Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1912-09-14
he following comment appears

Congress and the Postmaster-Genera
following the passage of a law tc
stop the delivery of mail on Sun
days, in first and second class pos
since Hitchcock has decided to give
the law liberal Interpretation. ,
His ruling that the order shall not
interfere with certain classes of mail
that cannot be held until Monday
m 0rning without serious Inconvenience
to the addresses (this to include
newspapers and hotel guests is
characterized as service by IA
vor' and mail for the elect" For
the law itself, condemnation In the
metropolitan press is almost savage.
In New York City the editors pre-
sent such a collection of descriptive
terms as "backwoods legislation, -
"exasperating folly" "the work of
meddlesome and rash congressman, y
"a Puritanic blue law" 1t is indig-
nantly declared by some of the press
that the provision was included in
the postal appropriation on the last
day of the session by trickery-"a
clause snooped in, says the New
York Evening Sun. Strictly interpre
ed, it prohibits, beginning on Septem-
Der first, all delivery on Sundays in
large postoffices, except of mail that
is sent special delivery. 1t provides:
THAT hereafter postoffices of the
first and second classes shall not
be open on Sundays for the purpose
of delivering mail to the general
public, but this provision shall not
prevent the prompt delivery Of spe-
cial-delivery mail"
Editors are saying that if this
We're literally enforced, it would clog
the entire delivery system for half
of the week, prove a great incon-
venience to travelling men in re-
ceiving business correspondence, and
in the newspaper Offices prevent the
timely arrival of mail, copy" and
exchanges and tie up the distribu-
ton of Sunday editions to readers
out of town. Many of the press, not
denying that legislation to give postal
clerks and carriers a day off once a
week is demanded, cannot see that
Sunday need be observed by all
of these employees at one time. The
New York World calls the action
not "Puritanism" but oppression of
the people by the paid servants of
the people"
The New York Sun, since the APP
pearance of the ostmaster-Generals
statement Interpreting the order lib
orally" announces itself placed a
mong the privileged classes by Eek
ecutive discrimination.
Further:
"The administration of the post
office has sought to reduce the incon-
venience and hardship decreed by
the congress as much as it can.
To accomplish this it is obliged to
make a distinction between its Gus
toners, thing at once hateful and
potentially demoralizing."
To the declaration that the bene-
fit to the postal employees will be
slight, the answer from some of the
Sunday-closing advocates has been
that the amount of mail delivered on
Sundays also is slight and that in
some instances not over one-half OF
one per cent of the public is affect
ed. Business men however, are re-
ported to be taking the law as a Sc
rious matter
Lawyers and the Color Line"
from the same source.
''The Final Action of the American
Bar Association upon it's three Negro
members-voting to return them to
membership after the executive
committee had ousted them, but rul-
ing that in future candidates must
state whether they are white or col
ored-is denounced by many editors
as an unworthy compromise. Sever
al comments state if the negroes won
a victory it was an empty one and
the consensus Of editorial opinion
declares that the Bar Association
has automatically taken this occa-
sion to draw the color line. A char
acteristic judgement is that of the
Philadelphia Enquirer:
eve consider this a most unfortu-
nate compromise. The Bar Associa-
ton is not private club nor So
cial organization. 1t claims to repre-
sent the legal ability of the country,
but as fact it will hereafter repre-