The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-11-07
CLERKS STAND PAT
Say They'll Keep Up Fight for
Sunday Closing.

| The members of the Retail Grocery
Clerks union, which organization has
been making war on the grocers who
are violating the Sunday closing law,
declare that the people of the city are
| with them in the movement, and they
| will fight the matter to the last ditch
| to see that the new law, requiring
grocery stores to close on Sunday, is
| strictly enforced in st. Paul
! In reply to the threat made by the
| grocers to boycott union-made goods,
| the clerks say the grocers will be the
losers by such a move, as it would be
an easy matter for the union men of
the city to retaliate by refusing to pur-
chase any goods from such grocers.
In speaking of the threatened action
of the grocers, Fred Miller, president of
| the Retail Grocery Clerks union. says:
"The accusations ard threats u
which some grocers have given vent
are almost too childish to give any
attention. No man with we'll balanced
mind could think of making this ques-
ton campaign matter, nor threaten
to get revenge against the Retail Gro
Gerry Clerks union by boycotting union
made goods. .4s.4
Il feel certain that neither the MEM
bers of the legislature which enacted
the law, nor the judges who declared
the law valid, nor the county attorney
who prosecuted the cases, are losing
any sleep over the prospects of fight
waged against them by the grocers.
have neither any doubt-should these
grocers really declare boycott against
| union made goods-that the damage
done to union labor would be small
compared with such damage as union
labor might do them if it should de-
eide to retaliate.
Legislative enactments of the kind
with which this Sunday closing law
may properly be classed are different
from other laws in this respect, that
they do not make any actual change in
existing conditions; that they do not
lay down any new rules for the men,
bers of society to follow but are mere
ly an official acknowledgment of con-
ditions already existing or an embodi-
ment of the will of the people which
| until then has only been expressed
| through common usage.
Before the Sunday closing law was
ever thought of the public sentiment
grew more and more favorable to a
universal observance of the Sabbith,
to the setting aside as a day of rest
for the workers at least one day in
every seven. The majority of the gro
GERS and other merchants who deal
in goods which can be easily kept over
from one day to another were aware
of this growing sentiment and re-
sponded quickly by closing their stores
on Sundays, thus giving themselves
and their help "a nuch-needed and
highly appreciated resting day. But
small minority, in fact, not more than
l or 2 per cent, did not pay any heed
to this demand for rest and peace, at
least not any more than to allow their
greediness to discover that here was
their chance to get their graft in by
selling to the customers Of the fair
minded, public spirited, Sunday clos
ing merchant such. trif1es as they had
forgot to purchase when doing their
shopping at their regular dealers, thus
making a few cents which by right
ought to be somebody else's. This ac-
ton on the part of a few men made it
impossible for other dealers in the
neighborhood to follow their personal
inclination and crafty their desire for
resting day. and they also had to
keep their stores open Sunday and
thus work and make their clerks work
365 days out of 1856 in the year. Any
body will understand how the greedi-
ness of these few men might cause the
return of the good old time,'' with it's
| increasing work and toll for the mer-
chants and their employees, and to pre-
vent this the Sunday closing law was
| introduced and enacted. For this same
reason are the retail grocery clerks to-
! day endeaVOrlng to prevent the law
from becoming a dead letter upon the
statute books. We have tried what
it means to work day out and day in
| from early morning until late at night,
| Sunday as we'll as week days, and be
assured that we, now we have got a
chance to enjoy life, shall know how
to fight for this chance.
1--WE appeal to every fair minded
man and woman to give us their sup
port, and this they can easily do. All
we ask is that they do not purchase
any groceries on Sundays"