Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-11-14
SUNDAY CLOSING IN CHICAGO.
The Clergy Taking an Active Part with
the Retail Clerks Union.

The Clergy Taking an Active Part with
the Retail Clerks Union.
The organized clerks of Chicago have
for long time been engaged in a move
ment for closing retail stores on Sunday.
They have met with Indifferent success,
because many of the merchants, who
under the pressure of the moment
signed the agreement not to open their
stores on Sunday, violated their pledges,
and the work had to be done over again.
Several of the leading clergymen of the
city have recently taken an active part
In the Sunday closing movement, and
some of them have became as radical as
the regulation labor men, owing to the
evidences they have seen that conserva-
tive methods are good enough for talk,
but are not always adequate in practice
At a meeting held a short time ago
leading ministers of the city took a de-
cided stand in their speeches in support
of the boycott as a means of bringing
the merchants to terms. There is a Sun
day law in Illinois, but, as is generally
the case where the money grubber is
concerned, it is ignored with i,npunity
by many of Chicago's merchants. At
the meeting referred to Rev. A. H.
Henry, of the Methodist church, said:
In this age of activity it is suicide for man
to try to keep pace with his fellows and work
seven days in the week. And it is no less than
manslaughter to compel him to do this work
what Is the question that we are called upon
to answer? One clothing dealer who signed an
agreement to close on Sunday has opened his
store again. We demonstrated and he said
nnnnlV init nnd daIt tn yiI Iota hn Ia.
will borrow money" he said, "and open other
stores. In that way | will get the Sunday
trade" He laughed when he said we could
not enforce the law. ] don't care to talk poll
tics this afternoon but it is true we cannot en-
force the law so long as the chief magistrate of
this city allows the saloons to stay open after
midnight. Mythology tells us that Achilles
only vulnerable point was his heel. The vul-
nerable point of this merchant today, who
opens his store on Sunday, is not his head nor
his heart-it is his pocketbook. | wish it
could be agreed upon to patronize only those
who close on the Sabbath But there is a
seeming lethargy in this matter. 1t is time
every Christian threw off this apathy and be-
gan to work for the laboring man, that he may
secure his rights for Sunday rest. Agitate the
question, my friends; work earnestly and
prayerfully for it.
Bishop Samuel Fallows also made an
interesting address, in the course of
which he said:
This is u remarkable sight for the Nineteenth
century. 1t is remarkable, / say, to see men
pleading for the enforcement of the law, and
it is certainly time for action. Law is on the
side of the retail clothing clerks. The decision
of one man or two men to open on Sunday in
spite of all our resolutions and action is a
practical obstacle. There is only one solution
unite and demand your rights. If this is
done the law will be enforced. [Applause.l
do not care to be tangled up with the saloons,
but let us band together as men and demand
that our rights as citizens be preserved. Unions
properly used are Gods best boons to the work.
ingman. Combine and demand what is right
fully yours. Demand that you have one day
in seven for yourself and your family Agi-
tate agitate, agitate. My parting word is
that you should work in harmony until you Sc
cure your God given rights.
AT the conclusion of the addresses the
following resolutions were unanimously
adopted by the meeting:
Whereas, 1t is contrary to the laws of Ill-
nois, and against the expressed wish of the
people of Chicago, promulgated through the
churches and labor organizations of Chicago
| through the agency of the daily press, for the
| clothing stores of this city to open their doors
on the Sabbath day: and
Whereas, The citizens of the West Side in
mass meeting assembled on this Sunday, Sept.
25, do earnestly protest against the continu-
| ance of this evil; therefore be it
| Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting
that the purchasing public of this the West
Side do agree not to purchase any goods sold
by any store that may keep open its doors on
the Sabbath, and do further agree to exert our
influence in every way practicable for the clos
ing of stores on the Sabbath.
This meeting was held on Sunday
in church, and was under the auspices
of the clergy, and boycott was in
dorsed. Certainly "the world do move"