The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-02-13

miss, Tor the first time, accurate informa-
ton as to the extent of the Sunday
liqucr traffic and the crime which springs
on it in this metropolis. 1t appears from the
t tics Of this document, taken from official
data that there are 7,779 places where liquors
sold in the city, of which only " have IL
ccnse from the Excise Commissioners and that
s Sc houses continue their business on Sunday,
in violation of State and city statutes; and it is
estimated that at least the sum of 1,348, 800 is
expended in the grogshops Oh the ifty-two Sun
days of the year. 1t further appears that of the
n, S45 commitments to prison in 1857, no less a
proportion than 23,S17 of these, or about 6
out of every 7, were Of persons Of "intemperate
habits;' Of whom again, sixty per cent were mere
youths and young men between ten and thirty
years Of age. Lastly, another set Of statistics
shows that taking seventy six successive Sundays,
the criminal arrests were 9,7l3; while for the
same number of Tuesdays there were but 1861
difference Of twenty-five per cent-traceable,
indeed, to the Sunday grogshops but traceable
to something beyond, as we shall presently show.
What are the remedies proposed by the "Sab-
crime connected with the Sunday grogshops?
The principal are: increase Of evangelizing
agencies "the correction of public sentiment
as to Sunday ordinations" and lastly, "the
enforcement of the laws against the Sunday
liquor traffic." To this we cannot help exclaim-
ing, "Most lame and impotent conclusion
The enforcement Of liquor lawA and Sunday
laws has been already tried in vain, and has been
found only to aggravate the evil which those eu-
actments were designed to cure. Our legisla
tors might have known this, if they had only
known little of human nature, or made them
selves acquainted with the operation of such
laws in other countries. In England, Scotland
and Ireland the most stringent enactments may
be found on the statute book, enforcing what is
called ''the observance of the Sabbath'-that is,
making it day of gloom and misery. What is
the consequence? Nowhere in the world, unless
in the United States, is there SO much drunken
ness as in the British Islands on Sunday, and
every other day of the week. The same cause
produces the same effect both here and there.
The Pharisaical, Puritanical spirit which in
Great Britain and Ireland has rendered Sunday,
which ought to be devoted to recreation
and pleasure, a day of sadness. and sorrow
and unnatural restraint, has been imported
into this country, and blended with our laws,
though wholly inconsistent with the genius
of our free institutions. When people
are prohibited from enjoying rational
they will seek irrational indulgences, for human
how fic n1oy IN
form, especially the young, who are by far the
largest class Of Sunday criminals. Give youth
an opportunity and taste for other forms Of
amusement, and they will not frequent the bar
room either in their tender or ripper years. AS
the twig is bent, go is the tree inclined.
Drunkenness is almost unknown in Italy Ger
many, France and Spain. Why? Because there
are no Sunday laws in those countries, and the
people, after divine service, enjoy themselves as
they please, either at the theatre or in excursions
by the railroads and steamboats,, or in any other
kind of outdoor amusement for which they may
have either natural or an acquired taste.
These simple facts, which cannot be contra
dicted, are worth thousand theories, and are
more convincing to those who have eyes to see,
ears to hear, and minds to understand, than all
the Sabbath homies Of all the preachers in the
United States. 1t is no more sin for men to
amuse themselves on Sunday in this Protestant
country than it is in the Catholic countries of the
Continent Of Europe There, less Of drunken
ness and less Of crime is to be found than
here. Why? Because ~two-thirds Of the
crime in this city proceeds from drunken
ness, and more than two-thirds of the drunk
enness proceeds from the Sunday laws and
the Puritanical observance of the Sabbath.
The only places open are the grog shops; and to
these the population will resort even by stealth,
when the railroads and steamboats, are not suf-
fered to take them to the country In Paris
there are more ways Of getting out Of the city on
Sunday than on any other day in the week.
There is less drunkenness and less crime in Paris
than in New York, though its population is
twenty-five per cent larger than ours. Here the
drunken frolic of Sunday is continued on Mon
day and often extended for two or three days.
During these sprees crimes are committed from
which their perpetrators would shrink if they
were perfectly sober Then the drunkenness Of
Sunday leads to the general habit of drunken
ness, and that leads to every other vice and
crime and misery.
Open, then, the theatres and other public
amusements on Sunday, and let all the railroads
and steamboats, be free to convey the people
to the numerous delightful spots which sur
round New York within twenty miles, and
no law will be wanted to shut up the
grogshops; they will be closed, because they will
have little or nothing TO do. The supply of rum
will cease when the demand ceases, and not be-
fore. Where can the population Of New York
go on Sundays but into the rumholcs and grog-
gerics? All other avenues or amusement and
social enjoyment are closed against them by
those ignorant ard impudent Pharisces who pre-
fpnd 10 be the Delegates OF the Almi0ltv Wloee