Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-07-20
SUNDAY NEWSPAPERS.
a SERMON sY REV. MR. euRFoso,
A Powerful Portrayal OF the Evils 20
Mind and BODY Consequent Upon
the Sunday Paper.

course al 81. Marks church yesterday morn
ing upon the subject of the Sunday news
paper, taking a. his text Genesis il. 3. God
blessed the seventh day and saaetihed n;''
and Marx ii. q; The sabbath Was made
for man" After brief Introduction he
spoke sa ostantislly as follows:
Against the personal newspaper man the
preacher had nothing 10 say. he would dl-
vide his last crust with him. bat 10 the I'M
personal Sunday newspaper he would not
submit. This sinner ls about the age Of
Grand Rapids. The first Sunday paper ia
tins country was the New York Herald, IN
lsil. rn 1861, 1t was alone when
there was great demand for
war news that other dailies be
gan 10 follow. According TO Row
ell's directory there were IN October,
1888, 456 Sunday papers in this country,
fifteen only IN New England, Fifty eight ia
New York state and twelve ia Michigan.
The New York Tribune said IN ISL
that II was opposed 10 anything
which tends TO break down the Sabbath;
that TO diminish its prestige as season OF
rest must be deprecated. little opportun-
lty Will set this oser-actlye country 10 work
on Sunday and thus ooinplicate the labor
question already too complicated. But, alas!
this old wheel-horse of morality has sunk
down and now drags a Sunday coach. The
Sunday newspaper has no more right 10
issue blanket edition on that day than a
merchant has TO sell his goods. Money is
the object. IL there were no money in il
there would be- no such issues.
We are often told that IL is the Monday
paper which desecrates Sunday most But
this statement Is false. Do not let
them throw this dust into your eyes.
There IL nothing except the drink -fend
which pleases the Devil better than 10 see
q s..ls Of H. -.
Monday paper is sanity when compared
with the Sunday paper. There Is no need
for Sunday papers. They have created
themselves their only market. Those who
prepare these papers are not only engaged at
work Saturday night, but till noon on Sun
day, and If a Monday paper also Is published
the type must be distributed. The employees
are robbed Of their rest and ali days are
alike with printers aad editors and news
boys. The slavery OF such lives IA most ex-
haustive. Their commandment Is like that
to Dana's sailor: .'Six days shalt thou labor
and do all thou art able; and on the seventh
holystone the deck and scrape tie cable"
But the chief objection is that the Sunday
paper sadly and cruelty interferes with the
mental rest of millions of readers who are
tired out. People need more than physical
rest. They need repOse and refreshment 10y
change of thought and the stopping of the
sluices of secular life. The chief benefit of
the reports of fiuctuating stocks, failures,
fires, etc. The average daily paper reflects
not the bright, but the dark side Of the
world. The reporter Is best paid who can
dish up the most unsavory carrion. Let the
Devil work his way into church and produce
quarrel and how quickly il gets attention:
In this age of intense materialism we need
at least Sunday break water against the
law and vile. Six days of newspaper diet are
enough. But it is argued that the people
demand the papers. The people demanded
of Aaron that he should make a golden calf,
and Plate crucifed Christ because the peo-
pie demanded it. VoT pOpuii roS dei-the
voice of the people the voice of God il not
true.
But the strangest part of the indictment is
yet to come. On Sunday the papers double
or more than double their sizes. What are
their contents? Here are some OF the con
tents: Duel, Explosion, War, The Russian
Bear and the English Lion, Shooting His
Mothers Traducer, Killed by a Divorced
Wife, Breaking His Sons Skull, He Pulled
Out a Revolver and Threatened to Shoot
Her if She Did Not Marry Him, Gossip for
the Ladies at the Sunday Break
fast Table, Defsulting Teller, The
Bite of an Epileptic, Dynamiters, Rovdies,
What is your opinion of such food for
brains z Will you go on encouraging theml
/ do not believe in traducing the Devil, nor
painting him blacker than he is. But / am
unwilling that he should paint the picture
of the world for me and mine. leaving out
the golden sun and stars and the blue dome
of heaven. II a man should be seen
putting Paris green INTO your well
what would you do with him
If another man comes with printed Paris
green in the form of a Sunday paper and
pours 1t all over your eyes, what ought you
TO do with the poison and the poisonerg
Would you simply GO on praying Lead Us
not into temptation, but deliver Us from
eviif'' Some one may say the Sunday paper
has come TO stay what IL the use of making
fuss about it, So has sin come TO stay.
1t was said slavery had come TO
stay but il did not, thank Go d.
Let the ten millions OF Christian people re-
solve to have none but pure papers Let
printers and reporters strike against Sunday
work instead of for higher wages. Let sub
scrIbers protest against Sunday editions.
Let merchants stop advertising in them and
forbid the paper 10 be thrown at their doors.
The sin of buying a Sunday paper
is thought by some 20 be but little one
and il has become fixed habit.
But little sins lead TO larger ones. Read the
real estate notices and you may be tempted
TO spend the day in house- hunting; games
about base ball and you may attend them.
The Sunday mail, the Sunday train, and the
Sunday newspapers are but the three heads
of one hydra. which, next to the Sunday sa-
loon. are assailing most disastrously the
peaceful and quiet observance Of the Lords
day. Let all loyal Christian people unite 70
behead this monster. God made the Sab
bath for man. and / believe that the post
man. the railroad man. the GARDINER and
the newspaper employees are sli our brothers.
and ue must not allow them 10 be enslsved.