The Press

As editorial writers of some experience we have always been annoyed at the memory of the notorious editorial generally reprinted from The New York Sun about this time of year, answering the little girl who wrote to the paper requesting information as to the validity of Santa Claus.

We doubt, first of all, whether the letter was legitimate, and suspect that some editorial hack, overcome with sentiment at the sight of civilization's annual preparations for the holiday season, penned it himself for the opportunity to reply. And his answer, if subjected to the scrutiny of a logician, would be revealed as evasive and confusing.

Reflecting perhaps a general trend. The Dartmouth would like to state at this time that it holds no brief for the editorial policy of The Sun. For the benefit of little girls and little boys in Hanover, White River Junction, Lebanon and Norwich, we categorically deny the actual presence of a Santa Claus. There is no Santa Claus, there never has been one, and there never will be.

But we shall go further than this. Not only is there no Santa Claus; we also believe that Christmas should be abolished. Space does not permit a fuller catalogue of our reasons; let the expense, the inevitable annual deterioration of mental stability and the endless irritation of Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas" argue for themselves.

If our reasons are brief, our determination is first. There is no Santa Claus, and there should be no Christmas--Daily Dartmouth, Friday, Dec. 13.