THE SABBATH.

Press, Volume XXII, Issue 2680, 10 March 1874, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE SABBATH.

TO THE EDITOB OF THE PBESS. Sib, —An advertisement which appears in your columns, signed by Mr G. D. Lockhart, and headed " Important information for the public," brings prominently before the community tbe sanctity of the Sabbath, Mr Lockhart, in the advertisement I allude to, states " That the Resident Magistrate, C. C. Bowen, Esq., has come to the conclusion, after nine days consideration, that a contractor has a right to trade in contract engagements on the Lord's day, and demand payment for the work performed—a sad conclusion for the hitherto proud standing enjoyed by the Church of England in this province, and a much more sad thought and deliberation •' if not alarming " for tbe rising generation of this settlement." I am not prepared to enter into the legality of Mr Bowen's conclusion at this moment. But I feel that I should be allowing a very important question to rest in abeyance by the absence of notice. Mr Lockhart has limited his views to this settlement, I however, believe that the conclusion of the Resident Magistrate is applicabletothe whole of the dominions of the Crown :—The gist of the case is, whether a person who is engaged by another under an agreement at so much money per day is en-! titled to recover for Sundays, the persori engaged being sent into the country with expenses and hotel charges paid. The question of being sent into the country with all charges defrayed by the engagor is as I view it, one of custom, and I have no hesitation in saying, that the custom is not to pay for tbeisabbath; There- are, I am aware, certain, exceptions, each as when travelling

with live stock, mails, or with perishable articles of human food, the housing of cut crops, or in the event of accidents or public calamities ; also in cases when the engaged is travelling per force, or unwittingly as on a voyage, or when detained by accident beyond his own control, but with these exceptions I look on Sunday as a dies non. No bond or agreement is valid if drawn on the Sabbath, and I doubt very much if any agreement made between two or more parties for the payment of a daily sum, including, or even particularly naming, the Lord's day would hold good in law, provided it was not shown that the work to be executed on that day was of sufficient exigency. It is in my opinion necessary that such conclusions should be made public, and also the premises upon which they are based. Should the engaged in the country be able to recover for the Sunday, what is to prevent the employer in the warehouse or the factory from enforcing the same law ? I judge of the importance that the matter assumed in the mind of the Resident Magistrate by the fact of his delaying his conclusion for a period of nine days, and without wishing to impugn its correctness, I sincerely trust Mr Bowen may in this instance have made a mistake. I am, &c„ yours, Deidrick Neukomeb.