Pages from the I Editors Notebook i It pays to advertise The New York Times is a good publication The town council has decided to advertise Newmarket in a special issue of the New York Times The same argument we used last week against hiring an industrial commission now can be applied in arguing against a ad in the Times At the moment the town has little or nothing to sell Per haps after several months or a year or two annexation pro ceedings will have been com pleted and industrial lands will have been serviced then the town will have something to sell Advertising at the wrong time can do harm to any busi ness We have seen premature national advertising campaigns in our own paper on occasions recall a specific occasion From the Files of when we ran a campaign for a new consumer product in our publication After the cam paign started we checked and found no products on retail ers shelves in this area The distribution of goods was a failure the clients sales man ager had made no arrange ments with dealers to carry the products Money was lost in the advertising campaign But results were worse than that alone Consumers who saw the ads and tried to buy the pro ducts lost faith in the manu facturer If an industrialist sees an ad in the New York Times he might say That sounds like a good town where I can open a new plant If he takes the time to write or travel New market he may find the town has nothing to sell at the pres ent time a and Serving Newmarket and the rural districts of North York The Newmarket Era The Express Herald 189S and 50 Years Ago it December 23 Mr home from Guelph Agricultural College for the Christmas holidays The Misses Ramsay St are spending the Christmas holidays in Ottawa Mrs John Jackson was given a birthday party by Mrs Wal ter Haines on Queen St last Monday afternoon it being her fllst Her mother Mrs Bayly conducted a private school in Newmarket for about years Mrs Armstrong and the two daughters from came up and took dinner on Monday with the letters grandmother Mr and Mr of the Pickering Col lege staff assisted in the Star Santa Claus fund program in Eaton auditorium on Mon day evening Mr Fred an old New market Bank boy sends us a picture of Park Mea- which he made 35 years ago and other picture cards Which show that Mcaford is a busy tourist place in summer Mrs J Harrison left on Thursday to spend Christmas with her mother Mrs Lander in Mr Keith Thomas and little son from Maple visited his aunt Miss Keith over the weekend Mrs Margaret Acton of Che- ley and her sister Miss Bertha Weddel of Toronto spent the weekend with the fam ilies at the old homestead in East Mrs Douglas Wood row of Toronto who was Miss Veda Do an of Newmarket was the holder of a lucky Lions club ticket in the city that won a new car last week Mr and Mrs J O Moss left this week to spend several Weeks with their daughter Mrs Arthur Johnston in New York Mrs Wesley of Acton spent the weekend with Mrs in town December 27 1907 Beautiful Meteor About on Tuesday morning a meteor of exceptional brightness pass ed along the eastern heavens for two or three seconds and then burst with great splendor similar to a sky rocket Those who were fortunate to be out at that time of the morning had a rare view Wheres your bells A good many persons both in and out of town are violating lav by driving rigs without bells Peo ple will be paying the price of a string of bells as soon as the inspector can get after them in the shape of fine and costs and then be compelled purchase bells as well or stop driving around A Special Car A special car will be run on Monday Jan from Newmarket leaving at 1240 pm for Jacksons Point and Intermediate stations This is at the request of many pro perty owners who have pro perty through the northern part of the county of York who wish to record their votes on this election day This will enable all persons to go on this car and return on the car leaving Jack sons Point at 245 Mr and Mrs A and little son spent Christmas with relatives in where Mrs expects to spend a month before returning home Mr and Mrs J were given a handsome off at Kingsville one evening this week They expect to ar rive in Newmarket tomorrow or Monday Mr is the new Model School principal Mr and Mrs of Toronto also Mr and Mrs Melville and family of Orillia are spending Christ mas holidays with Mr and Mrs Mrs Alfred Toole and son Boss of Aurora were the guests of Mi Johnson one day last week By Andrew Murdison Heart Throbs Humor Following the footpaths Of relentless time we have arrived at the of the year CHRISTMAS In this year of what does it What are the signs of mean promise Even through the mists of commercialism and most of us are Involved which carry us through the floodgates of fren zied buying giving and receiv ing we still can feel the heart throbs of happiness of family reunions the children and their joys of the moment With the strifetorn world locked outside we for a brief spell will try to reach out for something fleeting as it is something that makes us better that inspires us with hope comfort and good cheer those things that make dark days endurable and sunny days enduring Those things that touch and pulsate with the best and noblest emotions and sentiment Those things that bring back the happy memories of