The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1892-06-15

Congress in Touch With the Country
Chicago Pent up in Ideas.
ACTIVITY IN THE CLOSING MOVE.
Great Secular and Religious Meetings,
Legislatures, etc.---sunday Clos
ing---other Notes.
CHICAGO, June 15.-From this day
forth the worlds fair gates will be closed
to visitors on Sunday. Such is the final
decision of Congress, the National COM
mission and worlds fair directory
Concerning this fact, Mr.. E. F. Cragin,
perhaps the most active organizer of the
association, in an interview yesterday
said: Undoubtedly the vast majority
of the people of the United States are
anxious to see Sunday observed at the
fair. Our association has been studying
the drift of opinion for two years. 1t is
easy to give the results. So far, it is
evident that in Chicago and within a
radius of say 200 miles, the people want
a Sunday fair. Outside of that, except
in communities where the foreign ele-
ment predominates, there is bat one ex-
preston, and that is for sabbath observ-
ance. Chicago does not realize the
strength of the sentiment of the country
at large. They seem to me to be in a
good deal the same fix the New Workers
were when they were after the fair.
They made fun of the idea that the
country would think differently from
them. They laughed at what they called
the great noise Chicago was making be-
fore congress voted. And yet when the
vote came they found congress was in
touch with the country and the nation
wanted Chicago to have the fair. So it
is with our citizens on this question.
Because the general opinion here seems
to be for wide-open Sunday the people
of Chicago appear to take it for granted
that it must be SO everywhere else.
| Answers to our letters show. however,
that this is great mistake, and that
congress knew what It was about when
it put itself on record by closing the gov
ernment exhibit. We are informed,
furthermore, that the senate will be
even more pronounced for Sunday-clos-
ing when the question comes before it.
Rarely if ever has there been such ac-
tivity in behalf of moral movement as
! has been shown in this campaign for
| Sunday observance. Nearly every great
secular and religious meeting or conven-
tion in this country has adopted resolu-
tions and forwarded them to congress,
the national commission and the worlds
fair directory.
another significant fact, that seems to
have been overlooked by the Chicago
directors, is that every state Legislature
where any action has been taken has
been in favor of closed gates on Sunday
! There has not been one exception
More than that: We have looked W
the rules governing state and county
fairs. With scarcely an exception al
such institutions are closed on the sab
bath. Why? Because the people O
the states and territories believe in res
on the sabbath; they believe in OBJ
serving the civil law that governs tn,
states and territories, and that Law
everywhere forbids desecration of tn,
sabbath.
Another, and a very important sug
gestion," added Mr.. Cragin, sis that o
the strong pleas made for Sunday open
ing in that the poor laboring man can g,
to the exposition no other day. w,
have canvassed among the employers o
labor and find very few instances wher
the business managers and proprietor
would refuse to give Saturday half-holi
days for their workinglnen and working
, women, There seems to be no goot
reason why the laboring people shoult
not ask and expect to get half-holiday
during the exposition. Labor has beer
making a long fight for the Saturda,
half-holiday in addition to the eight
hour day. 1t would seem to be an op
perfume time next year to get an ex
preston on the subject. The railroa.
employees of the country are taking tn,
deepest interest in this movement
They want the fair closed on Sunday be
. cause if it is open it means no rest fo
them, but, on the contrary, would en-
tail double duty on every engineer
brakeman, conductor and fireman fo