Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-05-19
MARYLAND'S SUNDAY LAW
PERMITS WORKS OF NECESSITY.
Only Luxuries Are Prohibited to be
Sold On Sunday.

The Citizens of Anne Arundel County;
Your grand jury, on its own initl-
alive called the attention of certain
officials to their responsibility for the
fragrant dissertation of the Lords Day
in your county. These same officials
who have been officially blind to the
open Sunday Booze Selling. who have
been deaf TO noise made by hammers
of hundreds of workmen engaged IN
the erection of buildings on the Lords
Day in violation TO the laws of God and
OF Maryland, now rush to the front and
give orders for the vigorous enforce
ment of the extreme letter OF Mary
lands Sundoy law, not to assert the
majesty OF the law or to atone for
their remissness in the past, but TO
bring the law into disrepute.
II needs TO be known that Maryland's
Court of Appeals, through Judge Boyd,
has officially declared that Maryland's
Sunday law violates neither our con-
stitutional or religious rights The
spirit as we'll as the letter of the law
permits work of necessity or charity.
To be sure the second section of the
law prohibits the sale of cigars. to-
baceo, etc, on Sunday. but these are
luxuries and not necessities. Then the
penalty of the second is not TO apply
to apothecaries when putting up bona
fide prescriptions, but it does not say
he is not allowed to sell medicines in
cases of necessity. On the contrary,
the first section of the law permits
work of necessity or charity, and what
can be more truly a work of necessity
than to sell medicines for the sick?
The bona fide prescription" clause
was added TO prevent any druggist
from selling booze on Sunday and
claiming it was medicine.
A great deal is said about the pro-
prietor of the garage going to be ar
rested if he sells gasoline on Sunday
TO the autoist This is mad" not
common sense To be sure the law
does not say any gasoline may be sold
on Sunday, neither does it say
may buy horse feed on Sunday. The
fact is, both gasoline and feed are a
necessity, and their sales on Sunday
will be~considered by any court in
Maryland as works of necessity. This
will be the attitude of the official who
is trying to do his duty.
In this case certain officials are
'piqued" because grand jury has had
the courage to call the attention of the
people to their official shortcomings
and to get back" at them they are
making laughing stock of themselves.
Marylands Sunday law permits work
of necessity ana charity on Sunday and
specifies only certain luxuries as be-
ing prohibited to be sold on Sunday.
We ask the citizens of Anne Arundel
county TO regard with complacency
this sudden burst of fanaticism on the
| part of few officials, and not to forget
that these same officials have not been
moved to action by the open saloon and
the open building of factories in upper
Anne Arundel, and now rush like mad
to give orders never contemplated in
the law in order that they may get the
citizenship of the county to will what
they have been officially permitting
GEORGE S. BELL,
H. w. BURGAN,
H. f. CARL HAAS.
E. u. WESTBROOK,
S. JONES,
GEO. w. JONES,
EDWARD JEWELL,
G. E. NJ. JUSTICE,
VIM f. CHILDS,
JOHN S. Sewers,
Minister College Avenue Baptist Church