Sunday Bills Before Congress
Two more Sunday bills have made their appearance in Congress, one in the House, introduced April 20, and one in the Senate, introduced April 23, both providing for Sunday closing of the Jamestown exposition to be held at Hampton Roads, Va., in 1907. As with the Chicago, St. Louis, and Lewis and Clark expositions, Sunday closing is to be secured by making the government appropriation for the exposition conditional on such action by the managers. THE following ironical comment on Mr. Heflin's Sunday bill for the District of Columbia, taken from the National Tribune of this city, of March 22, shows plainly the absurdity of such a measure: “Representative Heflin, of Alabama, is going to have the Sunday laws observed in the District of Columbia. He says he isn’t going to have building, hauling, and all other kinds of business going on in the capital of the country, just exactly as though this is not a Christian nation; and for once Representative Heflin is right, mighty right. It should not be permitted, and so all good, law-abiding citizens will stand by the bill which Mr. Heflin has introduced, and which, if passed, will prohibit Sunday work of the character mentioned. The wives of members of Congress will still continue to hold receptions and give bridge-whist parties on Sunday, however.” THE pastor of a leading church in Batavia, N. Y., is reported, in the Batavia News of March 7, as saying, concerning one of our brethren who was circulating the petition against the Sunday bills before Congress: “This man is a Seventh-day Adventist, at least he did not deny it when I asked him if that was his denomination, and he is working to abolish the Sunday laws in order that people of his faith, who observe Saturday instead of Sunday, may gain strength. If the laws are done away with, the members of his church may work on Sunday and keep Saturday as their Sabbath. Now they have to keep Sunday also, according to the Sunday laws. When a person signs this petition, he is asking for the abolishment of Sunday laws.” This minister's words show very plainly that he does not know why we are opposing Sunday laws, and he doubtless represents a large class. This demonstrates the necessity of presenting the principle upon which Sunday laws are based.