The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-04-01
LEGAL OPINIONS OF SHAVING.

~ stti.s Vth,s,
made to close the saloons on Sunday in
conformity with state law, the saloon
keepers have found much satisfaction
in holding up the BARRIERS as c%O-sinners
equally deserving of punishment. 10y
closing up the barber shops the saloon.
keepers hoped to demonstrate the in
justice of the law and thus to restore
uninterrupted traffic between the
streets and their bars.
The remarkable war that has been
waged i'm Cleveland the past winter has
been ended, so far rs the poor BARRIERS
are concerned, by a decision rendered
by the courts last week. Ten BARRIERS
were arrested the preceding Sunday for
violating an ordinance passed by the
city council expressly f%orbidding the
shops to remain open on Sunday under
penalty. Each side was represented by
the best obtainable legal talent, and
the prosecution especially was carried
OH for all there was in IL.
The conclusion of the court was that
the council had m power delegated to
il by any statute of the state to pass
such an ordinance. But the judge also
discusses the question involved from "a
broader standpoint:
Another weighty reason In my Judgment,
would render the ordinance Illegal and void and
that Is because Il IL unreasonable. Inconsistent
with the general laws Of the state, oppressive
and unfair. II does not act upon all classes alike
and Is not general in It's application. II makesit
n crime 10 do certain thinge therein enumerated
when II must be perfectly apparent that those
- 49, $1,000. ~ .fl..r htaan
do not tend Ia disturb the peace and good order
NJ the community. II ~unjusily selects n class or
trade known as BARRIERS and seeks to brand them
as lawbreakers and criminals and leaves all other
craftsmen and tradesmen outside the penalties
81 the law. II seeks To punish certain men for
doing certain things and leaves other men To do
similar things without hindrance. Again, the
second section OF the ordinance declares that no
person shall Ia any manner engage In such occti-
patton. Thus II may he seen that any person
who sha,es himself on Sunday IL punishable
under this crude piece of municipal legislation.
You might Ms well SAY that a man who washes
his face or combs his hair On Sunday is guilty Of
AN unlawfnl act.
In contravention of this last ruling
of the court, it might be urged that as
a matter of necessity a distinction may
be drawn between shaving on the one
hand and cOmbing ones hair or wash
ing ones face ON the other: for while a
shave late Saturday night might hold
good until Monday morning, the per
Torrance of the two other acts Of toilet
on Saturday night could on no account
emove the necessity of their repeti'
ton on the sabbath day. In cOnnec-
ton with this subject the analogous
case of backing boots might be cited,
but the tendency of the courts is to
quash these fine distinctions, and recog.
nize shaving as of equal Importance
and necessity rs the cleansing Of the
face and the arranging of the hair. In
"a recent test a 5 tried at Boston Judge
Morton charged the jury tn the effect
that shaving upon Sunday he reason.
ably considered a necessity and that
the barber was no more 10 he blamed
than was the person he shaved. IF a
man were brought before me and
charged with shaving himself" said
| Judge Morton, IL would under ordi-
nary circumstances discharge him.
Unless the barber knows that his Gus
toner wants his hair trimmed or his
face shaved for an improper purpose,
IL seems TO me that the party is justi-
fled i'm doing any work which is nor.
ally iii 10 he done"
The Cleveland judge takes the posi-
ton that in all such matters il is safe
TO abide by the dictates of common
sense, and he broadly intimates that
the courts will interpret what is com
mon sense and what isn't. Il sympa-
thize," he says. with thsNbarbers AS !
do with our coachmen who drive us
and our families to and from church,
with our cooks who prepare our sun
day meals and with the large army of
men who work Oh steam and street
railroads and in daily newspaper
Offices. But the exigencies and de-
mands of the age in which we live
seems Ia require that all these and
many other things should be done on
the sabbath day and that such things
are by the average common sense of
the people deemed works Of necessity"
AN UNSATISFACTORY FAILURE.
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