With the passing of this year we have turned the last page in the records of the earth's latest madness! After all the forces of evil had awakened, organized themselves, and pressed on toward ends they imagined ideal — or the ends of those who see their own interests and the interests of their nation only on the margin of the good...

We turned it after consciences had blackened, hearts had gone mad, and virtues had crumbled; after intentions had been shaken, trust had been lost, and standards had gone awry; after hate had become stronger than love, and the animal in man had risen above the man in the animal; and after most of the earth's youth had become convinced that they are muscles, not minds — that by obedience, not by character, and by the strength of the beast within them, not by the strength of the man, they bring humanity to its highest ideals! And that as parts of a whole, not as independent individuals, they can direct the course of history. We turned it after we had sown the cold, dark depths of the sea, the desolate wilds of the jungles, and the burning, barren deserts — after we had sown them with crushed heads, severed arms, and shattered bodies, about every one of which hovers the heart of a mother bereaved, or a wife widowed, or a sister who has lost her support, or a sweetheart whose hopes are gone; until the world was widowed in mourning black, and people's souls were bruised and their hearts choked, and gaiety left them and the burden of life weighed heavy upon them, and the earth became a funeral for the children of the earth, in whose procession none but the dwellers of the stars could march...

All that has passed with the passing of this year,

and with this new issue the morning of the new year has dawned upon us — so let us greet it: good morning!...

***

Let the world concern itself with its own affairs; it is for us — and upon us — to concern ourselves with ourselves, as a nation that realizes that everything has changed after this painful trial, and that the new measure, even of strength, is mind and spirit. What, then, has Lebanon prepared for the education of mind and spirit?! And with what provisions does it intend to nourish them in the new generation, now that the old generation has given what it could give?..

***

Perhaps among the strangest things in this country — and strange things abound in it — is that the scarcity of integrity among the people has led the people to count integrity, wherever it is found, a posi-tive merit, sufficient by itself on the day qualifications are counted! Whereas in other people's countries, those who lack integrity are reached by the law!

It is strange that the human duties — such as truthfulness, faithfulness, a spirit of justice, and the avoidance of embezzlement — should suffice among us for the entrusting of responsibilities, when in other people's countries they are presumed in any man enjoying civil rights, before the weighing of his qualifications even begins!...

We search, at times, for whoever is free of civic faults, so as to lay upon his shoulders the responsibilities of formation, management, and direction; while in other people's countries they search for talent, culture, and specialization. Where do we stand, in our negativity and the childishness