A PURITAN SUNDAY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16350, 12 February 1921, Page 2

A PURITAN SUNDAY.

CAM PA ICN TO SAVE THE SABBATH. REFORMERS WANT RETURN TO OLD BLUE LAWS. CRUSADE AGAINST EXIST. ING CUSTOMS. (Bv TURKEY FORD, ire "New York Tribune.”) Taking it by and largo, this is a curious country in which we live. You never know what is going to happen next. One day they take away our red liquor—then they start, in on tLie tobacco- —and before we know it along como the good old-fashioned blue laws. , . - • It’s the adventure of the thing that really makes life worth living. Mr Sundav Golfer, Mr Sunday Baseball Fan. Mr Sunday Tennis Player, Mr Sunday Automobilist, Mr Sunday Sportsman! You? day is doomed. We have it straight from the Lord's Day Alliance and should be using quotation marks, for our phrases are borrowed from the pages of ‘ 1 Tlie Lord’s Day Leader,” official organ of the Alliance. SAVE OUR SABBATH. The S O S. (Save Our Sabbath) signal has been sent out broadcast and the clan is gathering. Down iu Washington the wheels of government are being set iu motion. All is proceeding with the stealth and precision of a well-ordered army on the march to victory. Nothing but the concerted action of an aroused nation can pre- • vent the adoption of a Federal Constitutional amendment enforcing na-tion-wide Sabbath observance. There arc no amateur leaders in this campaign. The Rev Wilbur Fiske Crafts, superintendent and treasurer of the International Reform Bureau of W ashington, is the man who marshalled the forces that made the United States dry. The Rev Harry L. Bowlby, general secretary of tho Lord’s Day Alliance. is a young man, an aggressive lighter who knows that it takes more than an oratorical barrage to win a battle. William H. Anderson. State superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League, needs no introduction. Their propagandists are trained men and women who are not subject to stage fright on the platform. Their lobbyists are professionals who need ask no questions to find their way about the halls of legislation. There are no weak spots in the crusade. A PUBLIC PANTO. Probably no break of the news in recent times has caused quite the general panic among tlie average citizenry as lias this revelation of blue law activity. It was one of those events no one could anticipate, and no one dares prophesy where it will lead. But before we get too tearful over the prospect of the blue Sunday it may prove interesting to see what blue laws car* amount to once they get under way. Lt isn’t, as though wo weren’t used to them in this country. In fact, our own New England founded the original blue laws. They have them all down on the Statute Books for any one to come and read. We have selected just a few as samples and present them without apy careful regard for continuity. Mainly they date from the seventeenth r.enturv. THE SUNDAY BLUES. “ The Sabbath shall begin at sunset on Saturday. ‘‘No one shall travel, cook victuals, , make beds*, sweep Jiopsc, cut hair or sliavo on the Sabbath clay. “ No one shall run on the .Sabbath, or we Ik in his garden, or elsewhere, except reverently to and from meet- “ No woman shall Idas her child on , the Sabbath or fasting day. , .** 1 1 any man shall kiss his wnfe or ( wife kiss her husband on the Lord ? s day,, the party in fault shall he punished at the discretion of the court of magistrates. "It is enimtcd bv the court that any p’son or p sous that shal be found ■ smoaking Tobacco on the Lord’s day. going to or coming from the meetings. > within two miles* of the meeting house, shall, pay twelve Pence for every such , default to tho collonie’s use. , “This court, taking notice of great abuse and many misdemeanors commit- , ted by divers persons in their many L ways, do therefore order that whoso- , over profane the Lord’s day by doing unnecessary servile work, by unneces- ! sary truvailirtg, or.by sports and reere- ! a lions, he, or they that so transgress > shall forfeit for every such default 40 shillings or be publickly whipt: but if it clearly appear that sin was proudly and presumptuously and with a high , hand committed, against the known } command and the ftiithoritle of the : blessed“ God, such a person shall be pqt , to death or grievously punished at the judgment ef the court.** When the Puritan cal Sunday had ; been 'disposed of there were other ‘subject;. which the hide laws regulated; ■ such* as: , 1 ~ * Married -perKons must lfv« together L or be imprisoned. ' >

