8 NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
North Shore Breeze 
Published every Friday afternoon by 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE CO. 
33 Beach Street Manchester, Mass. 
J. ALEX. LODGE, Editor, 
Telephones: Manchester 378, 132-M. 
Subscription rates: $2.00 a. year; 3 months (trial) 50 cents. 
Advertising rates on application. 
Entered as second-class matter at the Manchester, Mass., 
Postoftice. 
VOL. XIV 
December 29, 1916. No. 52 
THis OLp PRovERB presents itself as a_ suitable 
thought as we approach that invisible milestone in the 
march of time—the beginning of a New Year: 
“There is a past which is gone forever; 
But there is a future which is still your own.” 
May we bury this side the milestone the cares and 
troubles of a year gone by, the sins and mistakes of the 
present and the regrets for what might have been. May 
we turn our faces to the future and push resolutely on to 
the accomplishment of the highest desires of our lives. 
May the New Year be the turning point in the great war 
and see the establishment of lasting peace among nations. 
May it be a year of continued prosperity and peace for 
our own land and may the blessings of happiness and 
prosperity be the particular lot of our many readers—- 
this 1s our New Year’s wish. 
Wuitt Europe Is L&EARNING the price of martial 
maneuvres and the nations are in straits to meet the 
growing demands made upon them, Uncle Sam is having 
a little experience on its own account. Leonard Wood 
claims that the mobilization was a failure and showed up 
the unpreparedness of our State militia and the general 
unpreparedness of the nation. All this may be, failure 
or not, the America people face now a serious deficit of 
nearly fifty millions of dollars for the operation. But 
‘hen it was worth it 1f that maneuvre kept us out of war. 
It was worth that for insurance. 
CONGRESSMAN GARDNER was right and found the 
line of distinction between preparedness against -war and 
preparedness for war when he said, “Preparation against 
war will not necessarily save us from war, but it will 
assist us in avoiding war, and likewise it will give us a 
“hance to make a fight worthy of our history should war 
break out.” These are the words of a prophet and not 
of a ranter. No one desires war or a military prepared- 
ness for military reasons. Peace may best be secured by 
being always ready to meet the situation which the sum- 
mer of 1914 taught everyone may be imminent at any 
time. 
MassAcuusetts Is to Have another legal holiday 
on Monday—New Year’s. For years the holiday season 
has been extended and New Year’s day has taken on 
many of the festivities of the earlier days of the holiday 
season. Custom has at last made a law to make the fes- 
tive day a legal holiday. Boston and Massachusetts 
have never taken so enthusiastically to New Year festivi- 
ties as has New York City, but the new holiday indicates 
an awakening interest in the observance of the day. 
THe HoripAy SEAsoN and the inclement weather 
have made traveling difficult and train operations a task. 
The railroads have had hard problems to solve and on 
the whole the trying days before Christmas the railroads 
did well to keep their service up as well as they did. 
Hore, ‘MEN AND Business MEN generally in New 
England were interested in the campaign, fostered by the 
publicity department of the Boston Chamber of Com- 
merce in the spring of 1916, to bring to the attention of 
the American public the desirability of New England as 
a section in which to spend the summer vacation. <A 
criticism made by many who declined to codperate in 
adding their contributions to the fund fora national adver- 
tising campaign was that the project was undertaken too 
late to be of any real service in influencing vacationists. 
The criticism was justified. By the time those behind the 
movement had made a start in “advertising New Eng- 
land” the majority of vacationists had already decided 
upon their summering place for 1916. The lesson of 
1916 should bear fruit early in 1917 and the new year, 
now at hand, should see the launching of the proposed 
“million dollar” publicity campaign. The winter resorts 
of the south and the Pacific coast profit by codperative 
publicity campaigns which bring new thousands to their 
vacation grounds annually. And their campaigns for 
winter are under way almost before ours have closed for 
the summer. If New England is to be properly advertised 
in 1917, funds should be raised and the campaign well 
under way long before the first stirring of spring. 
THe Stare of New York spent nearly a million 
dollars to revise its constitution and rejected the creation 
of the Constitutional Convention by an unmistakable 
vote. In 1853 the same fate befell the careful work of 
the Massachusetts Convention. What is there to assure 
that the work of the incoming convention will be received 
with any more enthusiam by the voters? There has been 
a growing feeling that the voters can more readily con- 
sider amendments singly as proposed from time to time 
than when submitted in a “lump” as the work of a con- 
vention for revision. It will be much easier to defeat a 
convention’s work than accept it because of the accumla- 
tive negative votes aroused by undesirable amendments. 
The people have decided that it should be done, however, 
and there is nothing left but for the men of the state 
to go to it. 
Ture Autromositist will not receive so much in 
number plates for his money this year as formerly. The 
Highway Commission has been able to cut down expenses, 
but the plate shows it. There is a marked improvement, 
however, in the visibility of the numbers. The “Bury” 
system of numbering used so successfully on freight cars 
will be used. The new system is simple and a glance wi!l 
make it much easier for the observer to read, correctly, 
the number of a passing car. The need is apparent and 
there is no doubt that the new plates will prove advan- 
tageous to all concerned. 
THE Monroe DocrrinkE may never be defined by the 
United States, but somehow one appreciates that, essen- 
tially, it means that America is determined that the cares 
and vexations incident to the quarrels among nations in 
Europe shall never mar the life in the American nations. 
This is an ideal worthy of attaining. America desires 
to make material progress, but not at the expense of 
freedom, liberty and the finer virtues of national life. » 
WHATEVER LANSING’s Excusk may be for that un- 
fortunate “on the verge of war” sentence there is no 
doubting the disastrous effect that it had in commercial 
circles and the discomfort caused to many who rightly 
enough on the face of the statement felt that in his 
position Lansing knew more than the layman did of the 
situation. It was an unfortunate statement that was re- 
tracted none too soon. 
Dee. 29, 1916. 
