"But to the modern man these elemental facts of existence are taken as a matter of course. The sense of gratitude for their enjoyment is apt to be entirely wanting. Now gratitude is a very important ingredient of human character.. The ungrateful man, is justly despised. But gratitude, like all other virtues, must be: cultivated and stimulated and the day upon which we are called to count our blessings ought to be welcomed and utilized both nationally and individually. For there is none of us who has not reason to be thankful that his lot, however hard, is not worse and to the vast majority of us, a survey of the closing, year will reveal a multitude of causes for rejoicing.
Nationally, too, we have much reason for thankfulness. In addition to bountiful harvests—the primitive source of Thanksgiving Day—and reviving business, we should be grateful for the good results of our Washington Conference and for our escape from two impending crises—the coal strike and the rail strike—which threaten-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.