Remarks at the Pageant of Peace Ceremonies.

[ Delivered over radio and television at 5:15 p.m. ]

THROUGH THE AGES men have felt the uplift of the spirit of Christmas. We commemorate the birth of the Christ Child by the giving of gifts, by joining in carols of celebration, by giving expression to our gratitude for the great things that His coming has brought about in the world. Such words as faith and hope and charity and compassion come naturally and gladly to our lips at this wondrous time of the year.

And Christmas inspires in us feelings even deeper than those of rejoicing. It impels us to test the sincerity of our own dedication to the ideals so beautifully expressed in the Christian ethic. We are led to self-examination.

We are grateful for all the material comforts with which we have been blessed. We take great pride in our country's pre-eminent position in the family of nations.

Yet, as we look into the mirror of conscience, we see blots and blemishes that mar the picture of a nation of people who devoutly believe that they were created in the image of their Maker.

Too often we discern an apathy toward violations of law and standards of public and private integrity. When, through bitter prejudice and because of differences in skin pigmentation, individuals cannot enjoy equality of political and economic opportunity, we see another of these imperfections, one that is equally plain to those living beyond our borders. Whenever there is denied the right of anyone, because he dares to live by the moral code, to earn for himself and his family a living, this failure, too, is a blot on the brightness of America's image.

But one of America's imperishable virtues is her pride in the national ideals proclaimed at her birth. When danger to them threatens, America will fight for her spiritual heritage to the expenditure of the last atom of her material wealth; she will put justice above life itself. America will never cease in her striving to remove the blemishes on her own reflection.

Though we boast that ours is a government of laws, completeness in this work cannot be achieved by laws alone, necessary though these be. Law, to be truly effective, must command the respect and earnest support of public opinion, both generally and locally. And each of us helps form public opinion.

Before us, then, is a task that each must himself define and himself perform. Good it is that Christmas helps to make us aware of our imperfections. Better it is that we rededicate ourselves to the work of their eradication.

A year ago last night I returned from a trip that took me to the other side of the world, to eleven nations of wide variations in race, color, religion, and outlook. That homecoming had added meaning for me because I came back at this time of year, when we are unfailingly reminded that, under God, we are all brothers in one world.

In this season next year a new President will address you as I address you now. Each succeeding Christmas will, we pray, see ever greater striving by each of us to rekindle in our hearts and minds zeal for America's progress in fulfilling her own high purposes. In doing so, our veneration of Christmas and its meaning will be better understood throughout the world and we shall be true to ourselves, to our Nation, and to the Man whose birth, 2,000 years ago, we now celebrate.

And now, I ask Mrs. Eisenhower to join me. It is our privilege to turn on the lights of our National Christmas Tree.