THE UNCERTAINTY OF PETITIONS.
By Editor
THE following from the Christian Advocate, edited by Dr. J. B. Buckley, we commend to those who are expected to be influenced by petitions for Sunday closing of the Midwinter Fair:— Senator Dawes, in presenting to the Senate a petition which was signed by a prominent clergyman in this city, said that the statements contained in the petition were unsupported by the facts, and suggested that intelligent people ought to know better than to circulate such untruthful petitions for signatures. The clergyman referred to says that he signed the petition thoughtlessly, as it was presented to him by one of the women of his congregation. The signing of petitions is generally done in that way, and for that reason they have no influence. In a Texas court a lawyer, to prove the worthlessness of petitions, sent around a petition to hang a judge. It was signed by a number of citizens who did not read it, and was by the lawyer offered in evidence before that very judge.