SUNDAY CLOSING IN HONOLULU.
By C. M. S.
WHEN the recently-returned transport Logan arrived at Honolulu, the day of the week was Sunday. According to the laws of the Territory, saloons are closed there on Sunday. The men swarmed ashore and at once began looking for saloons. There were none open. Some of the men went to the parks, a few to the churches, and the rest wandered aimlessly about. But the Logan remained in port Monday and Tuesday, and the soldiers made up for their enforced thirst of Sunday. The saloons were crowded the entire time, and at night none but men in uniform could get to the bar. Fights were frequent all over town, and the local police and provost guard were kept busy. Now comes a decision from the Attorney-General that such strict Sunday observance as was enforced on that day, is not required under the law, and he instructs the high sheriff to permit a more liberal interpretation and enforcement of the Sunday-closing law, which would be more in consonance with the law itself and with public convenience. So there will be no more such strict Sunday closing in Honolulu. While Sunday closing in any country and at any time is a farce, and while it should be unlawful to do on Monday and Tuesday what it is unlawful to do on Sunday, yet the continued nullification of liquor laws by attorney-generals is regrettable. What the parent will do the child will imitate, and the Territory of Hawaii has learned its lesson in its infancy. The position of this Honolulu official is identical with the position of the President and Attorney-General of the United States. Where the financial interests of the liquor element are "paramount," it is but to be expected that any restrictive liquor legislation will be nullified. The only remedy is a total eradication of the whole wicked business, root and branch. Sunday-closing is on a par with what was called the "righteous compromise" with vice in the Indian army. Vice will never be eradicated from armies as long as armies exist, and it is doubtful if there will ever be a total prohibition of the liquor traffic. But individual souls will be saved from both, not through a compromise with them, but through a firm Christian stand against them in whatever shape they may come. C. M. S.