Sunday Legislation in Hawaii
Sunday Legislation in Hawaii.—From Honolulu papers of March 13, we learn that the people there have lately been agitated over the question of Sunday observance. A bill was introduced in the Legislature which was designed to remove some of the more stringent provisions of the existing Sunday law, and this aroused the indignation of that class of people who desire to have the present law more rigidly enforced rather than modified. A mass meeting held as a protest against the proposed legislation was presided over by the governor, and was addressed by clergymen and other prominent citizens. The Catholic bishop, supported by the Federation of Catholic Societies, and claiming to represent one-third of the citizens of the territory, favors a modification of the present law. It seems that there is no one over there who has sufficient grasp of the principles of religious liberty to show up the wickedness of any kind of Sunday law at all. It is apparently a contest between the Catholics and professed Protestants as to what degree of Sunday observance shall be enforced. So far as the reports go, those who have expressed themselves on the subject favor either the Catholic or the so-called Protestant idea—and both of these classes want a Sunday law of some character.