EDITORIAL BRING BACK THE BELLS.

IT wouldn't be the holiday season without the sound of ringing bells, and we don't mean the ones on Santa's sleigh. From Thanksgiving all the way through Christmas, we've come to expect the sound of volunteers ringing Salvation Army bells in front of stores - a reminder that we must exercise charity toward the poor.

But customers at Target and Mervyn's won't hear those bells this year because the retailers won't allow Salvation Army volunteers to work outside their stores. They said they get so many requests to allow solicitations on their property that it's hard to single out one and not others.

Still, most people find Salvation Army bells fill them with nostalgia for simpler times and warm them to generosity. We hope the stores will reconsider and bring back the bells, which do good for us all, most especially the poor.