the past Those things that reveal the hopes of the present and give us faith for the fu ture In the face of worldly greed and selfishness the curse of humanity we can still enjoy the glories of true friendship companionship good neighbors and true brotherhood Yes it is Christmas again and time to usher in the real spirit of PEACE ON EARTH GOODWILL TOWARD MEN Published every Thursday at 30 Charles St Newmarket by the Newmarket Era and Express Limited Subscription for two years 350 for one year in advance Single copies are each Member of Class A Weeklies of Canada Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association and the Audit Bureau of Circulations Authorized as Second Class Mall Post Office Department Ottawa John E Managing Editor Caroline Ion Associate Editor George Haskett Sports Editor L Racine Production E W Stefaniuk Advertising TUESDAY THE TWENTYFOURTH DAY OF DECEMBER NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTYSEVEN THE EDITORIAL PAGE MERRY CHRISTMAS Editorial writers commentators pundits and the clergy are turning out copious material this season about influences which hide the basic meaning of Christmas The evils of commercialism have been hammered out so frequently on the editorial pages of newspapers the past few years that we are not stimulated by the sub ject Certainly enough has been said about our crazy drive toward materialistic objectives in the western world We doubt that many people have not paused to con sider the fact that civilization perhaps is on the brink of disaster The evidence mounted to such a point in that only a stupid person could miss its significance We will go ahead and celebrate Christmas will have a merry Christmas doing all the happy things we have done with the family in the past We will have a joyous time not because we think it could be for the last time but because Christmas really provides hope for a better future It strengthens our faith in the possibility that mans problems will be resolved and that we will live in a peaceful world ON THE INDUSTRIAL PLAN Perhaps this newspaper was unfair to one member of the Newmarket town council in an editorial appear ing on this page last week It was pointed out that Councillor John had presented a financial r- warning against the town spending more money than was necessary for the health and safety of the people and at the same meeting had seconded a motion to hire an industrial commissioner The writer of an editorial assumes that his readers also study the news reports on the same subject When the reader is not familiar with the facts in news reports quotations in the editorials may present him in a poor light to that reader For that reason wo quote Mr as reported in last weeks issue We should look at the entire pro position carefully The salary cost is just the beginning There will be other expenses Travelling entertaining office accommodation and clerical help eventually might cost the town as much as to a year We must take into account the effect of this salary on the other employees of the town Mr Bullock mentioned two or three vacant factories in the town He could go to work on them but there is little serviced land now and more couldnt be acquired in less than six months to a year We must ask ourselves is an appointment like judicious at the present time or are we getting ahead of ourselves Some will feel that it will take Mr Bullock some time to get settled and he should be en gaged now Mr certainly looked at both sides of the question Other members of council this week have pointed out to us that a majority of the council arc sitting on the council We also are informed that others of the newly elected council were informed of the move to hire a commissioner Nevertheless we still be lieve that the proposal should have been left for discus sion by the council as a unit At press lime we have been informed that more facts from the planning board on the subject of indus trial expansion will be presented to this newspaper We have been told that we would not have written last weeks editorial had we known these facts In the mean time we have an open mind and will present any new information in next weeks issue WATER SCYTHE Designed by UK firms to clear weeds from small ponds and rivers is a special underwater scythe reports The Financial Post Equipped with handle extendable from six to 12 ft it can be operated from bank or boat Blades can be adjusted for different types of weed Just the thing for Fairy Lake OUR SIDE OF THE STORY by HARVEY DEMOCRACY DOES NOT ADVOCATE SELFISHNESS When General argued that democracy appeals to selfishness he was merely turning to commun ist use an old misunderstanding a b the nature of liberal democracy Communists persist in maintaining that the essen tial differences between their society and ours lies in economic systems theirs being socialist and ours capi talist They accordingly marshal all the criticisms that have been leveled at capitalism and turn them into an attack on democracy The attack is obviously de signed to divert attention from the fact that their system is a ruthless dictatorship but their attach is formidable enough to merit a reply In the first place it must be remembered that de mocracy is not committed to any economic system de mocrats