The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-07-27
BILL PROVIDING FOR A LIBERAL SUNDAY BEATEN
 BY Z VOTES IN SENATE
Senator Latimer Says that Measure Legally Defines Civil Sunday for the First Time-Courts Have Moth ing to do With Religious Sunday.

Practically the entire session of tht Senate to-day was occupied with the , discussion of. the Sunday law and il was finally defeated by vote of IA te J2 Senator Latimer reported the bifl for the judiciary committee with g very able presentation of this subject He said that this bill defined the civil Sunday for the first time. The lega difficulty with Sunday laws has been that there was not definition Of the civil Sunday-that Sunday was a re- liSious institution and that the courts are not directly concerned in the main tenance of religious institutions. This bill defines the civil Sunday as "a day for general rest and the more con yenient performance of religious or charitable duties and offices
 Otherwise 1t did not differ so much from the present Sunday law in pro- Fhfbiting secular pursuits except work of necessity or mercy or such as shall be required for the maintenance of public good, preservation or promotion of health or safety, or 'fs necessary for the general welfare of the com munity These changes would make lit possible for the court to go into the question of necessity or mercy and to legal on Sunday. Senator Latimer went into the beginning of Sunday law, starting at the time when there Twas such general piety that no statute
 
 Tread portions of and described the first Sunday law passed in 1722 which pro- vides a fine of 50 cents for non-attend- Rnce at church services and confined people to their own homes otherwise and to none but religious thoughts. He Traced the word necessity or mercy which are used In practically every Sunday law in the United States, back to the phrase necessity or charity" which was first used in the time of
 
 was not changed, the Senator said in any material way until after the Civil war when the population of Connecti- cut had become somewhat mixed. Since then there had been some re- taxation to fit the conditions but the cut had been such that if our present Jaw was not possible of enforcement, that it was necessary now to establish a civil Sunday. He referred at length 4o Sunday baseball which he said he or his children did not need and would mot indulge in but was a boon to the factory worked employed six days a week In closing Senator Latimer said fhe bill preserved the old act in that 1t is essential and it is a bad thing to have on the statute books that law which cannot be enforced.
 Senator Fenn opposed the bill be- cause it would permit of the introduc- tion of amateur baseball in the, small country communities even though it did not permit professional baseball or any sport where an admission was .charged. Senator Searls supported the bill. and Senator Peck made a long speech in opposition to it. the gist of which was that the workingmen are not back of this bill but the sport promotors. In all there was an hour or more debate in which Senator Luther took a prominent part in re- ferrine to the bill and it was finally defeated by @ vote of IA to F.
 The Senate did very little other busi- ness There were passed an act pro- viding that state money may be with held from school-houses which are not in proper shape;. an appropriation of $6 300 for the committee on public lib rary: an extension of time for the