[Editor: This article, regarding the New Year, was published in The National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW), 1 January 1925.]
A happy New Year!
At midnight another year went to its death, and another year was born. Whatever 1924 did for us, or we to 1924, that is all past. It is the New Year that only matters now. If, during the year that has just passed out, we gained in knowledge and experience — so much the better. It is our duty to apply that knowledge and experience with the object of making the new year better — not only for ourselves, but for our fellows.
To-day is supposed to be a day of good resolutions — declarations of policy and reformation, many of which, unfortunately, do not stand the test of time. Perhaps it is that too many of the resolutions made are too good — they require too much in the way of living up to. Australia looks forward to 1925 with hope and enthusiasm. Let us, as a nation, not make resolutions we cannot keep — resolutions that will be futile, and that will get us nowhere. Moderation is a splendid thing — even in reformation.
We are a young people with every right to expect well of the time that has got to come. The time that is past has treated us well. We stand forward among the nations of the world, ever so much more now as a worth-while people, and a free and independent people. We are in that position because the men who built up this young nation were wise, practical men — brave men with confidence in themselves and their country. We who enjoy the heritage won for us by those men must not diminish it. We must realise the great responsibilities ahead of us, and make the future worthy of our past.
To the many hundreds of people with whom we come into direct contact, we wish a Happy and Prosperous New Year. That is what we also wish Australia, and that is what we wish ourselves. If, in the course of our duty as a democratic and public organ, we can improve and make the New Year brighter for our readers, then it will be bright for us. We, who are of the people, wish to bear the people’s burdens and share their joys.
Source:
The National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW), 1 January 1925, p. 2
Editor’s notes:
fellows = fellow men, fellow humans; plural of “fellow” (man, bloke, chap)
organ = a magazine, newsletter, or periodical; the official publication or periodical of a group or organisation
[Editor: Changed “many of which” to “many of which,” (added a comma).]
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