s.oudor(B Frtettnqg

FROM GOSSLIN.HARDING TUMBER CO.

P. O. BOX 324 wAtNuT GREEK, CAUF.

ket is the \-acancv rate. llere is rvhat it looks like:

4. Vacancies

A \:acanci- Survcl. by the Departmer.rt of Commerce rcvealed air extra-ordinarily lon' effective housing vacaltcv rate in the second quarter of 1955-2.2/c*scarcely any higher than the vacancy rate cluring the extreme housing shortage of 1950-1.6/o. The ligures disclose that the major increase in the vacancies occurred in rental housing.

5. Summary

In snmmary, NAHB believes that all the economic information that has been developed on home building since April has tended to support the position that the market u.as not over-built and is not being over-built. The operations of the normal competitir-e economic system in themselves correct any maiadjustments of volume. This poses the question :rs to the effect of the credit restrictions oi July 30 u,hich raisecl VA and FHA dorvn payments and shortened the amortization terms from 30 to 25 years. Acccirding to NAHB's rough estimates, there rvere at the beginning of August in the FHA and VA programs a half million of these nen' units. not vet under construction, and not subject to thc July 30 curbs. Hol'ever. the regulatirin seriously :tffects planning going on today for building operations that u'il1 take place beginning u,ith the 1956 building season. It is probable that. if the restrictions remain in efiect, the 1956 r,olume of home building u'ill be reduced 50,000 to 1@,000 units. Taking $10.000 as the a\-erage cost of ;1 11i1-4d11-litteclly lorv-this n'ill cost the national economy betu.een $500 million and $1 billion next lear.

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lsThere q Sqntq Clous?

(This zuorld famous Santa Claus article appears cn thc I{ew York 14/orld-Telegram, and, Sun eaery year on Christmqs Eve, just as it did many years bach, when the little letter from the little 8-year old girl fi,rst afpeared, with this marztelous refly. This showld be b, Cluistmas nxessage to all little child,ren-and big ones, too-in all th,e world at the Christmas season: )

We take pleasure in answering at once, and thus prominently, the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor: f am 8 years old.

Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

Papa says "If you see it in The Sun, it's so."

Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus ? -Virginia O'Hanlon, 115 W. 95th Street.

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They thinkthat nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. fn this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas ! Ifow dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus ! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no child-like faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world, would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus ! Youmight as well not believe in fairies ! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, butthatis no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders that are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Onlyfaith, fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia; nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the hearts of childhood.

Epistle ro All My Friends ot Ghristmss Time

(Walker Gibson, in the Amherst Alumni News) Ads for pajamas, toasters, golf clubs, rum, Proclaim the season and the kingdom come, And so in jammed department stores we pay Our sacrifices to the holiday. The fashion isto scorn the sordid mess That Christmas has become in our U.S. One is expected to deplore the game, But buy one's share of presents just the same. "Don't spend much money, please, on me," we cry, "Just something simple, garters, or a tie. The spirit counts, you know, and not the price; Most inexpensive gifts are very nice."

I say the hell with that, I'll have you know This year I want MY friends to spend some doughNot that I'm motivated much by greed, But there are just some little things f need. To wit: three new suits, an amphibious watch, A tripto Europe and a case of Scotch, A hunting lodge in Maine for weekend flings, A twenty-room cabana in Palm Springs, A little cruiser with her little crew, And, please, a half a million dollars, too, Because most of the things I seem to lack Can be provided with a little jack.

When people say the old religious spirit fs gone from Christmas, I say, never fear it: That spirit must be very much alive, If it can face our Christmas and survive. Therefore I'm asking my friends to resist All such subversive talk. You have my list. When I hear Santa ring out merrily, Then I know who he tolls for-it's for me.

A Few Words on Christmqs

By Charles Lamb

Oh ! Merry piping time of Christmas ! Never let us per,mit thee to degenerate into distant courtesies and formal salutations. But let us shake our frienils and familiars by the hand, as our fathers and their fathers did. Let them all come around us, and let us count how many the year has added to our circle. Let us enjoy the present, and laugh at the past. Let us tell old stories and invent new ones-innocent always, and ingenious if we can. Let us not meet to abuse the world, but to make it better by our indiviilual example. Let us be patriots, but not men of party. Let us look of the time-cheerful and generous-and endeavor to make others as generous and cheerful as ourselves.