how far the ice extended in the various glacial ages and we can read the history of past ages from a few half-decayed bones. Looking at what we ltave done and a" doing we get to feeling pretty smug about our. knowledge. Well, who of us can tell how a. small Pomeranian ClOg was able to find his way from Norfolk, Va., to his old home in Patch- ogtte, .\ew York? Isle made it in 24 days, across fife“. lm)'i._tltrouglictties and countryside. How (ltd he find his way? How did he know where to come? And we can't answer by saying that he had the instinct; that brings home the carrier pigeon, unless were prepared to explain what instinct is. There is more to learn than we, already know.

u a u e

Archbishopric, referring to Prime Minister King's visit to Washington writes to this effect: “The creation of the first Cattadian Embassy in Washington is a further sign after a good litany others indicating a change in the orbit of the Anglo-Saxon world. Washington is replacing London as the centre of the commercial world Three other appointments as antbassadors were attnounccd by a representative of the Cattadiatt Minister of Foreign Affairs during .\lr. l\'ittg's stay in “ashington the day after his tncctitit; with Secretary of State Cordell llull. On ex uminittg Mr. King's foreign policy itt the past, we cannot fail to ttotc a parallel betwectt the two cvcnls. 'l‘hcsc etubassy appointments are in reality only affirmations of ittdcttettdcnce at a psychological moment in our relations iviih (ircat Britain." ln other words, tlcscrting the llritislt fommontvcalth of Nations for a Pan» Antericatt Union. ' U U U I

The Londntt 'l'itttcs has been tliscottrsittg on the ztgqravatittg ittistaltes one, with the best itt- t('llll0llS, utalccs, attd the consequent suffering on: uttdcrgocs, especially if unc is blessed. or ltilfflCllCd, with a sensitive conscience. "Lifc would be dull without ntistakcs," said Dumby, but Duntby was a character itt a comedy. Most people lutmv front bitter experience that one in- explicable littlc tnistake can blot out thc sun and leave the culprit obsessed for days with a (lcsolatittg cottvictiott of futility. A kind of nteutal vertigo seizes upon hitu, and before he recovers his nerve hc is practically bound to be ln-ottgltt ignomittioitsly down at least once more. The itttps of frustration which delight to trip a good man up haunt every province of ltuntatt endeavour; and it is only natural that thdgood tnan should ltcdge his sanity by ittsistiilg upon t. tnargiti of pcrtnissiblc error. When he makes an excursion into an tntfatniliar province he tends accordingly to adopt the attitude 0f an elderly uttclc who ltas consented to play blind ntan's buff with the children. Whatever may ltcfall, he will cudurc it light-ltcartcdly. It is no lcss natural that those who arc native to the province in which the stranger takes his carc- free way should be a little exasperated by what they take to be an casv, impudettt patronage. ‘fhcy arc slow to recognize that the brave show of gay irresponsibility ntasks a morbid ltorror of thc silly ntistaltc. Silly mistakes, Whelllcf‘

made in his own or other people's province. in“ variably threaten to ruin a man's happiness f0!‘ good and all; and it is no cottsolation whatso- ever to know that the mistake will cotne in lift-C to be a chcrisitcd jokq

TIN-g»; figure,- cuvvr ottly public libraries. In

.l..

l--~ai

L’Action Catholiquc, organ of the Quebec vc

rm: ct-mncrmtarown GUARDIAN

This War’s V. (Y! .__ (Kerwin Meegrtuth In Th, u. gtonory) The Vlctorlo Crow ls the

Bfmfil B119 e can w .-

bronu cross. bear me Lion o:

Enllond over the Crowkrt, 5M m; u

words “For velour". me o! oil 31101111 decoration; ‘m!

ers. Instituted in 1058 b e . ttorla, t,tot~ v.c.-.. wit?“ '“ md between that Jate and 1930 1-1;" are the stories and the award; of the ‘I1 V.C/s for this war award- ed up to September, 194a ‘Ilhg Royal Navy has won 1'7 (5 and one b" hive none to tho submarine service; n-nd the Fleet Air Arm has won l). The British Army, 3f; me Wlmflelt service — the RAJ‘- has won 10; the India-t Army, 6; New Zealtind. 6 (one to on Air- Foroe sergeant; and one to g Maori, the latter the first ln history m a. soldier of that. race). Sotttli Africa has won 2 (one in RAJ‘ ); Aus- tralia; l1; Canada, l at, Dieppe.

CANADIAN OLDEST V. C.

