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The Wadsworth District Sunday Bill

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 15, 1906

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 83, No. 46.

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The Wadsworth District Sunday Bill

By W. A. Colcord

THE following is the text of the Wadsworth District Sunday bill, known as H. R. 16483, which was introduced in the House of Representatives March 9, 1906, passed the House June 11, and was introduced in the Senate the following day, June 12, and referred to the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia:—

AN ACT

Requiring certain places of business in the District of Columbia to be closed on Sunday.
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be unlawful for any person in the District of Columbia to sell or to offer for sale, or to keep open any place of business for the sale or delivery of, any groceries or meats or vegetables or other provision on Sunday, except that from the first day of June until the first day of October meats sold prior to Sunday may be delivered at any time before ten o’clock of the morning of that day: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall prevent the sale of fruit at fruit stands and the regular business of restaurants and hotels. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this Act shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars for the first offense, and for each subsequent offense by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the jail of the District of Columbia for a period of not less than one month nor more than three months, or by both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.”
“SEC. 2.—That all prosecutions for violations of this Act shall be in the police court of the District of Columbia and in the name of the District of Columbia.”
This same measure was introduced into the fifty-eighth Congress, and passed the House April 6, 1903; but, as will be remembered, it was held up on a tie vote in the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia after having been introduced in the Senate. It has therefore gone over the ground twice up to the point where it now stands. But it may be reported back to the Senate and acted upon at any time during the coming session of Congress. If passed, it will be the first compulsory Sunday law Congress has ever enacted. We hope it will not pass. The measure is further considered in the third number of Liberty. Petition blanks against the measure may be secured from the various tract societies, or from the Religious Liberty Bureau, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C.
W. A. COLCORD, Secretary Religious Liberty Bureau.