Sunday Closing in Kansas City
By Editor
Sunday closing is in agitation now in Kansas City. Effort is being made to close the saloons and theaters. Commissioner Ward says, as reported in the Kansas City Star of April 30: “Of course, I take it for granted that the churches are for Sunday closing. I have asked fifty business men what their views on the subject were, and have found that the subject is one of absolute indifference to them.” And we do not blame the people of the churches for wanting these things closed; we wish they were extinct wholly. But it is not Christian, nor is it American, to compel the closing of a theater or a saloon on Sunday which is permitted to run the rest of the week. The day it is open is not what gives character to the theater or church; it is what it is itself. The real reason on the part of some is that these places are too successful rivals to the church, and keep people away from their services. But in that case the church is not helped by force. The only right way to do is to have services so much better and more helpful that men will attend the church of choice. Commissioner Gregory says that if the saloons and theaters close, everything else must stop which is not a necessity, even the weeding of a garden by some quiet citizen. These are among the beautiful inconsistencies of religious legislation.