Note and Comment

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Feb 4, 1904

As mentioned in last week’s REVIEW, by Brother W. S. Bond in his report from Spain, a stringent Sunday law is about to be enacted and put in force by the Spanish government, or rather, a stringent “holy day” law; for in Spain all church days have equal recognition with Sunday. The measure provides for “the prohibition of work on the fiestas of precept [Sundays and other church days], without distinction of occupation, whether laborers in the cities or farmers, neither of sex, age, nor state of the laborers.” In the United States the Catholic Church gives the impression that she is too liberal to favor stringent Sunday legislation; but this action of Catholic Spain, where public thought and legislation are molded almost wholly as the papacy wills, shows how liberal Rome is in her real nature. When a popular sentiment shall be worked up for the support of religious legislation in this republic, Rome may be counted on to give her full support to such measures, well knowing that all such legislation must be either directly or indirectly in support of her own principles and institutions.