THE IMPOTENCY OF SUNDAY LAWS.
By Editor
THE Pacific Coast Secretary of the American Sabbath Union is endeavoring to inspire the friends of Sunday legislation with new courage. He says: “Our committee send words of greeting to all. Take courage. It took three years of hard work to carry the Sunday law in Louisiana, more than that to secure Sunday reform in Boston. The victory is to those who endure to the end. Let us be strong and brave and wise and prayerful, and we shall succeed.” The Sabbath Union men have been boasting over the Louisiana Sunday-law success all through their California campaign. This being the case, it would be well for Californians to ask, How much has Louisiana been benefited by the law, morally,4or in any other sense? Is there anything to show that New Orleans, for instance, has any higher moral record than it had previous to the enactment of the Sunday law four years ago? The condition of affairs which culminated in the late tragedy is a sufficient answer to the question. But we will take another city as an example of how such laws are looked upon in that State, and what effect they have. The Lake Charles American, a friend of the law, says:— “We have called attention to this matter before. If we mistake not, less than two years ago a large number of witnesses were brought before the grand jury to ascertain, if possible, if there was any violation of the Sunday law, and the grand jury failed, on the evidence furnished, to find a single true bill. At the same time, and ever since then, we have had good reason to believe that the law is violated every Sunday.” And to show that it is no difficult matter to establish a violation on the part of saloon keepers, the following information is given:— “The law, however, is plain enough on its face to satisfy any man as to what is necessary to prove in order to sustain a true bill. You do not have to establish the fact as to whether the saloon keeper or anyone else sells liquors on Sunday. It is altogether unnecessary. The fact, and the only fact necessary, is for them to ascertain if the saloon door, either back or front, has been opened between 12 o’clock on Saturday night and 12 o’clock on Sunday night.” Where both the grand juries and the people at large are so careless about the enforcement of the law, it is quite evident that they do not deem it a very potent measure for moral advancement.