THE MOVEMENT IN BEHALF OF THE BLAIR SUNDAY BILL.
By C. P. Bollman
Most of the readers of the SIGNS are aware that a bill known as the "Blair Sunday Bill" is now before the United States Senate, and that the purpose of the bill is to establish a national Sunday law. But few probably are aware of the pressure which is quietly being brought to bear to secure the passage of this bill, which, should it pass both branches of Congress and be signed by the President, would put a stop to all "unnecessary" Sunday work in the military and mail service of the Government, and also in the several Territories, and in the District of Columbia. Of course it could not be used in any event to enforce Sunday-keeping in the several States except so far as it may affect Government employes. Some idea of what the friends of this bill are doing to secure its passage may be gained from the following, by Rev. Wilbur F. Crafts, in the Chicago Daily News of July 17. After stating the purpose of the bill, Doctor Crafts says:— "The Central Labor Union of New York, the Knights of Labor Council for Chicago and vicinity, the Mail-carriers' Assembly of New York, and other labor organizations, and the Presbyterian General Assembly, the State Sabbath-school conventions of New York, Missouri, and Kansas, and many churches have all adopted the following resolution in substance:— "Resolved, That we indorse the petition to congress asking it to stop Sunday work in its mail and military service, and in interstate commerce. "Every labor organization in the country, and every humane and religious organization, is invited to adopt a similar resolution and forward it, with statement of the number of members in the organization, and whether the vote was unanimous, or nearly so, attested by signatures of the officers, with place and date, to Senator Blair, at Washington." What the doctor hopes to accomplish is thus stated by himself:— "Ours is a wheelbarrow Government, which moves forward in new reforms only when pushed by the people from behind. If the workingmen push together on one handle and Christians on the other, the Senate will hardly tip the new bill onto the refuse heap, but let it go forward to enactment." But the movement is not confined to the East, the churches of the Pacific Coast are likewise moving in this matter, as is witnessed by the following account of a recent preachers' meeting in San Francisco:— "Rev. Dr. Anthony called attention to a517circular which had been sent from the East to all the pastors, asking them to take action in favor of the bill which had recently been introduced into Congress, to establish a national Sunday law. He said that a large number of the churches of the East and middle West had already taken action in favor of the bill, including not a few German churches. Instead of circulating petitions to Congress, he thought it would be better for each of the churches to take action and forward the result, duly attested by the pastor, to the committee at the East having the matter in charge, and he moved a resolution pledging the pastors to present the matter at an early date to their several congregations." The resolution was unanimously adopted, which shows that the leaven of National Reform is working, even in this State. The magnitude of this movement, and the influence that it is likely to have upon Congress, will be apparent when we consider carefully the "plan of campaign" which has been adopted. The work is not to be done by petition, for the circulation of petitions takes time and money, and then they represent only those who sign them; but in this case entire churches and labor organizations, as such, are to be wheeled into line in behalf of this Sunday bill. It is obvious that in this way a very much larger showing can be made in favor of its passage than could be made in any other way, for the reason that by this plan thousands will be counted as favoring the bill who are either opposed to it or are indifferent on the subject. Probably every pastor in the United States will be (most of them have already been) asked to present this matter to their congregations, and a very large majority of them will do it. The resolution will of course be put to vote in each congregation, and will in almost every instance be carried unanimously, that is, none will vote against it. The result will then be certified to Senator Blair as the unanimous action of a church of so many hundred members, when perhaps, as a matter of fact, not one-half of them actually voted upon the resolution at all. In this way it will be made to appear that a very large number of people are in favor of the bill, a great many more than it would be possible to secure by petition. There may be no deliberate intention to make a false showing in favor of this movement, but Dr. Craft's statement of the case can mean nothing else than that the action of the several churches and labor organizations is to be reported as the action of the total membership of those associations, less, perhaps, the number actually voting against the resolution. For instance, Mr. A is pastor of a church of two hundred members, he presents the proposed resolution, or a similar one, for the consideration of his congregation; very likely only one-half of the members are present, but a vote is taken, and all who vote at all vote for the resolution; the result will, of course, be reported as the unanimous vote of a church of two hundred members. The effect of this mode of procedure will be not to remove the indifference and lack of conviction which a prominent New York religious paper recently complained was the greatest hindrance to the success of the Sunday movement, but to overcome the effect of it. For by this plan every church-member who fails from any reason to oppose this movement for national Sunday legislation, will be counted as favoring it; and it matters not how great may be the indifference of thousands, they will count just as effectually in favor of the Blair Bill as though they were its most earnest advocates. Thus the plot against religious liberty in this country is thickening; the strength of the party which is saying, "Let us make an image to the beast," is rapidly increasing, and erelong religious liberty in the United States will be a thing of the past.