The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-04-29
THREE
and satisfaction to man and humanity

and satisfaction to man and humanity as a whole.
 'The Jewish Sabbath was a human institution. established by the Jews 10 celebrate their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt
 The early Christians had no spe- cial Sabbath for a long time. In fact it was some 400 years after Jesus be- fore sunday or the first day of tie week was fixed upon as the day of rest and worship Even then it was mat ter of human choice and Christian freedom in the selection.
 Now what we have in America and Birmingham is a free. civil Sabbath to be observed in such way as works for the greatest social, civil and moral welfare of all the people.
 "To come to the moving picture question, as to whether these places will be open to the people on Sunday or not is entirely question of public morals. of natural and civil right; question of the social and community welfare.
 My own conviction is that viewing good art and pictures on Sunday is an innocent amusement at least and IL may be made instructive. educationai' a source of pure enjoyment and in some cases real inspiration. It all de- bends on the quality and character CT the pictures. Good pictures are all right on any day, bad pictures are cor
 rupting and injurious on any day
 "The moving pictures are simply re- productions of nature, of the beauties of the natural world of the human and dramatic scenes of human life. AS such we are seeing pictures in the eNerN~ day world every day of our lives Human life is for all of us who have eyes one continual picture show; We all must see the pictures of nature and life as we l l1r. rArfA on as other days. and. for one. l cannot ae- cept the proposition that the scenes which I look on first hand in the world of nature and human life as innocent and natural become wicked when the same scenes are reproduced on the screen in the quiet and order Of picture lnea- tre on Sunday.
 "I am in favor of the people enjoy- ing freedom of choice in this matter, be- cause I know no better way than to let people regulate their lives in the matter of their tastes, enjoyments, and the way they shall spend their lives Of course. I am not in favor of compelling those who do not wish to visit the picture shows on sunday to do so, and by the same reasoning I am not in favor of denying those who do wish to do so from doinS | it in an orderly and law-abiding way. 1 This Is social problem as much as IL l is a religious question. 1 | city like this. the matter of keeping the | great mass of the people contented ana 1 happy, the matter of providing for tneir 1 leisure hours some form of relaxation and innocent amusement cannot be is- nored except to the detriment of the ! community
 l People cannot live in a vacuum. they ] cannot get along without recreation and l amusement, and when it is found that l a large portion of citys nonu'a8on get entertainment, find joy and satisfac- tion, find a source of satisfaction in
 certain kind of innocent amusement on Sunday as well as on other days. 1t is serious matter to take that amusement and entertainment away from them and give them nothing that will take it's place.
 For it may mean tbat life for such
 people will lose much of its joy and zest.
 they will not work as well, or perform
 the duties of citizens with the same
 interest and devotion, and the city has a
 new social problem on it's hands as to
 how to keep it's people happy and con
 tented"