The record-union., 1891-02-26
SUNDAY Law AGAIN.
Rev, TindaIl Answered by an Oak
land Man.
Tie Asserts That California is Not the
Most Immoral state I'm
the Union.

uaY law on ANY or every preteAt, Seefu 70
have n mania for ibeling California.
They essay 90 do Gods service by com
tinually proclaiming TO the world that
California is the most immoral State in
the Union. Some of them openly dc
clare that they a,iVise their Eastern friends
not to come to California on this account
And what evidence do they adduce in
support of the allegation2 None what
ever. saz-o tho fact that the State has 40
Sunday law.
one OF these gentlemen. when before
the Joint meeting OF the Legislative Com
mittees on Public Morals, solemnly
charged that there is no redress in the
California law for the disturbance Of re-
ligieas worship. This, in face OF the fact
that there is not a State in the Union
which has more strenuous law on this
subject than Section S02 of the Penal Code
OF California. And il is elective moi only
on Sunday, but on every day OF the week.
Other ministers OF this class have re-
peatedly ignored this provision OF the
" code iand they were not ignorant OF its
existence, either in their fI5anticappeaiS
for protection of the Sunday services.
They have published this charge 10 the
world over and over again, no doubt, TO
the detriment OF the State.
1t is blandly assumed, and published
abroad that because there is no Sunday
law i'm the State the commonwealth
stands in an attitude of hostility to moral
ity and moral teaching, Vel they fail to
show wherein the morals al the State arc
a whit more lax than in tho other States,
They 90 draw some comparison between
some OF the more quiet localities IN other
States and some of the more turbulent
places in California, hut they have not
shown, nor can they show, any bet5or
state OF morals in any State taking the
l,toDle as a whole There is not a section
In the Union OF the same size, or OF the
same population, for that matter, tcons3-
ering the variety OF its people, that has
not as bad spots as there arc 10 he round
In California.
Pathetic appeals for Sunday law are
made on the ground that many people
ARE engaged in Sunday-school work;
they are devoting their energies without
nav and that moral teaching is a neceS-
sity and a benefit to the State. Nobody
denies all this, hut it is presented i'm a
way to impress the idea that the State is
against them because it has no Sunday
law. The pretcnse is false; the State pro-
tects their work, not only by law hut in
sentiment. This is demonstrated hy
their own admissions, Speaking OF
moral instruction, one of your ministers
said last sunday:
Take any city or village in this broad
land, from the Atlantic to the Pacific
canvass the population, visit every family
and scarcely any can be found who are
moi favorable 10 this instruction. Hall
this city has recently been visited and
nearly every family was found favorable,
almost none opposing
Here Is an admission of the moral sem
timent of your capital city, and yet some
of your pastors publicly proclaim the
pre-emineut immortality OF the people OF
california. Their assertions 30 this effect
l.. 4
out against the State as bad place TO
raise children, why don't they say,
"Come here with your children. here
where there Is an almost unanimous SEN
tinent in favor of moral training-a almost
none oppoSiug.n Surely there is not an
other spot i'm the United States where tho
liRe'caI he said OF Che population.
Not only is the sentiment SO strong in
favor of this moral training, but there
are SO many ready 20 engage ia the worl,
OF teaching. "A very large number arc
actually engaged ON Sunday in publicly
teaching the purest morality to thousands
of children and youth in our STATE" And
these teachers ''ask no pay" Yet in tho
face of all this earnestness on the part ui
many to teach 1.-The purest morality" and
almost none opposing il, ministers o
the gospel viii solemnly proclaim that
people are Obliged 20 leave California and
go north TO find n moral atmosphere in
which 20 raise their children. And whyi
Simply because we have no Sunday law
Verify there is something wrong in thi,
Sunday-law logic. There is something
behind the curtain that has not yet beer
put upon the stage. These earnest advo.
Gates tells ms that the Sunday law is wanted
rs an aid TO wake up a moral sentiment
but they show that moral sentiment IL al
ready almost unanimous. The law
cannot be needed for that purposes: il
fact any of them will admit that men can
- l.s, do. l,NAl l,Nx
make plea for the worlSingmen who ar,
worked seven days in the week: but the,
present bill to the Legislature which cx
cmpts nearly all that class, and leaves II hii
hole for the others to crawl through VIII,
may wish To evade the law. This show
that this plea Is Il mere subterfuge. Th
laboring men are not asking for rest
day; on the contrary they are urging
bin the object of which is TO provide then
work, without reference to any particula
day.
Again, IL is urged that mans physica
nature demands u day of rest in ever,
seven. If we admit this as n scientiti
deduction, no scientist has assumed tha
the rest must needs be on Sunday.
IL is claimed that since the repeal of tn
Sunday law crime has increased at a ta
greater ratio than the population.
this were true il would prove nothing n
To the efficacy of that measure, for tn
law lay dead on the statute book fo
about twenty years. and with the excep
tion OF mn occasional abortive squirt n
attempt was made to enforce il. Th
show of increasing crime may be the re
suit of increased vigilance and effective
ness in tho matter OF detecting crime. Il
this as it may, however, the Goo
Booxp tells us that in the last days "evi
men and soducers shall wax worse an
worse. dcceiving aud being deceiyed: bu
there is no intirnation that Sunday law
will refnpdy the situation
But what do tho American Snbbnt
Union Ia New York corporation, by In
way } and it's abettors in California want
All the pleas they put forward in thi
matter fail to show the real design. VIII
is il they are willing To accept anythin
that can be called IL Sunday law. whcthc
Ii affect anybody at all or notY Di
Thomson almost answered tho questio
81 the hearing before the Committee o
Public Morals. When asked why ho di
not ask for q certain provision, he re
piled: Because we couldn't get H..
There is more wanted than is asked foi
more will be demanded by and by.
This American Sabbath Union wa
organized for the purpose of securing
national Sunday law. California stand
IN the way. The Union wants to 90 he
fore Congress with the plea that all tli
States have Sunday laws. and the genera
Government stands in the way OF thei
enforcement. national law once Sc
cured. then the dropping state laws vii
he braced up and strengthened where the
are too weak. Then We will find on
what is wanted i'm California THAT th
Sabbath Unions henehmen dare not as
for now.
If the Committees on Public Moral
want to preserve the morals of tho STATE
as we'll as the freedom of conscience of II
citizens. they viii nip in the bud thi
cfs.,. ,x-a4f fffSa that comes before them i