p. 24 | A Significant Action

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 21, 1908

A Significant Action

The United States Senate Passes a Sunday Bill

ON Friday, May 14, the United States Senate reversed its record of nearly a century, and passed, without debate and without opposition, the Sunday closing bill for the District of Columbia, as recommended by the Committee on the District of Columbia. This bill was rushed through the Senate among other bills of minor importance while few senators were in their seats, and the character of the legislation involved in it received no consideration whatever. It will now go to the House, where it will be more than likely to wait in committee until the next session of the present Congress, when it is probable that some action will be taken upon this or a similar bill.

The action of the Senate in passing this Sunday bill commits both branches of Congress to religious legislation, as the House has already passed similar Sunday bills, which failed to get through the Senate. A very significant step has, therefore, been taken toward granting what has long been demanded—a national Sunday law, which will give life and efficiency to the existing laws in the various States, and which will really be the signal for a new crusade in behalf of enforced observance of the Sunday sabbath. There are but few who appreciate the full meaning of the present situation, and those few are certainly under obligation to do all in their power to make clear the outcome of these first steps on the part of the national government. The sure word of prophecy should be both a guide and a stimulus to action in this significant crisis.