The oldest winner tn this war W85 Canadian-born Captain F31‘. Peters. V.C. 11s 0.. o.s.o.. R..N.R.. 51 and the youngest Ser- Bfiant Hanna, R..A.F.. a Scot from 1:51:10)’. who was 18 when decorat-

‘Illie great majority of the V.C.

winners were killed in action and

lhfllftieawards were pccthumously n

gra

The first v.c. of this war was u/warded to Captain Worburton bee. R..N.. for his llaniry tn the first battle of Narv k. Qrt m; own initiative. he took superior fumes of the enemy by surprise and nt- hwked WElfShltI-s and merchantmen 1n the harbour, A shell burst on the bridge of IIMB. Hardy mort- ally wounded the captain. whose dylnr signal was “Continue w en- zaze tlhe enemy." The second and hhlnd V.C.'s went, to flying Officer Garland and his Obflrvtl‘. Sgt. Grey, R.A.F.. for their coolness and courage tn bornblna the Albert Canal in May. 1940. Th6)’ were killed ln the action. The fourth V.C.. won 1n Belgium went. to 2nd Lieut, Annaud. of the Durham Ugh: Infantry. Wounded, he carried on tn command. holding o blown bridge on tzhe River Dyle. Alone. Armand drove the enemy from the sunken river with hand grenades. Netq; Belgium v.0. went, to 9011198113’ Sergeant-Major- Grlsttock of the Royal Norfolk Regiment. l-Ie Put- 11 machine gun our. of action and killed the crew. Grit-took died from wounds. The war‘; sixth V.C. also won in Belgium, was awarded L-Opl. Ntcholls. of H .M Grenadier Guards. Nioholls seized 1| Bren gun and dashed forward firing from his hip. Wounded. he succeeded 1n Duff-l!!! three maohlne gum our, of action. and his heroism enabled his company to reach their objective.

DUNKIRK V. C.

‘Phen came the Dunkirk V 0.. Captain Ervlne Andrews. East Inncadlures, who, witm his volunteers. climbed on to o burn 100mm. and. under heavy fire from mortars and amtour-plemlng bullets. acoounmd for l1 of the enemy with his rifle and many more with hLs tnuchlne gun.

Leading Seaman Jack Mantle. of

.H.M.S. Foyleoank, was the Navy's second V.C. Wnen his ship was attacked. Mantle was severely wounded, his leg being shattered. He continued to mount his gun tlll he fell hack. dead. Capt. Wilson of the East Surrey Regiment. won. the next! V.O.—ln Somaliland. Wounded ln hi; right. Shffllldel‘. one eye almost blind, and suffering from malaria. Wilson kept his post, in action. carrying on till relieved.

Then came the epic of Fltgtht- Lfeutt. Learoyds bombin: of the Dortmund-Em: Canola. rm- Dress- ing home his attack lte gained the

IJIeulL-Com. Sbaatnard, v.c.. o

H’ M.S. Arab, into Natnsoz; wharf ln Norway when the Germans mercilessly bombing it. In great, danger. stann-ird fouzht the blaze for two hours.

The first fltrhter Pilot to w the V O was Fliqht-Lleut. Nichol- son. R.A.F. Tn his burning Hurri- cane. with the skln being burnt off his hands. and suffering 1n- tensc pain through wounds to his heel and an eye, Ntcholr-ott attack- ed a Iilesscrschmitt. Wimu he ball- ed out. lt. took tum 20 tninutcs to reach the ground. After Nicholson ceme Hanna's courage it. putting out t: blaze on an aircraft and en- abling his ollot to bring the ‘plane safely ltcrnc. This took place over Ant-went). and .~o Hanna became a V.C at l3 He has been tnvallded out since.

“JERVIS BAY" \‘. C.

No story ln the annals of our Merchant. Navy history Will ever eclipse that of the bravery of Fogarty Fegan, VC.. th Irish skinner" frcm ‘Pippa-pry. turning his gallant, .lervls Bav to light a (Knnan pzcke: rattle. hip. thus bringing his own slfo bvttvectt the raider ard ’ts prey. With his arm blown oft‘. they last. sruv him. still givlnlz his orders-gator: down.

2nd Lleut. Bagot Sllillll won the Wat's fifteenth V.C. and India‘! first, for this war. 5|; Mctvmma. He was the hero of the urine-clearing operations. and risked 111s life numerous times. Hts countryman, Subadar Rlchnal Ram. was the next man to wln the V.C Ram, with his right loot blown off. and with other terrible wounds. fought. till he died.