will socialize an industry any time they become convinced that public operation will give better results than free enterprise The coal mines in Britain Poly mer and Hydro in Canada and Atomic Devel opment in the US are well known examples Admittedly our economic system is predominantly capitalist and capitalism admittedly relies on the profit motive to stimulate effort invention and efficiency Hut all that does not mean that we preach selfishness When liberal democracy came into the modern world a century or so ago it recognized that the great major ity of men are selfish It instituted private property and competition to turn this selfishness to good account Early liberals made two great advances over the Mercantilists by recognizing that economic welfare is a higher aim of statesmanship t a military conquest and by recognizing that five competition would bo bet tor government regulation as a way to promote welfare they assumed that the competi tion would be fair The liberal position can be seen in Adam Smiths famous dictum that the individual so long as he does not violate the laws of justice is led by an invisible In mi to an end which was no part of his intention namely the general Welfare of liberalism have had a good time poking fun at the naive optimism of that statement but they misrepresent the whole liberal position by omitting the important clause so long he does not violate the laws of justice Of course the early liberals were overoptimistic They thought that free competition was a law of Nature and that a just and benevolent Nature had made men so nearly equal in ability that free competition would result in fair incomes for all They did not realize how great an advantage was enjoyed by those who inherit wealth And they did not foresee that there would be a growth of population that would keep the mass of the people at the starvation level in spite of the great in crease in output that resulted from free competition The Theory of Population and the Dar winian Theory the Struggle for Existence killed the optimistic faith in a benevolent Nature The way dif ferent people reacted to the loss of that optimism brings out the superiority of the liberaldemocratic faith over all its rivals Fascists and Communists share a common delusion that the individual does not matter In their philoso phies the group is the reality the state or nation for the Fascists the class for the Communists Their reaction to the discovery that the world is not all har mony was to go to the opposite extreme and assert that it is all conflict In place of an economic struggle be tween individuals which can lead to the public welfare if it is conducted according to the laws of justice the see only conflict between nations and class es They laugh at the idea of justice They see in the world nothing but selfish struggles for power and so proceed to struggle for domination within their own states and to organize their states for world conquest Democrat and as far as I can see only demo crats have drawn the logical conclusion from the dis covery the world is all justice and harmony Justice and harmony must be established by man And liberal democrats have accordingly gone to work to es tablish them Democracy has produced the welfare state within nations and the welfare work of the the Colombo and Marshall Plans as a step towards jus tice in the world The idea that democracy is the creed of the selfish has no basis in fact It is only in democ racies that the unselfish side of human nature and the ideals of brotherhood and charity taught by the great religious have been reflected in public policy third consecutive year Jerry J Kelske of named wheat king at the Chicago fair Here he a iambi of grata with father The state is the savant not the master of the people the state is their guarantee against infringement on their rights their agent in international and national issues it i not the function of tho state to assume the direct ion of those activities which rest on individual choice by Dairy Farmer The Top Six Inches The sun is shining and the grass is green after all the warm rain we have had There are those who feel that it isnt Christmassy at all In our country Christmas means snow and cold and red and blue de corations reflected on icicles the sound of sleighbells and children grunting on toboggans and grownups feet crunching in the frost It sel dom occurs to us that this is what we made Christmas and not what it really is There must bo hundreds of millions of people who never see snow in the winter and af ter all there is Christmas all ov er the world There is sunshine and summer below the equator there is balmy cli mate in the gulf states and in the very cradle of Christmas there is little snow if any It is human nature to cut the garment to suit the cloth and within reason this means the greatest asset a human being can have to be able to adapt himself to his surroundings and make the most with what there is But this type of attitude is just one step removed from the greatest fault a human being can have which is confusing the the universe with him self and his activities There are only a few general universal ideas which should rule our lives Our ability to adapt to our surroundings is one Our ability to work in