The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1873-07-12
Que 9aiIg Arsns.
Saturday, July u, 1878.
SUNDAY Recreation Of the Germans,

The action Of the Excise Commissioners,
which takes effect after today torpiddlng
the sale Of lager beer on the hrst DAY OF
the week and prohibiting music lnthe lager
beer gardens, so interfePes with the bust
ness Of a small class aud with the conven-
fence. comfort, and health Of very large
class of citizens, that there ought TO be |
strong reasons ior its justification. If this
measure were in the interest Of the
public health, endangered at this |
season Of the year by Astounding !
filth in the crowded parts OF the
city and by approaching pestilence, the
end might be deemed important enough to
Justify the means. But this regulation is
against the public health, especially in the
oppressively hot weather that prevails at
this season of the year. IL is a season
when everybody who can, escapes into the
sweet air of the country. Our laboring
population and their families can afford
neither the time nor the expense OF leav
ing the city during the sultry weather.
Stay here they must, toiling six days in
the week. Our German citizens have
brought with them from their father
land" the healthful habit of Sunday recre-
alton in the open air. In city so densely
peopled and 80 filthy as New York this
habit is invaluable Instead of spending
Sunday in the two or three rooms in a ten
ement house which they are able TO rent,
German family goes 10 some OF those
spacious and airy resorts where the old
and the young can pass comfortable day
with people to whom the same customs are
agreeable They enjoy the seats and the
shade and are entertained by the music
furnished by the proprietors otthese pleas
ant resorts They requite the obligation
bv purchasing what refreshments they
NAV need during the day on the spot,
which is much better than heating their
close tenements with cooking stove. Both
parents and children 20 home on Sunday
night refreshed and strengthened 70 en-
dure the sultriness, the smells, and the Ia
Dor OF the ensuing week. So long as this
healthful custom does not disturb other
quiet people there is no good reason why
il should be suppressed by the strong, re
morseless arm of the law.
The injustice TO the keepers Of the lagel
beer gardens is a comparatively small mat
ter, but even that deserves some consider
alton. They have not had fair warning o
this oppressive action They general!
rent their places, and the rent is regulated
by the probable profits. For several sum
mers lager beer has been sold on Sun
days, and when rents were renewed
last spring, there was no reason
to suppose the privilege would not b,
continued. The rents were accordingl,
adjusted TO this expected state of circum
stances. All the profits Of such places ar
made on Sundays The weekday receipt
do not pay rent and expenses. Now it
the barest justice to the propTietors tina
they should have fair notice il the bushes
on which they calculated as a means ,
paying their rent is 30 be suppressed o.
Sundays. Unless there are very urger
reasons for sudden action, this step shout
not have been taken till next spring whe
rents could be accommodated TO the no'
state of things To spring such a reguli
ton suddenly upon the proprietors at tn
beginning OF their most profitable season
cutting off that part of their business o
which they depend % save themselve
from loss, is an inexcusable act Of oppre,
sion, so long as order and quiet are mali
tanned az these places Of popular resort
This sudden act of arbitrary oppressC
is not in the interest of sobriety. Poop
whom the law permits TO drink lager be-
six days in the week are not likely TO ha,
their constitutions broken by cOntinuiI
the same practice on Sunday The thou
ands of families who have wine every di
on their dinner tables are in no greater dan
ger of intemperance on Sundays than
week days, and it is an invidious discrinl
nation against poverty to permit this i
diligence TO the rich and forbid less il
tOxicating beverage 10 the poor. On
bigotry can pretend that the quiet of Il
Sabbath is necessarily disturbed by ii
German habit of passing the day The
indeed are occasional cases of drunkenne
on Sunday as there are during the rest
the week. But if the police are strict an
prompt in making arrests, this can nevC
grow into a serious evil surely not a
evil 10 outweigh the health and comfort
ten thousand orderly families whose chanl
of inhaling little fresh air during our h,
summers lies in following the innocent nj
tional customs which they brought wit
them 30 this country.
This arbitrary regulation of the Excl,
Commissioners Is not in the interest
temperance, good morals, or religion.
~ a political mau~uvre in the interest {
the Republican party. The strong Ten
perance Convention held a week or NV
ago in Albany, has convinced the RepubE
can leaders that the Temperance men ar
earnest and formidable, and il is only l.
cOnciliating them that the Republican pa
ty has any chance Of carrying the Stat
this tall Hence this sudden crusat
against the social usages and Sunday recr
atous Of our German fellow citizens. -,
\ World