No Sunday Law for the District of Columbia by William Warren Prescott

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 13, 1913

No Sunday Law for the District of Columbia

By William Warren Prescott

WE believe our people everywhere will be much gratified to learn that the Sixty-second Congress adjourned on Tuesday, March 4, without enacting any Sunday law for the District of Columbia. The three bills which were pending—the Johnston bill in the Senate, the Heflin bill and the Howard bill in the House—died with the close of Congress. The Johnston bill has been before the Senate under Rule IX for nearly a year, while the other two bills were not reported to the House of Representatives by the Committee on the District of Columbia.

The failure of Congress to pass any District Sunday bill is of special interest, in view of the efforts made by influential organizations to secure such action on the part of Congress. The Lord's Day Alliance of the United States, with headquarters in New York City, announced through its general secretary, Dr. George W. Grannis, that their legislative committee had prepared a bill which it was proposed to substitute for the Johnston Sunday Bill, and Dr. Grannis even announced that Senator Johnston had consented to such an arrangement. Dr. Grannis visited Washington for the purpose of urging such legislation, but whatever effort he put forth did not seem to bring the desired result. Dr. W. F. Crafts, secretary of the International Reform Bureau, of this city, announced some time ago his purpose to secure, if possible, the passage of the Johnston Sunday Bill. The Interdenominational Committee of the Churches of the District of Columbia has been urging such legislation for several years. Other organizations have passed resolutions in favor of the enactment of a Sunday law by Congress for the District of Columbia. In the face of this combination of influences, no action was taken.

During the Sixty-first Congress a Sunday bill for the District of Columbia, introduced by Senator Johnston, and embodying practically the same provisions as his bill which he introduced in the Sixty-second Congress, was passed by the Senate and sent to the House, but it was not reported by the District Committee. Senator Johnston's bill did not meet with so much favor in the last Congress, as it failed to pass even the Senate.

During the last two or three months a steady stream of letters, remonstrances, and petitions from all parts of United States has been sent to Congress, urging that neither the Johnston Sunday Bill nor any similar measure become a law. We are sure that all this had an influence upon the congressmen, and quite a number have frankly expressed themselves as opposed to any Sunday legislation.

It is more than likely that Sunday bills will be introduced into the next Congress, and this will open the way for continuing the campaign of education which has been carried on during these last few months. Those who have taken part in this campaign by passing remonstrances, by circulating and forwarding petitions, and by writing letters, may be encouraged by the results gained, and will, we are sure, respond to any call for further efforts of the same kind. Let us continue the campaign of education.

W. W. PRESCOTT.