The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-07-25

ipg TO prison the driver OF Il city railroad
Car, md deciding tcst the driving OF su,b
cars III The vicinity of place Of worship
on Sno6ry was breach OF the peace
Strange to say, this DANIEL come to jutg
mep" ADMITS tbas driving a private vehicle |
over tne same road wouio not he a breach of the
peace for it ~ould oe only AL instant 10 psssng
al would not be sufficient to disturb the con-
erega',ons on the route; whereas, THESE cars
passing every six minutes. would disturb them
very much Such lis the learned logic OF Judge |
Thompson. H. ssys--
rAve,rs ricing for recreation eveo IL not breaor
o. the Ssbeath AMI parenns not No este, To- |
ns along the streets Ia, suco purpoe-s me dis
'ueanss any "fo's,optd ny toe vsnce, you'd ne nu'
TO, sp stau. Nor 30 believe Ia ths s,ebt 10
@r's,io Sof'dy bns'nesr, ~osre
business done does srtuay disturb the pea al the
be gse,sboed
The tallacy nj this reasoning is obvious. The
driver OF toe railroad car wonld not q. guilty OF
a breach of The peace NJ common la. II il made
DO noise TO disturb any ones devotjoDs ~
church. hut would I've guilty Of a breach Of tne
ACT Of 1894 against pursuing worldly calling
Cd Sunday, and be liable to a fin. ot 81; though
T " made the greatest possible amount Of no'se,
but ca,rieo she paseengers gratutoisly, he woulo
be guilty of breach Of the peace, nut DOT OF
violating the penal statute Bat would not tn
driver of hack conveying any person TO courcb,
or for recreation. BIZ violating the statute, and
wonio not servant drieing family 70 church
ID SUNDAY be pursuing ais worldly cailiog, ano
be liable to q fine Of 81? The Court says people
IN their devotioDs are to be protected from the
noise of public cars passing through the streets.
And are not the sick and dyieg equally entitled
70 protection against noise on the other SIX days
Of the week?
Judge Thompson admits that person driving
a single vehicle commit no breach of the peace.
suppose private vehicles were to pass at the rate
OF one IN every minute, which il quite possible
(as aoy one may see by standing on the Bloom
'Dedale road in this city on Sunday; they woulo
disturb the congregations just six times as nuce
as the public vehicle, and yet none of t1em
would be guilty of breach of the peace Ii
every person who would ride in cars containing
twelve employed vehicle for himself as he
would have right to do according to Judge
Thompson, it would multiply the disturbance
at least twelve times, Yet none of these would
be liable to prosecution for a breach OF the
peace. So far, therefore, from the public cars
having the tendency to break the peace by dis
turbipg congregations, it would greatly dimiu
ish the collective noise and disturbance in the
streets to which every individual on his ewn
hook might legally contribute. So weak an ar
gument never came from Supreme Court be-
fore.
According to the decision Of Judge Thompson,
any narrow-minded clergyman or sect may erect
church in leading thoroughfare for the very
purpose Of preventing the running of cars, and
thus all the thoroughfares in the city one by one,
might be completely shut up against the running
of those public vehicles, even to bring people to
and from church. A religion which is so over.
bearing, SO selfish, and so merchandising to
the freedom of other men, cannot be of God.
ANY observer will see in this city how many
hundreds of people are carried to and from
church by our city cars, how few they contain
during the hours of divine service aud how filled
they are Immediately after. This decision, there
fore, affects the poor, and the sickly, and females
who are not able to walk in a broliDg sun, and
cannot afford to keep or hire carriage
while the rich and the strong need no
care fig about it. Surely this is not
or at least ought not to be, the policy of the law
Then again the Court says that the churches have
a right to the whole day, for it appears that the
car in question did not commence running till
one o'clock, when service is over almost in every
church. Now, the law that undertakes to inter
fre at all ought to interfere to compel congrega
tons to hold their services at the same hours
say from ten to twelve o'clock; or if not, to let
them suffer disturbance without redress. And
if the clergy, who always superinteod The build
ing of the churches, would construct them out of
The main tboroughfares they would show more ~
the genuine spirit Of Christianity than the worlo
will give them credit for in this crusade against
the rights Of their fellow men.
The effect Of Judge Thompsons decision will
DE to rouge the public mind of Pennsylvania
against statute which is but the leavea of the
| tyranny Of the Old World aud of the days OF
religious persecution and intolerance, We trust
it will BOON be wiped from the statute book,
where it is disgrace to the spirit Of the age
and that law will be passed, not only permit
ting railroad cars in city and country to rua on
Sunday, but compelling them to run cheap
trains for the accommodation OF the poor
This was the result in England of the pious
crusade against Sunday travelling, led by
Sir Andrew Agnew in the British Parliament:
and now any one who reads the Londou
Tines can See numerous advertisements an
nouncing cheap excursions By railroad on Sun
day. Thus it is that fanatcism defeats its own
purpose
A few years ago the same fanatical spirit
attempted to prevent bands OF music iu the parks
of London on Sunday, and the government at
tempted to prevent the assembling of the people
by military and police; but such was the nnmis
takeable spirit manifested by the multitude thar
the government wisely succumbed, aud the
ri nh,d