Drifting from Her Moorings.
By Editor
When petitions were presented before Congress in 1829 and 1830 that post-offices and post-roads be closed on Sundays, the petitioners were plainly told, in Mr. Richard M. Johnson’s masterly report, that the matter of deciding the day of the Sabbath and enforcing its observance in the smallest degree by law, Congress had nothing to do with. It was not the business of Congress or civil government to decide religious controversies, or fix a religious observance by law. When the Sunday question came up over the closing of the Chicago Exposition in 1892, involving the same principles as the question of 1829, there was prolonged discussion, but Congress yielded to the religious politicians, and compromised the principle of religious liberty. It was a backward step from the glorious mountain height attained by the past heroic struggles for liberty. We said then that conscience was stultified, and subsequent acts would come much easier. This was recently shown when, on February 23, it was voted to close both the St. Louis and Charleston expositions on Sunday. Now, as to whether these expositions close on Sunday or not is not the bone of contention. It is this,—that the Government of the United States has no right, by virtue of its charters of existence, to take action in the matter. That she can now do this without protest shows how far the nation has drifted from her moorings.