St. Paul daily globe., 1893-05-21
SUNDAY AT The FAIR.

Whatever of hope there might have
been that the fair might be given to the
public OH Sundays, as the result OF the
action of the local board, is swept away
by the directions given by Attorney
General OLNEY to the district attorney
to take steps to restrain the board II
necessary. He decides that all OF the
appropriations made by congress are
conditioned on the Sunday closing, and
that there is no avoidance of the pro-
vision of the act permissible.
But if we concede that the proponents
and advocates of Sunday solitude III
the fair grounds are actuated solely by
reverence for the day because of its di-
vine origin. and not by mere pride and
concet of opinion which loves to assert
itself for the mere sake of assertion, or
if we concede that they are not moved
by desire to display their superior
goodness, it still remains question
worth their considering what for good
ness, what for religion, have they ac-
complished? The gates will be closed,
the grounds deserted; the great Chicago
multitude will spend its Sundays just
as it has heretofore; the visitors will
spend theirs as their habit has been,
Citizen and visitor will be none the
more religious in thought or act that
day because the Sunday is obSeryed-in-
side the gates.
The effect is not local, any more than
the fair is. The question is a national
one; it has been discussed in every
hamlet In the country. The press has
commented on it; it has been preached
on. talked on, written on. The dis
cussion has not been always in
Christian tone of tolerance; it has been
harsh, bitter. acrimonious. 1t has
brought before the people Of the entire
country the whole question of all ell
forced Sabbath abstention from any
activity but that permitted by law. 1t
has reminded men and women sharply
that laws which have been dead letters
are alive and can be invoked to prevent
them from doing what they believe they
not only have the fright to do, but what
is good for them to do.
If Sunday has any significance what
ever, it is that men have been taught or
are Ied-not compelled-to believe that
one day in the week should be set apart
for worship of the Creator. This belief
cannot be compelled; law cannot form
it; it is a result of other and deeper
convictions, not of statutory enactmentS.
Its sole merit is in the belief back of it;
if that is wanting, Sunday observance,
" iS
nothing but hollow hypocrisy. You
may lead horse to water but you can't
make him drink, is an old saw, and it is
just as true that you may bring Sunday
to a man but you can't make him accept
and observe its orthodox significance.
But the evil does not end in its mere
negative effects. Men will do willingly
what they believe they should do, but
they will resent and resist doing what
they feel they are compelled to do with
out believing. Compulsion breeds re-
sistance. Boy and man, girl and wom-
an, we have bent to do that which we
are forbidden to do, even when we feel
that the decree is right; we 90 into act
i've and Yirulent rebellion when we feel
that the decree infringes our rights.
When we are told that the law obliges
us to desist from labor or pleasure seek
ing on Sunday, we feel the Impulse to
labor or indulgence gain strength. Our
antagoniSm is aroused. We not only
defy or evade the law, but the disre-
spect we get for the law attaches to the
day itself.
The net result of the triumph of the
Sabbatarians, then, will be a defeat.
They have enforced distasteful law;
they have deprived multitudes of what
they consider their right. and they have
bred in them a disrepect which en-
braces both the law and the day.