The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1876-04-27
TnE CENTENNIAL. SHALL IT BE
CLOSED ON SltNnAY

shuSED ON StNDAHy
Boston journal Of Commerce says
1.-THE Sunday question is formidable, and
whichever way IL is decided, the Centcn-
NAL commission will be ironcd out fiat
Their position Is not cnviablc. A mana
ger told me the other day he would open
his thcatcr for two performances on sun.
day il the commission opened their doors.
do not wonder at religious people
trembling ut the prospect before them.
The wedge once entered, down goes the
sabbath of the American Christian.
am not saving this in any sort ola parti-
san sense, for ] am not given to that sort
of thing but it IL well for religious peo-
pie TO look this matter square in the face.
The press of Philadelphia. and every
where else. for that matter. Is divided
upon that subject. The foreign influence
Is dctermincdly In favor of opening the
doors; the American element says open
and shut"
The New York Tribune says: Another
noticeable feature Is the effort made by
the religious community to use their
great opportunity protitably. The cXhi-
! bition not 10 be opened on Sunday
conclusion likely to provoke little com
plant even from those who oppose It,
| We enter into no discussion as To the pro.
priety or improperly Of observing this
one day with strictncss, or observing 1t
| at all. The fact is that it Is observed
| from Canada to Mexico and from sea to
sea, except in few settlements of for.
eigners. II simply expresses the con-
NONSENSE and feeling OF the people.
therefore, to close the great show on the
first day of the week."
Upon which the st. Louis Republican
very sensibly comments as follows: III
the Centennial exposition was confined
entirely to our own population, and to
that portion of our population which the
Tribune calls "the religious community,
then the closing OF its doors on Sunday
would be both right and proper. But
when we have invited the whole world |
to 1t, and when "the religious commu-
nifty has no more to do with it than has |
the irrcligious community, we fail TO see |
either the politcncss or propri- |
ETY. of the proposed action. If we
rightly understand the spirit and pur-
pose Of the exposition, it is a cosmo-
politm and not Il strictly national affair,
and rs thoroughly secular a. anything
possibly can be. 1t was intended for all
nations, classes; conditions and crceds
lnd just so far as 1t falls short of fulfill
ng that intention, just 30 far will it fail.
I church and State were united in this
ountry there might be some excuse
hou.h even then IA poor onc-for en-.
orciDg church regulations in the admin
'tration OF an enterprise under the pat
onage OF the government. But as the
,ivll authority has not the rclnotcst con-
iection with the ecclesiastical. and as the
'rSanic law Of the land contains not the
lisitest alluson to any theological
logma whatever, it strikes us rs su.
'remely ridiculous, as well as glaringly
Inconsistent, to impose Sabbatarian re-
upon the attendance at the
exhibition.
who is it that will suller most by the
losing of the doors on Sunday. That
Tery portion of society which most needs
he information and recreation the ex-
libition is designed to furnish-the
working people. Obliged to depend upon
heir daily labor for their daily bread,
he loss of a weekday is more than the
Tast majority OF them can afford. Food
md clothes are more important to them
han anything else, and rather than lose
he wherewithal which procures these
necessities they will let the luxury of
furious sights go unenjoyed.