The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1909-02-17

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Most people agree that 1t is a
good thing all around to have one
day of rest in seven. Just which
day 1t should be depends upon cir
cumstances. Clergymen as a class
take their day of rest on Monday.
On Sunday their hardest work is
done. 1t is then that they earn
their salaries. Where an industry
must be carried on every day in
the week, II employees have "a
hours of continuous rest 1t must
be on some other day than Sun
day for at least a part of them.
Not all of them can lay off at the
same time. In advocating the
cessation of all occupations called
secular" and in particular of all
amusements, on the first day OF
the week, clergymen and Others
assume a position which is not JUS
tifiable from any point OF view
Theologically they have not a leg
to stand on, because the first day
of the week is not the Sabbath.
There is not an iota of justifica.
ton in the Scriptures for making
the first day of the week more
sacred than any other day.
Good morals require that per-
sons who must toll throughout six
days should be at liberty to devote
the seventh to recreation. To sit
in idleness is not sufficient for
their moral welfare. Neither is 1t
sufficient to go to church and
listen to a sermon. What all per-
sons need is some recuperating in
fluence, to breathe fresh air, to
take part in lively game of ball
or at least witness one, to see an
amusing play at the theater, to go
off on an excursion. Those who
wish to go to church on Sunday
should of course be permitted to
do so, but to compel those to go
who wish to do something else is
not only a grievous infringement
of their liberty, but it may result
in a positive deterioration of their
physical and moral being. Man is
a creature who can not thrive
without change of scene and occu-
patton. The monotony of the
weekly routine must be decidedly
broken on one day out of seven or
he will pine. Hence the immeas-|
urable moral value of Sunday base
ball games, the Sunday theater
and excursions which take people
away from the scene of their work
into the healthful air of the coun-
try.
Economically the advocates. of
first day observance" are worse
off than they are ethically and
thelogically. The argument for
closing saloons on Sunday is
sound because on that day work
ing people have more opportunity
than at any other time to sqaun-
der their earnings in drink. But
If all other recreations are cut off,
closing the saloons will not pre-
vent them from drinking. They
will simply buy the liquor in jugs
and guzzle it at home. The minis
ters who say that the Sunday base
ball game and Sunday theater are
allies of the saloon are seriously
The saloon has no
worse foe than the Sunday base
ball game. The man who has
passed an afternoon in wholesome
recreation in the open air goes
home tired and disposed to sleep.
His body is invigorated and his
character elevated. He may pos
sibly take a drink or two on the
way home il the saloons are open,
but he does not sit down and
Systematically befuddle himself as
he will IL he has no outdoor recre-
alton or other hygienic amuse-
ment. The part of the Sunday
theater is similar. 1t is foe to
the saloon, not friend. 1t in
duces men, especially young men,
to spend their time In good COM
pany and under comparatively
good influences instead of def
nitely bad ones. The convention
al cry that the theater is immoral
Is nonsense. The ministers who
reiterate 1t simply prove how lit
tie they know of the world they
seek to reform. In the main the
theater, even the melodrama, is
deeply moral.
1t is an ethical and economic ca
lamity of the first rank to close
art museums, theaters or
other places of information and
proper amusement on Sunday.
Every such place should be kept
open on Sunday even il on other
days it were closed. The argument
that places of secular resort keep
people away from church is not
worth considering. If the churches
compete with libraries, ex-
cursions and museums of art.
there is something wrong with
them and the sooner they find
out what 1t is and reform It the
sooner they will cease to clamor
for the law to help them where
they ought to help themselves.
John Wesley would not have fear
ed the competition of a baseball
game; neither would st. Patrick.
The truth Of the matter is that
any minister who has a genuine
message to deliver never lacks an
audience to listen to 1t. He needs