DOMESTIC REGULATIONS. ••A man tliat strikes his wife shall be fined ten pounds. A woman .that strikes her husband shall bo punished at the court’s discretion. ** No gospel minister fehall join people in marriage. Tho magistrates only shall j.oin m marriage, as they m . it with less scandal to Christ's church. “ No matt shall court a maid in person or by letter, without first obtaining consent of her parents. '• When parents refuse their children convenient marriage the magistrates shall determine the point-” But the crowning blow of the whole programme Ecema to us summed up in ; the edict.: .... , . , . it Every male hIuIII have hofr cut cult ml according to a cap.” ; To-day we find most oi those laws ; obsolete. They may even appear absurd to the modern mind. Yet they represent the duly enacted legislate© programme of our forefathers and are certain amount of respect, especial! v as we are not too sure how gracefully th eighteenth amendment would hove been accepted in colonial days. But times have changed. The up-to-dato blue laws deal with differentprojects. Sin is defined in new terms br the modern reformers. We went direct to headquarters for our tionAN EFFICIENT ORGANISATION. The New Y'ork office** of the Lord’s Day Alliance are in tho Presbyterian Building on Fifth Avenue, three large rooms packed with paraphernalia and humming with activity. The Rev Harry L. Bowlb.v, presiding genius of the staff, is Been by appointment only. Once iu an interview, however, ho is ready and willing t<» talk. “ Oui* object,” began Mr Bowlby, in response to a demand for the programme or' his crusade, “ and I hope you will uso this, is to jiut the Sun iu Sunday." Sunday traffic will he greatly reduced, not eliminated entirely. Necessary trains will be ruu, though moat ef the railroad stations will be closed. Motoring will be permitted for urgent j travel. Only a few gasoline depots can ! remain open for business. | All stores will bo closed tightly, jnj eluding the department store drug ; stores, the delicatessen shops, the tobacco and soft drink stands. Amusement places of every description are to bo banned- The Alliance is not to be fooled by educational movies and sacred concerts. All sports, recreations and diversions that to-day desecrate the ♦Sabbath are to be forbidden. Even school children aro to be denied the privilege of studying their lessons for Monday morning ofa«»e*. “In many churches this accounts for the absence of the boys and girls from church services,” an alliance pamphlet explains. ”Tn man? instances the young people speak of Sunday study without a thought that it is wrong. Parents encourage them m tho bad habit, and the church, through its pastors and Sunday school teachers, is not outspoken enough. If the public or private school curriculum becomes too severe, then let 113 change the svstem and eliminate one or more studies. It 13 high time thoughtful attention is fpven to thin matter. Somewhat aghast at all this radicalism. we asked Air Bowlby just how the public might occupy itself on Sunday without clashing with the law. After going to church, what then? “ There are innumerable ways for people to amuse themselves without desecrating tho Sabbath,” he replied., “Mo only ask for :t. safe and sane observance of the day.” “ Yes, but /what?” , PARKS WILL BE OPEN. “People may walk out in the fields, tho museums will be open, and the pa.-Ua-” Me asked if the youngsters c.ould Play their games in Central Park on Sunday afternoon and received. a - frown for an answer. We should have known better. Then Air Bowlby surprised u« by 1 rejeating to the point of permitting . moderate attendance at the beaches. ■ • Alter all, with a touch of the sea, Sunday might not be so bad. But on • cros.'.-e'xaminarion the thing fell through. It seems we could go to the i beach and look our fill; but, however > hot* thq day, a plunge was beyond the bounds. AYc were interested in the mechanics l °f Gio organisation that intends bring- ; ing about all these changes- Mr Bowlby confined his remarks to generalisations. > .“At present we are occupied only ; with strengthening the State laws,” t he said. “We haVo no definite plans » fur a Federal Constitutional amendx meat. That will come later, when the guerilla warfare of the commercial in- ! terests forces us to it. 3 “ We are backed by ’sixteen Christian _ denominations and have the power to 0 accomplish whatever we set out to do”’ l BISHOP BURCH OPPOSED. Tho High Rev Charles S. Burch, Bishop of Few York, thinks that the legislation >s revolutionary in chara actor and that the legislators should _ hesitate before passing it. y “ I do not believe that tho people of ■- country are going back to the o e w England blue lawn,” said Bishop 3 Burch. “Cf what little I have seen is correct, tho reformers are going r pretty far. Y’ou cannot legislate people into moral or ethical positions, g You can educate them into it. but you cannot achieve morality by compelling \ them to give up what they believe aro their constitutional rights. ' “ We all know that what we call the * liOrd’s day ’ is not observed as it was. Wo realise that people want y bodily as well as spiritual refreshment on Sunday. It seems to me s . that sanity is what wv want.”