The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-02-20
THE LEGAL SIDE OF IT.
THE SUNDAY REST QUESTION
FROM A LEGAL STANDPOINT.


! Sunday Liquor Traffic - W. G..
Charlton's Letter to the resident Of
the Evangelical Alliance.
| The audience that gathered at Masonic
| Temple last night to listen TO the discussion
OF the Sunday rest question was an intelli-
gent one The professions were well repre-
sented, and good many anembers Of the
labor organizations were present. One
third Of the audience was composed of la
dies
Mr.. James Earle, Jr., president Of the
| Evangelical Alliance, announced that he
was in receipt Of letter from w. G. CharI-
ton, Esq, who was expected to address the
meeting, stating that he would be unable to
be present. S. b. Adams, Esq, spoke for
nearly an hour on the question at issue.
He dealt mainly with it ia its legal bear
ings. To protect the laborer, he said, is the
highest voice Of all laws. To protect the
man who is unable to protect himself is the
| chief aim of the law.
VALIDITY OF THE SUNDAY LAW
The courts in every case where the ques-
ton of Sunday law IS involved have held
to its validity. There is a law against the
running of freight trains in this state on
| Sunday, but the speaker is inclined to be-
| live that the railroad corporations do not
adhere closely to it. The question has been
raised, he said, as to whether or not corpo-
| ratiOns can be dealt with. They can be
| dealt with, he added, and to uphold the
law, providing a rest day for those who
necessarily have to labor when these trains
are run, they should be dealt with.
| Mr.. Adams read petition from the Broth
erhood of Locomotive Engineers with over
400 signatures of the New York Central rail
road engineers asking for the adjustment of
| Sunday labor. In pointing out the evils Of
| Sunday work, the petitioners claimed that
| without one day for rest they were unable
to perform their duties as they should
THE SUNDAY LIQUOR TRAFFIC.
Mr.. Adams touched upon the Sunday
| liquor traffic in Savannah 1t is a desecra-
Uion of the Sabbath, ne said, and should be
stopped. In Germany, where Sunday
labor has been the custom for long time,
| the cutlery against it in recent years has
caused the German government to seriously
address itself to the question, in the inter-
| est of the people-the laD0rers who demand
a cessasion of toll on the Sabbath. The SUI
preme court of Georgia, IN every case, he
| said, has sustained the decisions Of the lower
| courts in the enforcement Of the Sunday
| law. Before that tribunal have gone scores
| of cases where men have been arraigned for
selling liquor on Sunday, and the courts
have never given thom any consideration
| The speaker read the following observations
| of the courts on the validity and cOnstitu-
| tionality of Sunday laws:
Not only the constitution Of the United States
| recognizes the christian Sabbath, by eXempting
| the President from the consideration OF bills
| on that day, but by many Of our own statute
| laws the day is protected from secular desecra-
| ton
The christians Sabbath is a civil institution.
ic oil ha al
| as a day of rest by our constitution, and the
| regulation of its observance as a civil lnsttu-
| tion has always been considered to be, aad is
| within the power of the legislature as much as
| any regulations and laws having for their OBJ
| ject the preservation of good morals and the
| peace and good order of society.
Mr.. Adams said that the Sunday rest
| movement is not sectarian. 1t sprang from
no particular denomination, nor does it
recognize any particular creed. 1t is re-
ligious though, in the highest and truest
sense of the word. 1t is religious so far as
| its power extends to ameliOrate the condi-
ton of humanity.
W. G. CHARLToN's LETTER.
After Mr. Adams address, Mr. Earle
| read Mr.. Charltons letter Mr. Charlton
wrote that he failed to appreciate any
rational division or dissent upon the great
truth, moral and economic of rest.
at is conceivable he said, THAT those
who refuse allegiance to the christian dis
| pensatlon, or who are FESTIVE under statu-
tory instruction, may rebel against the
assignment of Sunday as the day of rest Ii
is scarcely conceivable that any one would
care to place himself upon record as not
believing in the necessity Of a periodic ce
sation from labor-Some escape from the
penal servitude of week DAYS From an
economic standpoint, there is no practical
difference between the laws which restrain
| hn han Ae Of ha rrrpr
of his victim, and laws which restrain the
application of uninterrupted labor, invOlv-
ing a slower, but within the ex perience OF
mankind, as certain, and as untimely g
death in the end 1t is an unhealthy condi-
ton of society where to exist the laborer
must toll forever, and as much as we are
beholden to the glorious results of civiliza
ton which trade and commerce have worked
out for US, even such results go for nothing
if the increasing demands upon mind and
body unfit us for their enjoyment and en-
tail miserieS which were never meant to be-
endured.
CANNOT LIVE UPON TRADE ALONE.
The life of a great people cannot be
nourished upon trade alone, and if the issue
lies between the accumulation of a few dol.
lars here and there, upon the one hand, and
the healthful regeneration of the either
upon the Other-surely the truth rests with
tions against invasion of personal liberty
and against the wrongs of sumptuary laws
come from those upon whom the hardness
OF labor does not fail. Certainly, the argu-
ment would present itself with stronger
force if advanced by the mon in whose ears
the machinery of trade sounds without in
Permission, aul who have no participation
in that rest in which God and state and
common sense declare to be necessary tc
mental and physical health. With commu-
mites, as with individuals, it is the first
step which costs and the hIppant
violation of the wise and humane reg.
ulations which enjoin cessation from
labor upon the Sabbath, cannot but hurt
from every standpoint the viii and dispoSi
ton of the citizen to uphold any other law
There can be no safety for the state save il
the fearless administration of all its constl
tutional commands; and whether the result
to be obtained Is tue curbing of the torrent
of crime, which flows from the barrOoms Oh
Sunday. or the securing TO employer anC
employe alike the quiet and peaceful enjoy
ment Of absolute rest from the grinding
labors Of llfs-the obligation upon each Of
us to work out the legislative will is thC
same. AT all events, SO momeutous an issut
is worth fair trial, and the hearty supper
of every one who loves his state and bel
children. My own observation justlties mt
in the conviction that the movement vii
ind ready acceptance and support IRE
spective Of belief or creed"
About a Hatch Which Was in GooC
Shape.
We asked Mr.. T. c. s. Hatch in regart