Sunday Baseball Unlawful in Michigan
Baseball playing on Sunday is unlawful in Michigan, according to a decision just rendered by the supreme court of that State. The case arose over a game of ball at Owosso, Mich., and the prosecutor was a Methodist clergyman. The Sunday laws are not religious at all, we are told; but for some reason it is always a clergyman that is seeking their enforcement. The facts of this case are thus stated by the Inter Ocean:— “By statute in Michigan games of baseball are forbidden on Sunday, and when a game was announced through the papers for a certain Sunday, the Methodist clergyman called up the sheriff by telephone the night before and notified him that the game was advertised to take place. The sheriff contends that he made an effort to stop the game, but nevertheless it was played. Then the clergyman published an open letter to the sheriff in two local newspapers, charging him, in severe language, with intentional neglect of duty. Thereupon the sheriff began an action for libel and recovered a verdict for $1,000—$50 damage to his office and $950 for damage to his feelings. The supreme court reversed this judgment, holding that it was the duty of the sheriff to prevent the game, and if the players persisted in proceeding with it it was his duty promptly to arrest them. The court held further that a statute forbidding ball games on Sunday is constitutional.”