New Britain herald., 1914-05-08
Sunday Outings and the Law.
(New Lcndon Day.)


 An extremely persistent, unusually enterprising and undoubtedly sincere sabbatarian faction in New Haven and West Haven is trying to put stop to the open Sunday. so-called. at Savin Rock. It is having rather hard time in accomplishing the task, it will let up. Reformers of the same type generally are engaged in efforts to establish or re-establish what may quite properly be termed II e Puritan Sunday. Somewhere al- ways and most of the time in many r1aces throughout the country, the strictly religious Sunday is being forced upon people who do not be- lieve in it, whose training and con- \ tions are opposed to it, and whose natural propensity to enjoy them selves is interfered with by it.
 Suppose that the strict sabbatar- ians, in the Savin Rock relation or in relation to any similar resort should V in their fight, not nominally but ac- trally win it. Suppose they made it impossible to ride on a merry-go- r. .und, to shoot the chutes, to witness q ball game, to attend picture show, to have photograph taken, to hear an orchestrion, to drink a glass of beer or eat a plate of ice cream, to buy cigar or play game of pool what then? What would have been accomplished?
 They would enjoy the satisfaction, these sabbatarians, of having done their duty as they saw it. Grant that. They would have impressed their will upon a great number of their fellow beings much against the inclination O, those fellow beings. Grant that. Grant that it is for the good of the souls of the fellow beings to be inter- dicted of their amusements, which is granted only for the sake of argu- ment. What then? What are the fellow beings going to do with the time they would have spent at Savin Rock or this White City or that Steeplechase park?
 Are they going to devote it to pious meditation in their homes or to strolling prayerfully by the still wa ters in the meadows-in violation of the no-trespass signs--or to reading the Bible or to church going and soulful self examination? Are they going to study civics and good citi- zenship or utilize their leisure in a course in the Psalms of David? Are they going to be better, morally, men, tally or physically, for being led by 1 the nose in the straight and narrow path as surveyed by the Connecticut legislators of 1702 or 17S4?
 Or are they going to herd in kitchen speak easies and blind tigers, consoling themselves for their lost l liberties in skunky beer and labora- ] tory whisky? Or nope on back stoops and quarrel with their wives 1 and slap the children and join revo- lutionary- societies and yow1 about the ] oppression of the rich and the suf- | ferings of the poor? Are the good people who are so ] determined that the masses in Con- ] necticut shall not be permitted a lit- l tie harmless amusement on Sunday aware that these people wh0m they would drag into the odor of sanctity by the ears have their own notions as to religion and religious obser- vance, very often quite as strong as those of the sabbatarian, and that these notions do not include erecting the name of a day of the week into A fetish?
 under the laws of the state of Con- 1 nect1cut any person who listens to a
 concert of sacred music, played out
 under the blue sky, amidst perfect
 decorum, on Sunday, may be arrested and fined four dollars.
 l Would the sabbatarians recommend
 the enforcement of that law? If moi why the other Sunday laws. two hun l dred years old, under which are pro- h1b1ted such outdoor amusements as the people get at the Savin Rocks on
 thelr only free day of the week? Are
 they striving to turn the people against
 all religion, all confidence in the
 church, all faith in the fairness of l the law? Or are they sin,n,v h,,,.