Evening journal., 1918-09-06
Sunday Baseball Contrary
TO The Law, Court Rules

dayg
The photographer in 27 Am. & Ena
Enc. OF Law (p. 3s1) says
"Sundey-As a Religious Institution
Sunday is the brat day Of the week
the Christian Sabbath: the Lords day
II ls a day observed by the Christian
world as holy and set apart for the pur
pose OF rest and worship. and Il estab
lished In commemOatlon OF the resur
rectlon OF Christ Getting Centur!
Dict; Appleton's Am. Encyc.)
Such being the objects OF the law, anS
such being our statute. and It's objects
a ball game played on Sunday, under
the facts stated. Is clearly within The
intent and spirit OF the law, forbiddlns
games, plays and dances.
In The cases quoted. relying upon the
rule that a penal act must be strictly
construed the Courts so held because
as they said, "the facts were not clearly
within the obvious meaning OF the
Statute" In this case. there can be
no question on that score. II is too ap-
parent for an argument.
IL IS urged that the word game" in
the Statute must be construed as mean
Ing gambling, and 2 Wharf. Grim. Law,
!
Game" may embrace any sport, re-
creation or amusement. This Is not It's
usual meaning, when employed in a
Statute which constitutes 1t an indlcta-
bic offense. in such a case It IS usu-
ally understood to imply some species
OF gambling, 2 Wharf, Grim. Law Sec.
il65 b."
Perhaps the word is usually under
stood to imply gambling and doubtless
does In indlctable otfenses which are
numerous on Statute books; still we are
not concluded and II may be possible
for the Legislature TO intend mere
game without a stake, and particularly
so FOR an offense not indictable, as In
this case; or they may intend both a
game for amusement and a game with
a stake, which. under certain circum-
stances, may amount to gambling.
/ prefer Judge Gooley's distinction.
In People v. WeithOff, 81 Mich. PA,
the Judge says:
The word game Is very comprehensive
and embraces every cOntriyance or in
stitutlon which has for its object TO
furnish sport, recreation, or amusement.
Let stake be lald>upon the chances
OF the game and we have gaming The
word game" has no technical mean
ing" It has been said TO embrace every
contriyance, or institution, which has
for its object, 10 furnish sport, recrea-
tion, or amusement"
A game is a trial OF skill or Of chance
or OF skill and chance, between two or
more contendlng parties according 70
some rule by which each one may fail
or succeed in the trial OF skill or chance,
SC. Stearns vs.. State, 2t Texas, 692
Webster says, under Game;
"A contest, physical or mental, accord
ing 10 certain rules for amusement, re-
creation or for winning a stake" and
quoting Cowper, viz
But wars a game. which were their
subjects wise, Kings would not play at"
Our Statute, under the title COnstruc-
tion Of Statutes, Code, Chap. 1, Sec. 1,
reads:
"The following rules shall be observed
in the construction Of Statutes, unless
such construction would be inconsistent
with the manifest intent OF the Legls
lature, or repugnant TO the context Of
the same Statute. All words and phrases
shall be construed according to the
common and approved usage OF our Ian
and such others as have acquired a
peculiar and appropriate meaning in
law, shall be construed and understood
according to such peculiar meaning"
The word game has no technical
meaning The word must therefore be
construed according TO the common
and approved usage OF our language
There is no question In my mind but
that such usage obliges me TO construe
the word game" as including both
game for amusement, recreation or for
a stake, and therefore in the
Statute IL includes both, unless there
can be fairly gathered from the Stat
ute, taken as a whole. an intent to mean
one and not the other
Our Statute has very carefully grouped
the Sunday law In four brief but very
paragraphs. The first
WORLDLY employment" the
second. driving or travelling; and expos
ing goods by retailer; the third, fishing,
fowllng, horse-racing, cock lighting or
game: and the fourth assembl-
ing TO and engaging in games, plays
or dances. The Legislature had In mind
the matters and things mentioned and
carefully grouped them in the above
manner. They placed fishing sc. in a
group by themselves and they placed
games. plays and dances together 10
will be seen that fishing and things OF
a like kind are together and games,
plays and dances, also things OF like
kind, which can readily be grouped into
one heading, that OF amusements, are
together. 10 would follow, that If they
TO embrace any species OF
gambling or a game OF any kind for
stake they would certainly have placed
IL in the third class which can readily
be named sports" where it more
belongs. II therefore wouh
seem to follow that they had in mind
in using the words. game, play or
dance" mere amusements, nothing else,
as usually games, plays or dances are
considered mere amusements when used
together and do not embrace gambling
or games with a stake. This discus
sion, however, is not necessary in the
OF this case, as the word
game under the common and approved
usage OF our language means both an
amusement pure and simple, and also
for a stake.
But IL Is urged that this baseball game
is not within the Statute. because it
was played on private property. By em-
ployes Of The owner. no admission was
charged: none but friends and invited
guests attended: there was no noise
there were no dwelling houses near.
and no one was disturbed How can
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