p. 24 | Hearing on the Johnston Sunday Bill by K. C. Russell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 3, 1910

Hearing on the Johnston Sunday Bill

By K. C. Russell

The District Committee of the House of Representatives, to whom has been referred the Johnston Sunday bill for the District of Columbia, has appointed a hearing on the bill for March 8, from 10 A. M. to 12 M. The time will be equally divided between the friends and opponents of the measure.

The friends of the bill were evidently greatly disappointed by the House District Committee failing to report the measure favorably to the House without any further hearing, inasmuch as the subcommittee had reported favorably to the committee as a whole.

The subcommittee has recommended still other exceptions to the bill than when it passed the Senate. The numerous amendments and exceptions which have been made to this bill since it was first introduced into the Senate, and the elimination of some of its most glaring religious terms, may so disguise its true character that many congressmen may be deceived into thinking it is free from anything of a religious character, and thus vote for its passage. The persistency with which many have been urging its speedy passage through the House since it passed the Senate, should convince the most incredulous of its religious character.

Since this bill passed the Senate another measure has been introduced into the House, legalizing Sunday baseball and other innocent sports on that day in the District of Columbia. This bill is being bitterly opposed by those who have been claiming that all they are seeking is “distinctly a civil, and not a religious measure.” One naturally queries, if this is so, why there is such a persistent opposition against a bill for something that is strictly civil in itself. In speaking of this bill in favor of Sunday sports, Rev. Wallace Radcliffe, the chief promoter in Washington of the Johnston Sunday bill, says: “It would be an injustice and a sin to permit Sunday baseball in the District. It would be a violation of the fourth commandment, and an outrage if permitted.”

The evident lack of personal interest on the part of senators in the passage of the Johnston Sunday bill is expressed by a Washington correspondent to the Christian Advocate of Feb. 17, 1910, the leading organ of the Methodist Church, as follows:—

“Judging from the lack of animation and determination on the part of the senators in reference to the bill, we are impressed that they did not expect it to become law.”

Then follows an urgent appeal to Methodists throughout the States to assist in securing the passage of the measure.

The following are strong statements from two leading clergymen in Washington against those who are opposing Sunday legislation: One says that he is “violently opposed” to their views; the other says, “Seventh-day Adventists seem almost omnipotent in their ability to hinder all such legislation.”

We can only conjecture at present what the outcome of the Johnston bill will be. We are certain, however, that “He who marshals the stars in order in the heavens, whose word controls the waves of the great deep, will work in behalf of his people if they call upon him in faith. He will restrain the forces of darkness until the warning is given to the world, and all who will heed it are prepared for the conflict.”

K. C. RUSSELL.