The Irish standard., 1913-09-20
Necessity of Sunday Observance
Sermon Delivered by Bishop Busch to Which
Mine Owners Took Excep-
ton.

"As the Catholic Bishop of the juris-
diction having its ot4clal headquarters
at Lead, beg leave to call attention
to a subject that is Of vital Importance
to us all. though It's Significance fear
is not fully realized by many of those
whose influence in the community s
very considerable. mean the OBJ
servance of the Sunday.
In broaching this subject wish to
declare my absolute impartiality and
personal disinterestedness in the mat
ter and to insist that my sole motive
Is supreme sense of duty and q sin
cere desire to promote the best inter-
ests, of all concerned.
The lack Of Sunday observance, still
80 general in the Fills, is no doubt
largely a relic Of pioneer days, and
escapes the notice of many of our
Oldest and best citizens because they
have grown accustomed to It,
In the days of the wide open saloon
and gambling house there was little
question but what Sunday work was
the lesser evil. but now that the min
ing camp is fast giving place to the
permanent city, our Sunday is becom-
ing social as well as IL religious ne
cessity. Indeed, after more than two
years Of careful study and consider
able experimenting. 1 am personally
convinced that the Sunday is our
greatest present need. And believing
this as l do, feel it my duty to do
all I can for the proper observance
of the Sunday.
From a purely civic standpoint Sun
day AZ day OF rest and inspiration
is an imperative need a man who
works every day without interruption
becomes more animal than human. and
therefore an undesirable or dangerous
citizen: without the Sunday, especially
for the laborer, family life, except in
It's most rudimentary elements. be-
comes next to impossible, the men,
bers Of the family are estrnnged from
each other and their interests become
divided; without the Sunday our
young men and women find their op-
portunity for social intercourse lin
tied to the night and the dance hall,
both a special source of danger in a
community SO congested as is this;
without the Sunday the moral tone of
the whole community is lowered and
the sense of the brotherhood gives
place to selfish individualism.
am both grateful and proud to be
able to testify to the very high stand
ard maintained by the Homestake
Mining Company towards its employees
and the community at large. Wages
are most generous, a FREQ hospital
service Of high quality is maintained,
a Relief Society Is literally subsidized
by the company. A Free Library and
Free kindergarten are evidences
that the principal owner Of the CON-
pany's stock is interested in more than
mere physical well-being Of our citi-
zens. The new Recreation Building
now in course Of construction 10 added
proof that the company wishes to
make ample provisions for the social
needs of its men.
But, splendid as all this is it will
not make Lead desirable place to
live. unless provision is also made for
our religious needs. The very sub
stantial contribution on the part of
the Homestake Mining Company of
Two Hundred Dollars annually to-
wards the support of each of the ff-
teen or more churches in this immedi-
ate vicinity is its recognition Of the
influence of religion to make men duti-
full and happy, but were these contri-
buttons multiplied and increased in
definitely, we could not hope to Sc
cure the desired results. to any ap-
preciable extent, as long as it requires
an extraordinary effort for many to
go to church on Sunday. And it does
require an extraordinary effort for a
great many in Lead, in spite of any
thing that the church has done and
can do, as our efforts during the last
two years have amply demonstrated.
gratefully acknowledge the dona-
ton Of One Thousand Dollars. with
out the least solicitation. by the
Homestake Mining Company towards
the Pro-Cathedral School and Audi
torium erected last year in order to
draw our people more closely to the
church, but candidly and sincerely
were to be offered many times the
amount mentioned. even an amount