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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Mar 9, 1905

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 82, No. 10.

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Canada

By W. H. Thurston

The Lord's Day Alliance arranged for the Rev. Dr. Gamble, of Kansas, to come to Canada to labor for a time in the interest of better Sabbath observance; and he is now here, traveling from place to place, delivering his lectures. He came to Ottawa, where I am located, and spoke four times Sunday, February 12, and it was my privilege to hear him. He tried to give a brief history of Seventh-day Adventists and their work, and said things both good and bad about them. He said the Adventists numbered only twelve thousand five hundred male adults, but as a result of their work three million men have lost their day of rest; and if the Adventists were allowed to work on Sunday, other people would claim the same right. He claimed that the Adventists were enemies to the Sabbath, and that they were scattering literature everywhere, which was having an influence and was unsettling the minds of the people regarding the Sabbath. He referred to the National Reform Association and its work, and the efforts that had been made for better Sabbath observance; but, he said, “When we came up to Washington with seven million petitions, and presented a bill to Congress to secure to the people the enjoyment of the Lord's day as a day of rest, every one of our specialists on Sabbath observance was turned down by Alonzo T. Jones, the Adventists' representative.”
At another meeting the doctor went over the ground again, and said that the Adventists came before the committee at Washington with their strong arguments, and defeated the bill. Using his own words, he said: “We were completely whipped by the Adventists, and there is no use denying it, for it is the truth.” He tried to impress the people here with the importance of watching the Adventists in their work, and of securing a Sunday law as soon as possible, and then seeing that the law was obeyed.
Dr. Gamble did not meet the highest expectations of the people in Ottawa, and I think he will not fill the bill in Canada. His arguments were rather confusing to the laity who heard him, and not clear to the ministers, I understand.
The Ottawa papers gave a report of the doctor's meetings, and I replied to him through the papers, correcting some statements which he made, and presenting in a brief manner what Seventh-day Adventists do believe respecting the Sabbath, their attitude toward civil government and the object of the government. The editor of one of the papers gave us a very favorable notice, and among other things stated that our workwas being revived in Ottawa, and that we were increasing in strength and numbers.
Failing to get a reprint of the Washington Open Letter, “An Appeal to Clergy,” in the papers, I placed the tract in the hands of the clergy in Ottawa, thirty in number, and am distributing literature in the city. As a result of all this, the Sabbath question is being agitated quite generally in Ottawa.
The bill presented to the Dominion Parliament last spring asking for a Dominion Sunday law, was referred to the supreme court for decision; and the supreme court, in session February 27, handed down its judgment in reference to the matter, confirming the decision of the judicial committee of the privy council that the province has no power to enact laws for the regulation of Sunday labor. But this judgment of the supreme court has no bearing upon the Dominion's right in the matter.
It is expected, says The Evening Citizen (an Ottawa daily paper), that in view of the judgment already referred to, the Lord's Day Alliance will now renew its application to the Dominion Parliament for a bill embodying its suggestions as to the limitation of Sabbath work.
In all probability this will be done, and that right early. It is my opinion that before this present session of parliament closes, the question will be considered, but I think Parliament is not quite ready to demand that all the people of the Dominion of Canada shall cease from labor on the first day of the week. We trust that our people in Canada will act wisely in their God-given work, and improve every opportunity for maintaining religious freedom.
W. H. Thurston.