Well, Virginia, every year about this time we've been telling you that Santa Claus exists all right, that he'll be down your chimney this year with his bundle of presents, round and jolly as ever. So this year we sat down and said to ourselves, have we been giving this kid the straight dope these many years? Is there really a Santa Claus this year?

Before you say that it would be ridiculous to start denying it all now, we have to say something about what has happened in the past twelve months. As you know, there was a change in administration for 1953, with a lot of harsh things said about give-away programs and about people who want something for nothing. Just how does all this affect Santa Claus and Christmas?

This is the first Republican Christmas in twenty years. Does that mean it will be a Christmas of hard work, of spoils to the rugged individualist and nothing for the security-seeker? Christmas has traditionally been a season for the extension of largesse to the grasshopper who didn't store up the summer crops as well as the ant who did, a season of good will to all, Democrats and Republicans alike. Everyone has been able to share in Christmas: the carol-singers, the people who lovingly fendle Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as well as those who parody it but like it nonetheless; a religious holiday that has transcended its religious meaning to become a season of good will for everyone, at a time of the year when good will and cheer is needed to brush away a heavy burden of weather.

Luckily we are able to report that Christmas is not going to change a bit under Republican auspices. The so-called give-away during the rest of the year may have been stopped; then again it may have merely been diverted to different recipients. But at Christmas time the same old spirit prevails. Santa Claus has not yet been, cleared of all the suspicions he occasioned by wearing a red suit and giving money to the poor. But he has been given a security clearance to make the rounds this year, and he'll be coming down your chimney next week if you haven't put up too many screens to guard against subversive infiltration. The Christmas spirit is still alive and kicking, Virginia, and Santa Claus, even if he is forced to wear red, white, and blue, and carry a pass, will still be Santa Claus this year. Merry Christmas!