The next winner of the honour was Flying officer Cantpbell. He flew almost tit sea level, puss‘ the very mouths of t-he oer-tack guns, to bomb scharnhost; at Brest. I-Ie successfully launched his torpedo. but did not rehzrtl.

At Tbbruk. between April 13-14. the first of Australia's V.C‘; was won. One officer, with Cpl, Dd- mondsmt gnfl five prtvatrs. made an attack with the bayonet on o party of German infantry. who were armed with at. least six machine guns. ls well as with mortars and small field nieces. In n counter-attack Edmondson was wounded in the neck and stomach. but he killed one of the enuny. Later. Ddmondsonb off‘cer, with his bayonet in one of the enemy. was grouped by the legs by the man. while o second attacked him from beltlnd. The officer called for ltclp. and lldmondson. in spite of his wounds. sprang to tits asistonce

tiling both of the enemv and un- doubtedly saving the officer's life at the risk of his Own.

at Greece. a lmttfahl kw‘ New Zeolond Won its llfztt v.c. of

this war. With amazln’: bravery, at Hinton ran at the trcoreat Bun ll OBEI IIIMIOG fillfifl,

8.0.. rammed tne bows of his ship h

l“ its richest. spiritual heritage.

IIOW IAI II l1‘ ‘I0

Lin: hi‘ lxlulb to Bethlehem! v .

Sgaileiiih find the stable-room Lit by a star?

the iittl Ohllcl, fi“lr."$.t‘°tt.l..t '

If we lift the wooden latch May we I0 in!

May we stroke the creatures there. Ox. us. or ‘I

May we peep like them and see Jesus atom?

If we tolwh Will He owuk Will He know we've come so tar Just. for His sake?

Great Kings have priceless izltt-s. And we have noufil-tt:

Little smiles and lttle tears Are all we brought,

For all weary children

Mary must. weep.

Here. on His bed of straw. y Sleep, children. sleep. '.

God. 1n HlyMot-har‘: arms Babes in the byte.

Sleep. as they sleep who find Their heart's desire.

—P'nncert Chester”!-

There Will Alivays Be A Christmas

(Halifax Chronicle) It is not. going w be easy to say or to keep "Merry Christmas" this year. The shadows that lle 0V9! the world and darken so many homes do not. bennlt all the un- restrained joy of the old-fashioned Christmas. Feasting an the old scale is out. for the duration. The- glvlng of gift-s lo limited, for there are s0 few to but‘. lll. in m

poul- strlctlona and the necessity to keep the pmdtwtlort score hltzh and the absentee score low. Much will be absent which makes Christmas, Christmas. but; with all the limita-

tiny hand e? "

CUSTOMERS and FRIENDS

In the friendly spirit of the Holiday Season these to you, with sincere thanks for your loyal support and (to-operation, May happiness and good fortune be with you during the Christmas season and throughout the New YEAR.‘

HENDERSON &» CUD MORE-

DECEMBEk 24. 1943 . ' “.

TO Au. OUR

greetings are sent

MEN'S WEAI}

tlons there ls no dnneer that tthe celebration will be omitted. For as certain u sunrise, "There will always be n, Christmas."

During the early days of the conununist. regime in Russia and of the Nut regime 1n German)’ atzlfifliDl-S were made no abolish Cnristmu or to substitute a festiv- al with another mean . but trhey d d n succeed. Nor wll sum: .

. d it (iii/gr tfipgspglgdt thing which ever came to pass in the world. It was the lblrthdol; a lolxt/tl; chili‘. ln A gtalb eoven eunuch?‘ ti: came-cutie whom the aged Simeon received ln film Tevnplerog Jerusallem arlrmthg ill}!!! 0 B. l1 ' 253.2122... ‘Lorri. 113w lettelt, ‘moi! “.l. ”°‘h“‘tt.°°%‘€€d‘“ éiffinlfi; co : ~ gyheg hive seenyflilyvdsolvgptn vmgfih f, GIG B mcihuhfft pliitifei a 11cm. u» 11am- en the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy le Israel.’ _ ‘d amt‘. “ “Si” fit"’fh'.““yéé'é git! sfi-tfe alrlid Fuglitefé and‘ wall ‘ t1 l ctr e “it la silencer: anidnthe dim of tgaedige and goodwill becomes fulfill- ed in a golden era of world-wide pence. This would be an cmDt-y dreary world Christmas to ll