SUNDAY TRAMS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XII, Issue 707, 24 September 1903, Page 22

SUNDAY TRAMS.

The opposition to the' running of the electric trams on Sunday proceeds ostensibly from the “religious'” people, but i.» reality it is engineered by that hysterical party which seeks to interfere with every action of our daily life, to regulate our drinks, our dietary, our clothes and our modes of thought They are well-named prohibitionists, for they would, if they could prohibit everybody from doing anything for which they themselves have no inclination or which is debarred them. Unhappily for the credi: of Christianity certain sections of the Church have linked their interests with this intolerant and intolerable band, the impelling motive being no doubt fear—fear lest the dispersion of the working people over the fields of a summer Sunday should reduce the sum total on the collection plate. Now, assuming that the pastors of these small bigoted sects have a proprietary interest in the of their own congregations, s the. whole community to be penalised in order that a few possible backsliders may be kept within the fold ? Without irreverence, it may be said that the souls of these sham religionists, even supposing that they possess such articles, are scarcely worth saving. The psalm-singing prohibitionist is v<-ry like the Chinese in Elia’s delightful Essay who burned down their dwellings in order to obtain roast pork I

But are we, who owu the houses, going to submit to this wholesale arson? That is the point for the people to consider For some reason or other, the “Star ” is championing the cause of the anti-trammists, and the correspondence columns of that journal have been crowded with letters denouncing the greed of the Tram Company and the impiety of those who want a ride in the trams on “ The Lord’s Day.” The natural liberty of mankind, say these hysterical folk, is threatened, which is quite true, but they themselves menace this liberty. The proof that the Sunday tram is a public boon is to be found in the crowds that already patronise it along the suburban line, notwithstanding that many of the passengers have to walk long distances to avail themselves of the facility. Are these people to be denied the boon of a run into the country because a few narrow-minded and hypocritical “religionists” are afraid of the M Continental Sabbath ?” The two larger divisions of the Church, the Roman Catholics and the Anglicans, are not, as such, opposed to Sunday trams, because it is recognised by these that there is nothing essentially impious in a tramcar any more than there is in riding in a carriage or a cab, or on horseback, or in a perambulator. The question, in short, in the eyes of all those who are not dominated by one idea, is quite unconnected with religion. The blocking of Sunday trams will not have the effect of driving those to church who do not want to go; on the contrary, it will tend to strengthen the dislike that many already entertain for the so-called Evangelical sects. The prohibition of the Sunday trams will be looked upon as a most unwarrantable interference with the liberty of the subject. There is no resemblance between the prohibition of liquor and the prohibition of trams, because whereas the former affects only a few of the male sex, the latter is felt by men, women and children alike. We hope, for the credit of our character for common sense, as well as for the sake of the future of this great city, that the inhabitantswill show by an overwhelming majority that they do not intend to be bound by the fetters of a sham Puritanism, a Puritanism that possesses all the bad qualities and none of the heroism of its alleged prototype. •