A JUDICIAL DECISION by Editor

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 12, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 31.

A JUDICIAL DECISION.

By Editor

Another illustration of the difficulty of administering Sunday laws is furnished in the recent decision by Judge Armster of the Cincinnati Police Court. According to this judge, ice-cream is not a luxury but a necessity, and its sale on Sunday is legal. Notwithstanding this judicial decision, there may be some people who will insist that ice-cream is not absolutely necessary to existence, nevertheless it can be sold in Cincinnati on the first day of the week without subjecting its vender to arrest. This reminds us of the decision made not long since by an Indiana court to the effect that cigars are a necessity and may be sold on Sunday. We believe also that a like decision was rendered in Pennsylvania, and that a similar decision is likewise on record in Massachusetts. But in all these States, as in Arkansas, persons would be liable to fine or imprisonment or both for doing such ordinary work as digging potatoes on Sunday. As a matter of fact, one man was fined in the last-mentioned State for digging potatoes for his Sunday dinner, and we suppose that the same thing might be done in any of the States that have Sunday laws, unless the persons doing the work happened to belong to one of the exempted classes.