St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-06-19
The Sunday Law.
RuStOu Caligrann.

There has been considerable amount
of kicking done against the proposed
Sunday law by the opposers of such
legislation but it now looks like the
bill will become law regardless OF the
opposition which has been brought to
bear to defeat it. There is but little
doubt that the light which has been
thrown on the subject by the testimony
of the opposers of the measure has
strengthened the opinion OF the COM
mittee as to the advisability of the en-
actment of such a law, rather than to
weaken their confidence in the neces-
sity for it. A New Orleans brewer
stated that if the bill becomes a law and
he should have to close his house OF
business on Sunday, eighty employees,
beer makers. of his establishment
would be thrown out of employment and
furthermore that the Sunday law is but
step toward establishing prohibition
in the State, the consummation of
which would ruin the State.
This class of people, those who con-
troll numerous employees whom they
manage us SO many slaves, is the prin-
cipal class of individuals whose busi-'
ness is sought to be affected by the
Sunday law. These employees are
forced to labor on the Sabbath doub
lest in many instances against their in
clinatiOn or conscientious convictions,
in order to hold their position, which is
their meat and bread Were they to in
sist on refrainiDg from work on Sundays
they would he discharged and their
places filled by others of less conscien-
tions scruples on the subject, and they
know it. In this way vice goes at
premium and virtue rates below par.
Instead of forcing men to be moral and
religious, as it is claimed by the OppO-
effect in this class of cases is to prevent
moral people being made immoral and
to off r all opportunity to the immoral
to become mOrul.
So far as the prohibition tendency OF
the proposed law is concerned, that
point may be conceded. The object and
intention of the law is to prohibit the
sale of liquors, as we'll as most every
thing else, one day in the week. 1t
bears the same relation to tn absolute
prohibition law that every other moral
legislative enactment does. 1t edu-
Gates the people to eschew evil and to
do right, and this they cannot do fully
without discountenancing the liquor
traffic.
There is in this State class of So
called advocates of moral reform who
go into convulsions whenever the
strong arm Of the law is invoked to
suppress any popular evil. They say
accomplish the desired end, and that
forced morality is no morality at all.
We would like to know what is more
natural than for moral people to want
moral laws. And what consistency is
there in preaching morality and per-
suading men to do right and at the
same time authorizing and empowering
them to do wrong by express legislative
enactment or uneXpressed cOndemna-
ton of wrong. If every man in Louis
lana was really and truly moral in every
sense, would any person imagine for
moment that such Laws as the charter
of the Louisiana State Lottery, the law
licensing the sale of Intoxicating liq-
uors and ali the other laws of kindred
nature would be permitted to remain
upon the Statute books of ths State ?
We imagine not. 1t is in order: that this
garb of hypocrisy be thrown off and
every man stand by his cOlors. The
man who opposes the aid OF the law in
accomplishing any praiseworthy end is
an opposer at heart of the measure
sought TO be accomplished. He may
ptttCuU III tIC Cuuti puU fIS pACtCu-
siOns are but sounding brass and tink-
ling cymbals in the ears of those who
have sense to reason from cause to ef-
feet.
The Sunday law bill now before the
Legislature is good one, though not
as good by any means, as could be
gotten up, and deserves the hearty
support Of every legislator who has any
regard for morality. The laws of Louis
lana offer fewer safeguards to morality
thnn any other State in the United
States, the so-called backwoods State
OF Arkansas not excepted. Ii we ever
hope to rank in social equality with our
sister States and the remainder OF the
civilized world, we have got to awake
from the moral Rip Van Wrinkle slum-
Der we have indulged in for the past
twenty years and look around and as
certain where we are.