During the last month several requests have been made of this Court for a judicial pronouncement on the

legal status of Santa Claus. There have been some suggestions to the effect that the white-bearded gentlemen, with their fur-trimmed red suits, who stand before department stores, with beaming smiles and bulging sacks on their backs, are deceiving the public, in that they purport to represent a personage that does not exist. There have even been intimations that perhaps warrants of arrest should issue against these Santa Clauses, charging them with false pretense. So that no one may be misled, we hereby declare that anyone initiating such a prosecution, on the supposition that there is no Santa Claus, will not only have the case dismissed against him but he will be required to pay the costs of the suit in addition. Santa Claus is a reality recognizable by the law and he will be protected in this court against all aspersions and insinuations to the contrary. If the law recognizes John Doe, it will certainly respect Santa Claus. This Court can state with judicial correctness that it has seen Santa Claus, but it has never had any ocular observation of John Doe. There are many famous and celebrated characters who are as real to us as the flesh and blood people of our daily contacts, and yet they have not come within the range of our physical vision. For instance, has anyone seen Jack Frost? But who can deny his existence? Jack Frost, who takes a green forest and converts it into a sublime and dazzling riot of color, each tree an inverted golden chandelier with crystals of scarlet, orange and bronze, turning their gorgeous facets to the mellow light of the autumnal sun. Jack Frost, who in the wintry morning etches fairy castles and prancing silver steeds on the window pane. This lovable sprite and incomparable artist does his work when we sleep and then gayly dances away before we can open an eye to him. And as Jack Frost decorates the leaves of the forests and the glass of our windows without our seeing him, so does Santa Claus put warmth into our heart, life into our spirit and cheer into our nature without our being aware of it. Has anyone seen Dan Cupid? But who doubts the being of that chubby little lad who visits royal palaces as well as peasants' homes? Who can question the accuracy of his aim, and the power of the bow behind his arrow when its reverberations can shake and have shaken the foundations of empires? Deny the reality of Cupid and you call into question the verity of the tender passion that brings maiden and youth together and makes possible the family -- the bond that holds society together. Has anyone clapped eyes on Uncle Sam? But who dares to say that he is not a factuality? Uncle Sam, who wears in his hat the stars of the heavens which canopy our brave land, and who adorns his clothing with the red of the sacrifice of our martyrs, the white of the purity of our nation's ideals, and the blue of the devotion of

its every citizen. Deny Uncle Sam and you deny the existence of the greatest nation of all history -- the United States of America. Santa Claus is a reality. He stands not only in front of the department stores but he is in every home, sitting with the children on his knee before the crackling fireplace, chuckling with self-satisfied felicity as he surveys the plenty of today and contemplates the hope and the promise of even better days yet to come. Santa Claus is not a figment of the imagination. He is an actuality and does not live alone for the children. In fact, the adults derive even more soul-filling ecstasy from the amiable and corpulent gentleman than do the kiddies. Little Susie and Billy howl with delight when they espy the life-size talking doll and the bright sled under the Christmas tree. But the parents first had their fun when they purchased the gifts, their joy was repeated when they slyly placed them in the stockings, and they experienced a third thrill when they heard the shouts of happiness of their children as they discovered the presents their hearts have craved. If there were no Santa Claus in the courts, there would be no justice, because Santa Claus represents the spirit of mercy, goodness and sympathy; and without those qualities there would be no intelligent appraisement of the human factors involved in every trial and every sentencing. Santa Claus is the symbol of amiable kindness; he is the token of smiling charity; he is the badge of all that is cheerfully benevolent in the make-up of man. The best judge is he who walks with Santa Claus. Even in sentencing the worst offender one must remember that the defendant still belongs to the human race, and in the final reckoning we are all brothers. Even judges will some day be judged, and we will be much relieved if we can be assured that on that final day the spirit of Christmas will prevail in the Judgment Hall. Thus, after considering all the evidence in the case, which is made up of the testimony of the seasons, the attestations of the human heart, and the exhibits presented by Mother Nature; and after listening to the rosy-cheeked laughter of the December winds laden with the glittering snow, each flake a pattern of beauty and harmony, we conclude and find that Santa Claus is a reality. We find further that without him life would be dull and cheerless, and that with him the heart is merry and the spirit gay, as life should be. Therefore, in view of the foregoing we hereby order, adjudge and decree that anyone within our jurisdiction who questions the authenticity and the genuineness of Santa Claus will be declared in contempt of court and he will be committed to the bastile, there to be kept in dungeon vile until his soul expands and the spirit of Christmas enters therein, when he shall then be released, provided he shall shout with whole lungs and full heart:

"Merry Christmas!" "Merry Christmas!"