A Sunday Law in France by Jean Vuilleumier

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jul 6, 1905

A Sunday Law in France

By Jean Vuilleumier

FRANCE has had no Sunday law since 1880. At that date an absolute law, voted in 1814, was abrogated by the Senate on account of its religious character.

In 1889 a Rest Day Congress was held at Paris in connection with the International World's Fair Exhibition. The year following, a Sunday League was organized, which has labored energetically and successfully to bring about popular demand for a Sunday law. The demand having been so great, during the last two or three years, the Senate concluded to place the matter in the hands of a committee.

The committee presented its report Feb. 21, 1905. Article 1 of the bill forbids employing the same worker more than six consecutive days, and adds that the weekly rest day shall have a duration of twenty-four hours consecutively. Sunday is not mentioned in the bill.

Senator Poirrier, who presented the report, explained that this law made it possible to have the work going on every day in the week; the resting of the employees being carried on by rotation, every day in the week some would be resting, and every day some would be working. There is thus no obligation to rest one day in the week for either

the employer or the employee, as the latter remains free to find some other work elsewhere on his resting day. Farmers and servants do not come within the scope of the law.

Such was the majority report made by Senator Poirrier, who explained at length the whole working of the law, but especially advocated his bill against the minority and the many petitions demanding that Sunday be expressly recognized as the weekly rest.

The discussion of the law was to take place Thursday, May 25. The workers here in Paris thought that we could do no less than to give the senators an opportunity to know the relation existing between a Sunday law and the truth for this time. A letter was therefore written to Mr. Poirrier congratulating him for refusing to insert Sunday rest into his bill, and calling his attention to the working of Sunday laws in the United States. Several of our religious liberty tracts were sent with the letter. This was done May 16. May 19 a letter and two tracts were mailed to each of the three hundred senators.

The result was that May 25, after the general discussion was opened, and when the senators on the minority (especially M. de Las Cases, a Catholic and Royalist) began to attack this bill most vigorously, demanding as a Catholic that Sunday be enforced, M. Poirrier got up and read part of our letter to show that if Catholics wanted Sunday to be enforced to make it agree with their faith, others might demand another day for the same reason. Senator Poirrier stated that he had not heard the “Seventh-day Adventists” mentioned before. Yet these very Seventh-day Adventists, who had so unexpectedly come to his notice, gave him a complete victory in the defense of his bill.

The next day, however, M. de Las Cases and another gentleman made another attack, and presented another bill, and the whole matter was referred back to the committee.

We thank God for this victory, and trust that this discussion may redound to his glory by the salvation of some souls.

JEAN VUILLEUMIER.