THE SUNDAY QUESTION.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XVII, Issue 2602, 28 November 1874, Page 2

THE SUNDAY QUESTION.

New Zealand Herald. The " Sunday question " is now greatlyagitating the public mind in every town, city, and municipality in Victoria. Meetings have been held at numerous centres, and much ascerbity and bitterness of feeling has been imported into the discussion. A public meeting was lately held at the Town Hall of Melbotirne, at which the Mayor presided, nearly five thousand people being present. The first resolution submitted was from Mr Charles Bright, "That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable to promote the better observance of the Sunday as a day of rest and refreshment for the mind and body ; and that in order to effect this object it is advisable that all museums, public libraries, art galleries, gardens, and parks, supported either in the whole or in part out of the general revenue, should be thrown open to the public as well on Sundays and on other days." To this resolution we need hardly say an amend ment was proposed, "That this meeting is of opinion Lhat the opening of public libraries, gardens, and art galleries, on Sundays will not tend to the better observance of that day, but will deprive many of their right to the weekly day of rest for the gratification of others." Upon the foregoing resolution and amendment a long and somewhat acrimoniua discussion ensued, which resulted in the resolution being carried by a small majority. We need scarcely say that a majority of hands held up at a^ public meeting for opening public institutions on a Sunday is very far from deciding such a question. The Melbourne ' Argus' advocates abolishing Sundays and the making of it a purely secular day with as mucn fervour as some time back it advocated licensed prostitution, from which a Government revenue was to be derived ; and it pleads its case with almost as little success as in years gone by it advocated the flogging ot women for offences for which the law then, before, aud since, considered imprisonment all sufficient. There is scarcely a time-honored institution or observance which most of us have been taught to re-

I ver,ence from our earliest years that the J ' Argus ' at one time or another has not atempted to knock on the head. The Melbourne ' Age,' always more intelligent on social questions, and much more ably written than its elder contemporary, has not entered into the subject with much earnestness; but the 'Melbourne Telegraph ' has fought the leviathan of the Melbourne Press, and if he has not quite vanquished has assisted greatly in discomfiting him The ' Argus ' thinks, " To our mind a very considerable advance in the discussion would be made if the religious arguments were, by common consen';, eliminated from it altogether. It is not a religious question at all, but a social one." Now this a concession which will never be made so long as Christianity exists. 'I here are two sections who advocate the observance of the Sabbath — those who believe that the day has a divine sanction, and those who believe that the liberties of the millions who earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brow would be encroached upon if the every seventh-day rest came to be disregarded. Ignore these, and what excuse can we offer that there should be any Act for closing theatres, for prohibiting the ordinary prosecution of business, the opening of shops, and the vetoing exhibitions, entertainments, and public games. The ' Melbourne Telegraph,' who so gallantly maintains the fight with the 'Argus,' and ably meets its every plausable argument, says, "The conclusion of our contemporary is that so long as we preserve our Anglo-Saxon individuality, our Sunday will continue to partake of it in common with our other institutions." This may be admitted with the addition that we shall keep our Sunday no longer than we preserve that individuality. And the last proof the AngloSaxon race has given of its individuality is to scout out of its Parliament the proposal to open Government institutions on the day of rest, the majority in 1874 being far larger than it was when a similar proposal was made in 1854. The British Parliament sees that if it opens the exhibitions that are free, it may be called upon any day to open the exhibitions that are paid for. The individuality of the Anglo-Saxon race came out strong on that occasion, and we trust to see that healthy and hearty individuality displayed again. The discussion still rages in Victoria. It has its advocates and oponents in New South Wales and South Australia. It has been discussed in three of the chief provinces of this colony, and there is little doubt but what the question will be again brought forward. These then, which follow are the arguments which anti-Sabbatarians will have to consider in the interests of the working population. They will tell against the eight hour movement and the Saturday half-holiday, which aim at providing -legitimate opportunities for recreation. M either of these movements are yet fully established. In opening museums, libraries, art galleries, and other similar institutions, it asks to do what private persons are prohibited from doing, no tradesman being allowed to open _his library and his picture gallery for the " innocent amusement" of the public, and that its tendency is to widen the area of Sunday labor. It taxes people to support institutions against their conscience, and is therefore unique in our national history. The antiSabbata) ian may have a right to do what he likes on a Sunday, but not to do what he likes with the public money. The Sabbath has been held as a blessing by millions, and we can but earnestly hope no social revolutionary movement will be permitted to sweep it away. It is something worth fighting for however protracted the struggle.