The Evening Mail. MONDAY, DEC. 4, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 194, 4 December 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail.

MONDAY, DEC. 4, 1876.

*'Words lira thtwr*. an«!a p* tnk fatlin.z opon a thowjht may {iJwtaae that which nato thousand* think."

We are quite aware that the subject upon which wc arc about t«> write is ratlier a ticklish one tu tackle, and our opinions will possibly he looked upon by some with very great disfavor. Indeed, after the fierce battle which has been waged in the North Island over the question, we admit it exhibits* a very great amount of temerity to open up the matter here. We allude to the running of trains on Sunday. We are quite prepared to receive the torrent of indignation which is sure to be evoked by the bare mention of such a proposition ; but as long; as we conscientiously believe the advocacy of any particular cause, or the pursuance of any particular course, is likely to be conducive to the benefit of the district, or of convenience to its residents, we shall throw our personal feelings to the wind, and use our endeavours to such ends without fear or favor. We know there is a large section of the community who

would veto the project on moral grounds} believing that it would be a desecration of the Lord's Day; but while paying all re- ; spect and deference to such an opinion, we beg leave to think otherwise. It may be urged that running of the trains would necessitate the employment of workmen to a breach of the Sabbath, but the same plea may be urged against the production of the morning newspaper, which, to be given to the public on Monday morning, requires a similar breach to that condemned, and we ask how many rigid Sabbatarians debar themselves of the pleasure of reading Monday's paper by the thought that its production has been achieved by numerous breaches of the Divine command. We contend also that, in providinghealthfulrecreation forthe masses—looking at the matter from a moral point of view—the running of Sunday trains is a powerful lever for the accomplishment of good. " All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," and it is absolutely necessary that those who have been toil, ing from week's end to week's end should have means placed at their disposal for rational enjoyment on the seventh day. Wc confess we are not of that class who imagine that innocent pleasure and healthful recreation are utterly at variance with a due observance of the Sabbath Day ; and we are heretical enough to contend that after a portion thereof has been devoted to the worship of the Giver of All Good, it i 3 perfectly in keeping with the sanctity of the clay, for those whose avocations prevent them during the week, to seek healthful recreation on the Sunday. Provide the working classes with the necessary relaxation after the toils of the week, and rest assured that much of that drunkenness and its concomitant evils, which are too frequently and truthfully urged against them, would be done away with. No greater proof of this need be nsked than in a comparison between those cities wliieh are supposed to be rigid Sab. batarians and others having no such reputation. Perhaps there are no people accredited witli such a strict observance of the Sabbath day as the Scotch, and yet the records of the convictions for drunkenness on the first day of the week in the larger cities of Scotland are immensely greater in proportion to the population than in the Irish capital where Sunday is one of thorough enjoyment, and a laxity is allowed unknown in the sister country. The opening of Athenaeums and reading-rooms, which met witli such determined opposition in various parts of this and the neighboring colonies, has been found to have been conducive of an amount of good, which not even its wannest advocates hoped for, and its strenuous opponents are forced to admit. At Home the necessity is now held to be paramount of giving the working classes every facility for legitimate enjoyment on the day which is peculiarly their own, and railways, steamboats, and places of amusement, such as zoological gardens, the Brighton Aquarium, and the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, are open to the public. With regard to the latter place, we give the testimony of the high authority, Colonel Henderson, the Chief Commissioner of London Police, as to the refining influence and moral improvement of the people, since the opening of the Palace : "Drunkenness and disorder are on the increase in London, but at the Crystal Palace, where upwards of two millions of people have visited this year, not a single case of drunkenness or disorder has occurred." We imagine we have shown conclusively that, judged in its moral aspect, no alarm need be experienced with regard to the step we advocate, and looking'at it as a convenience, there can be few found to deny that it would prove a great boon to large numbers who are anxious to enjoy a change of air, but whose means will not allow of hiring a horse or trap for that purpose. The next matter to be considered, and we have purposely put that consideration last, as of least consequence—is how would such a practice pay the department I It is just possible — and we are not prepared to dispute the assertion if made—that at the outset the returns would not repay the expenses J but that should by no means be allowed as a decisive argument against the adoption of the proposed course. The same drawback meets every new venture, yet experience has amply proved that those which, at the outset, were looked upon with the greatest disfavor, ultimately

became genuine successes. The penny postage, and reduced telegraphic charges are notable cases in point; hut to come hearer home,: the Hobson's Bay Railway in Victoria, and the Port Chalmers line here are pretty good evidences that early discouragements are not an infallible augury against future success. Perhaps there are no two lines at present running on Sunday against the practice of which more determined opposition was made, and now we question if there are two lines more extensively patronised on the Lord's Day by all cl asses, and possibly by whilom objectors amongst the rest. Our own opinion is that were the time-table to be carried out in its integrity on the North Otago lines on the seven days of the week, it would be but a matter of time for it to prove here, as it has where, a matter of considerable revenue ..to the department; but as we have before stated, that is a consideration of an entirely secondary character, and should not be held in the balance with the boon which it would confer upon the community—the reason for which we lend our advocacy.