The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-01-23

after night. He needs it to be reminded
that man doth not live by bread alone; for
the cultiv alton of q filial spirit of a Son OF
God; for the recognition of that divine au-
thority without which all human authority
Is insecure. Say what men will. they need
the Lords day for church as well as for
rest. Say what men will. those who dis
regard the Lords day are made up largely
OF two ciasses-the selfish eg0tlstS. bent
upon self aggrandizement, and the fretful
disseminated, Overworked and underpaid
classes. whose mutterings and threats not
always unprOvoked are the fruitful
sources of strikes and lockouts. and muir
ders and anarchies of every sort. When
the American Sunday ceases to be. prepare
to write, 'lchabod, the glory is departed
from your country's fame. / do not want
to make rash assertions. but simply TO ask
O question or two Is the growing fashion
of driving on Sunday. custom which en-
tails so much extra work for men and
horses, matter which all Christians can
justify themselves in participating Does
the volumnous sunday newspaper, with
it's ola podrida of sense and nonsense. Its
truth and untruth. it's fact and fiction, its
double-leaded pages about q prlze-fght,
and It's three or four sticks of amateurish
platitudes about religion; its column upon
column of Browns that go Sm1thvllle and
Smiths that come to Brownviile; it's solemn
paragraphs about merry markings, and its
weary wit about prayer-meetlngs; Its ibel-
Gus wOOd-cuts OF public men and society
bellies; it's hodge Dodge of good, bad and
Indifierent-is this nineteenth century
product entitled to the place which
it occupies in so many Christian homes?
Is it mark of spiritual life that so many
Christian people deli berately choose Sun
day for railway travel, as II one day out OF
three hundred for business were SO much
greater "a sacrifice than one out Of fifty
for religlonT
WHY 1T SHOULD BE OPEN.
But the most practical question of the
present time is that of closing the Colum-
bian exposition on the Lords day. i am
free to say that, personally, believe that
Christian people could sanctify the day
more fully by remaining away than by at
tending. do not expect to enter the gates
myself. nor would 1 advise members of
my congregation to do so. but am equally
free to say that believe that the interests
of religion and morality will be better con-
served by an open fair seven days than six
days in the week. Those who remember
the Centennial exposition will not deny
that thousands obtained access to the
grounds on Sunday. regardless of the rule
which prohibited admission. They must
admit that the suburbs Of Philadelphia
were the scenes of lawless assembl ages of
rioters and gamesters who would not 60
to church If they could and could not If
they would. Those conditions would be
intensified at least ten-fOld in Chicago.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors who
might. on Sunday. spend the hours ration
ally and probably in contemplating the
flowers, the paintings, the statues and the
choicest OF the worlds products at the eX-
position. would be driven to the race track,
the ball field, the poOl-roOm aud the GIN
shop. 1t would be carnival for
all the thieves, thugs and toughs out
side of prison walls. They realize
this fully, and it is not surprising to
read In the Wine and Spirit Gazette, the
organ of the liquor dealers, that a closed
fair on Sunday means u rich harvest for
their craft. 1t is grave constitutional
question, moreover whether Congress has
tho right to abridge the liberty of those
who desire an open fair by compelling
them 10 stay away any more than 1t would
have to abrIdRe the liberty of opponents of
Sunday opening by compelling them to
attend.
Il deprecate the spirit which threatens
to hoist the red flag of anarchy if the gates
are closed, but also deprecate the narrow
ness which rOuses that spirit by arbitrarily
closing the gates. i deprecate the we'll
meant but mistaken meddlesomeness of
the Indianapolis Minister'S Association in
asking our senators and Represen tatives
in Congress to vote against repeal of the
Sunday closing law. Let us be fair. The
vast majority of Protestant ministers may
favor Sunday closing. but as large ma
joritv OF Roman Catholics and Hebrews
favor Sunday opening. What a hue and
cry Professionals would have raised If Cardi-
nal Gibbons and Archbishop kenrlck had
gone 10 W ashingtOn TO lobby for repeal as
Dr.. Clark and DR.. Hunter went to lobby
against repeal, even threatening a Chris
tian Endeavor' bOycOttif their protests were
not respected. 1t is not true. some
Christians claim. that the greater part of
the law abiding element approves the meas
ure fathered in Congress by the MephistO-
phelian Senator from Philadelphia and
champloned III the lobby by the Peoksnif-
fan editor of the New York Mail
and Express. There has been brought
10 my notice. very recently. a
men of st. Louis, among them Archbishop
KenrIck and Bishop Tuttle, besides many
Presbyterians, Bsptists and Methodists,
not to say EpIscopalians and Unitarians.
avOwing o strong conviction in favor of
Sunday opening AS a citizen, as q Chris
tian, as priest of God, l take my place on
that platform. Let the labor OH the Lords
day be reduced to minimum; let there be
no OuZzlng OF machinery. no trading, no
fireworks; but let there be. at least after
II O'clock an opportunity for the working
men, the clerks. the domestic servants. the
factory girls. the thousands to whom the
Sunday hours which God gives them are all
that they Can call their Own-an OppOrtun-
ity to see and to learn what otherwise
must be unseen and unIearned. Alarmists
cry out that we shall lose the American
sunday. If they mean the Puritanical Sun
uay, We nave lost III alreaOy. OOOd rid-
dance of bad rubbish We have open
parks, open museums, open reading-rOoms.
Open-air concerts on Sunday, and public
order aud morals as we'll as the real sancti-
ty of the Lords day are thereby promoted
rather than hindered. That Ia the Ameri-
can Sunday. and 1t has too deep hold up
on the American people to be obliterated
by q rational, consistent and orderly enjoy
ment of an instructive and elevating eXhi-
bition. Let the opponents of Sunday open
hal m ma N ar N
ing of the vile theaters. the loathsome
dives. the detestable gambling bells on
Sunday and al other days during the fair
as well as before il I'D after it. Let them
do this and though they may not strain
out gnat they may save themselves the
embarrassment of swallowing a camel"
Christianity and Social Life.