so cieties is another one The Christmas story is one of thesr all pervading facts of life As long as we take the time even when we arc busy with all that we have made more important than Christmas to remember this the Christmas story will be a norm for measuring The trouble seems to be that at Christmas time we are usually too busy to comply with the standards we set for ourselves and to remember how it all started It might well be that because this Christmas is a little differ ent so far in climate and in some other factors it will help to remind us that provided we remember the real of it it always will be Christmas might be well to think that this year the tinsel and the goodies could just be a little thinner Perhaps the dead circling our globe as a planet will add some soberness to our thoughts It cannot help but remind us of the magnificencr of the human brain Its mag nificence Is meaningless and bent on the destruction of it- very creator unless some of the things taught by the story are kept in mind as well The Christmas story has bee told for years and it ha been told in many countries ant through many ages Some those ages are referred to a having been Dark some illuminated by the magnificent of mans achievement in art There must have been Christ mas time Ghengis Kha swept through Europe and whe the pioneers trudged the prairies in search of a bet and more promising land And there wilt be Christmas the ages to come when man conquer many yet frontiers The man who grows the that feeds us all possibly is bet able to understand all because his fight with the the climate and sometimes economic system is much real The Big Christmas By Janet Hall MARGE stood In the doorway of her bedroom and looked at the dress in dismay Obviously it was meant for the Junior Class Snow Ball in January and just as obviously it was expensive Oh why she explained touching the fabric as if it were something repulsive Whats the matter with them Marge thought Dad needs new clothes and things for the house and Mom always looks so poor and worried Wearily- she changed her clothes The house was empty for her mother was baby sitting to earn a little extra to help out Marge went downstairs and looked at the Christmas tree and gifts displayed under it She felt embarrassed even though she was alone in the room Somehow it was always rather mortifying to show the gifts when friends and relatives call ed Her pile of gifts was al ways so large and lavish and her parents so sparse Just this once she wanted their gifts to be important like herff not just little odds and ends to be explained away with We try to make a big Christmas for Marge She had saved nearly every penny she had earned the pre vious summer so slur could give her father a new jacket and her mother a new coat I tried to tell them 1 didnt want a lot for Christinas hut I didnt do a very good job of it she told herself as she glanced at the twin cashmere sweaters the new skirt and the other gifts 1 wish Id had the cour age to be more frank Qui I have the courage today she thought running Up the stairs She found the dress box and carefully folded the dross and wrapped it for return For Her knees were shaky as she wondered what she would say when her mother saw the dress wrapped with such finality Its for her own good she told her self firmly In a week or two shell realize its best When she heard the front open and close she ran she said quelling her feeling stairs to meet her mother Hi nervousness Her mother glanced at her a Her dark brown darted around the room to see if Marge had brought tl dress downstairs Then the peetant look changed to a que tioning one Didnt you like the dress The question was so humble so blunt Marge was startled Yes its beautiful but knew youd like it Have had it on yet No I havent it will fit Im sure her m voice dwindled off brightness in her face seemed fade all at once Whats matter its so expensive 1 want you to get a coat for yourself Oh is that all This thing will last quite a While I was in the store I to myself Theres nothing my old maroon coat I see anything I liked better what was the use of buying now one she chirped Her Secret Marge knew shed never her parents how she felt their gifts In a few years J be earning money and I can them back but now Ill take what they offer she dec feeling defeated Your fathers coming Go on the dress and show him pretty you are her mother excitedly When she came they were waiting for Clutched in her fathers was a box which she knew something for her their eyes were love pride a happiness mixed with a sat touch of martyrdom She had to swallow to keep face pretty and composed what they really wanted most all was a pretty and daughter That was all would allow her to Rive MARKER FOR PIONEER SITf A wellknown Canadian pioneer location was given permanent memorial wheu unique triangular marker placed In the grounds of St Andrews church Bendale ScarI borough the marker bore inscriptions One the memory of the Indian trail trodden by Thompson In ITO8 the second is to the memory of the Thompson settlement and the third tablet to St Andrews frame church built In 1811 His White Owl who was on hand for the la shown above pointing out the Indian Trail Inscription Remains of Indian villages have been In the area-