4A
MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2019
The Observer
OUR VIEW
Yes, Virginia,
there is a
Santa Claus
T
he following letter is perhaps the most famous
example of a child wanting to know if Santa is
real.
Letter to the editor
The New York Sun, 1897
Dear Editor:
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there
is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The
Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa
Claus?
— Virginia O’Hanlon
Virginia:
Your little friends are wrong. They have been
affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They
do not believe except what they see. They think that
nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their
little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be
men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe
of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect
as compared with the boundless world about him, as
measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the
whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as
certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist,
and you know that they abound and give to your life
its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be
the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be
as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would
be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to
make tolerable this existence.
We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and
sight. The external light with which childhood fills
the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not
believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire
men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve
to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see
Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove?
Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that
there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the
world are those that neither children nor men can
see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn?
Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not
there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the won-
ders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what
makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering
the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor
even the united strength of all the strongest men
that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry,
love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view
and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond.
Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is
nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives and lives
forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay
10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to
make glad the heart of childhood.
Your views
Dutto: Quiet Zone good for
public safety, public health
To the Editor:
I am responding to Curt Howell’s
letter to the editor, “Quiet Zone is a ter-
rible waste of our tight tax dollars” (The
Observer, Dec. 20). The city’s invest-
ment in our road/tracks infrastructure
will be a good investment for several
reasons and would like to address Mr.
Howell’s points.
The less than $200,000 spent came
out of the general fund, which does
not fund our “crumbling streets,” for
which repairs come out of the public
works budget. We are not sacrificing
any street paving to make improve-
ment at our intersections with the
railroad.
Statistics show the Quiet Zone
improvements made will reduce the
likelihood for an accident at the seven
intersections in town. Train opera-
tors will absolutely be able to blow the
horn if there is a safety concern on the
tracks. If a pedestrian trespasses on the
UP tracks, the whistle can blow at the
operator’s discretion.
As a city councilor, one of my focuses
has been on economic development. A
quick review of online hotel reviews
or speaking with hotel or bed-and-
breakfast operators in the downtown
area shows that the whistles adversely
impact their businesses. One hotel
actually gives guests earplugs for their
stay. The unnecessary whistles are
negatively impacting some of our busi-
nesses and a Quiet Zone will help those
businesses.
In addition, the regular interruption
of sleep caused by the train whistles
are a public safety and public health
concern.
Citizens have complained to me that
train whistles are waking them up at
night. We have an average of 23 trains
passing through La Grande every
day, with each train requiring to blow
the whistle seven times, including at
night. According to the National Safety
Council, fatigued worker productiv-
ity costs employers $1200 to $3100
per employee annually. Chronic sleep
deprivation causes accidents, depres-
sion, obesity, cardiovascular disease and
other illnesses. It is good for the health
of our citizens and our visitors to have a
Quiet Zone.
I am confident that our decision to
pursue and fund a Quiet Zone is good
for public safety, public health and the
economy of La Grande.
Corrine Dutto
La Grande city councilor
Gilbert: Energy Siting Council
is not looking out for public
To the Editor:
I just attended the Energy Facility
Siting Council meeting in Pendleton.
Following is what I learned:
1. The Oregon Department of Energy
and the Energy Facility Siting Council
are restoring the amendment rules that
the Oregon Supreme Court determined
were illegal. They allowed the public
to comment but are not going to act
on those comments until 2022. That
means the public will have no opportu-
nity to object to their decisions for three
years.
2. ODOE and EFSC used the tempo-
rary rules, which are the same as those
referenced above, to approve a change
to the Shepherd Flat Wind develop-
ment. These rules allow them to com-
plete an amendment without allowing
the public any opportunity to request a
contested case. This change resulted in
more than 14 new site certificate condi-
tions as well as multiple changes to the
current requirements. One of the things
approved will allow the developer to
have 12 turbines infringe upon the
setback required for Bonneville Power
transmission lines.
3. The report on the Boardman to
Hemingway transmission line from
the ODOE indicates they plan to ap-
prove roads outside the location the de-
veloper identified as the transmission
line “site.” This would mean that more
than 100 miles of new roads would
be allowed across forests, farmlands
and public land without any notice to
the landowners, disclosure of impacts
or disclosing where they would be
located.
All costs for wages, benefits and sup-
plies for the Energy Siting Division are
billed directly to developers proposing
and building these energy develop-
ments.
Do you think recommendations from
the Energy Siting Division of the De-
partment of Energy are looking out for
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A division of
Irene Gilbert
La Grande
Co-chair, STOP B2H Coalition
Whitaker: Should the
president be above the law?
To the Editor:
Articles for the impeachment of
President Trump will soon go to the
Senate from our United States House of
Representatives.
Conversations are taking place
throughout Eastern Oregon: He didn’t
do it. Well, maybe he did it. But it’s OK
because everyone does it. OK, he did it.
But it’s OK because he’s the president.
So what? It’s not a crime. So who cares
about Ukraine anyway?
If we care about the future of Ameri-
can democracy, we have to have these
conversations. But it’s super confusing
and the GOP is trying to take advan-
tage of our confusion.
So, let’s simplify things. Presidents
are public servants. They work for us.
Their work should benefit the country,
not their own personal gain. Asking a
foreign country to interfere in our elec-
tions for the president’s personal benefit
is an abuse of power, an impeachable of-
fense. As is withholding military aid to
prod that country to do the president’s
dirty work.
A president who does this and helps
cover up by refusing to permit testimony
and refusing to provide relevant docu-
ments to a congressional
investigation is committing another im-
peachable offense — obstructing Congress.
The questions to ask in your next
conversation with your friend, your
neighbor or your family are these: Do
you think it’s OK for a president to
pressure a foreign power to take action
to benefit his own political campaign?
Do you think the president should be
above the law? Do you think U.S. sena-
tors should take seriously their oaths to
defend the Constitution and to serve as
impartial jurors in the Senate impeach-
ment trial of President Trump?
Get “yes” or “no” answers. The future
of American democracy is at risk.
Bill Whitaker
La Grande
STAFF
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La Grande, Oregon 97850
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