Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-01-28
a35%
SETTLE TT ONCE FOR ALL

no beating about III DuSn. M ihNp"o
to say where they stand. Apparently, it Is gong TO D e a le@n'u ~
fight. This is a 81 it should be. If everyone would have the courage TO
act according to their convictions, including the tate egNl"'"'
there would not be much difficulty in the matter.
Whether one agrees with Mayor Dorsey or not in the stand n e as
taken, he must be admired for stating clearly his position. He does
not hesitate to make it known exactly what his attitude Is and now
he interds to act.
The League for Civic Bettermcnt, which is opposed to the NOV
inc picture houses opening on Sunday, announces its intention to
fight. II ii well to have everything open and aboveboard. With a
clean cut issue fairly fought out some definite conclusion ought o DC
arrived at. -.
As matters stand today, the League for Civic Betterment is right
and Mayor Dorsey is also right.
There is no question that there should be respect for the law.
Every right thinking person will agree that unless we have respect
for the law we can accomplish nothing. We hear a great deal about
personal liberty, but unless we have law to fix certain rules and regu-
lations for society, each person sacrificing certain personal oerUe
for the sake of the common good, we cannot live together IN peace ana
harmony.
Law we must have and to amount to anything the law must be
respected. Those who defy the law make themselves liable to pun
ishment. In insisting that the law be respected in regard to Sunday
rmovics' therefore, the League for Civic Betternent is entirely right.
But the same law that forbids moving picture shows on Sunday
also forbids other kinds of business on Sunday. 1t forblds all
forms of amusement on Sunday. Therefore, Mayor Dorsey is entirely
right when he states that if he is compelled to enforce this law be VIII
enforce the whole of it.
It's argued that the mayor has 0 right to decide whether he will
enforce the law or not. He has no choice in the matter. Quite true, but
it is equally true that he has no right to decide what sections of a law
BE will enforce and what sections he will ignore.
If the law makes the opening of moving picture houses on Sun
day a crime and also makes other acts on Sunday a crime, it is not FOR
the mayor to say that one of these can do business, but the other can
not. He cannot make fish of the one kind of business and fowl of
another.
The law against moving picture houses being open on Sunday is
included in what is known as the "vice and immortality act" This
Get is The basis of what is commonly called the "bue laws"
,-Ths~. 26cahed "bne laws" have been a bone of contention IN
New Jersey for many years. They forbid practically everything ex
eept breathing and going to church on Sunday. As the age of steam
and electricity has developed society has outgrown these laws to a
large extent, but they have never been repealed and every once in
while some community resurrects them and insists that certain parts
Of them be enforced causing all kinds of trouble and confusion for the
time being. Gradually the excitement subsidies and the normal life Of
the twentieth century is resumed.
Repeated efforts have been made to have these so-called "blue
laws repealed, but without success. Evidently the members of the
legislature have been afraid to act according to their convictions. AS
a matter of fact, the very best people in amy community, even those
who favor the strictest kind of a Sabbath, would not be able to reach
their pulpis on Sunday and thousands of church goers, especially in
the cities, would not be able to go to their places of worship if the
sblue laws were strictly enforced for all railroad trains, all trolley
cars-vehicles of all sorts-with a few exceptions, are forbidden to
move ON Sunday.
How ridiculous!
To be sure, but who is to decide what part of the "blue laws
are TO be enforced and what part are to be ignored9 Who is to de-
tcrmine9
Is it to be left to each mayor to decide for himself? Perhaps,
then, in one city the mayor might think Sunday "movies" are all
right while in another city the mayor might think the movies" all
wrong, but baseball and outdoor sports all right. Another mayor
might be extremely strict and stop the sale of everything he deemed
to be unessental. But what might seem unessenial to him might be
considered essential by others. Where is the line to be drawnf
Plainly, if the law is to be enforced-and there should be the
proper respect for all law as long as it is law-it must be enforced IN
its entirety.
As matter of fact, everyone win admit. that the old "blue laws
are obsolete and unfit for the age in which we are living; they ought
to be repealed. For some reason o other the legislature seems to be
afraid to repeal them.
Mayor Dorsey has hit upon the right plan to bring the issue to a
head. 1t is a common saying that the only way to get rid of an I'M
popular law is to enforce it. But to make it unpopular in Perth Am
boy by enforcing it and to fail to make it unpopular elsewhere by lg
noring it will not bring about the desired result. The way to rid
every city of this bugaboo would be to make the strict enforcement OF
the "blue laws" general throughout the state. Let Mayor Dorsey
take the matter up with the State League of Municipalities and have
every mayor a member thereof agree to enforce these laws as long as
"blue laws remain on the statute books
One Sunday of such enforcement would be sufficient. Such a cry
would 90 ND all over the state that if the Legislature were no n SEES
sion a special session would be called Immediately to repeal the law
so obnoxious TO everyone.
But that does not mean that the state should be left wide open.
With the repeal of the "blue laws" new and modern laws should be
enacted that would safeguard the Sabbath as it should be protected
according to present standards of living.
Surely there ought to be me capable of drawing laws that
would satisfy the great majority of people whether ehurehmen or not.
We do not believe the people here N ready to adopt the European
Sunday, but neither do they want the old Puritanical Sabbath thrown