Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-12-23
"SUNLESS SUNDAY"
By Frederic j. HaSkin
YEW YORK CITY, Dec. 18.-The pro-
III posed Sunday law, which was ex-
planned from the Washington view

| point In CnlS column lew DAYS d6o, 10 CAe
center of a real emotional disturbance here
in New York And here again the excite
ment seems to have obscured the facts.
Neghborhood meetings are being called
| in all parts of the city and surrounding
suburbs to protest against the resurrection
of the blue laws; local chapters Of the Amer
lean Legion are organizing to fight them; the
| Freethinkers' Society is threatening opposi-
| ton to all kinds of reformers, and the thea
ter and moving picture industries are pre-
pairing to fight to keep the subject of the
Sabbath out of our ever-growing book of
national laws.
OF course all of us have been more or less
prepared for further reforms ever since the
successful ratification of the Eighteenth
| amendment, but it is doubtful if anyone ex-
pected them to come soon, or so many
OF them at once. Occasionally, we heard that
an attack against tobacco was ominously i'm
minent, but that the reformers were sharp
ening their tomahawks for an attack on all
forms of Sunday recreation, healthfuI or
otherwise, was scarcely suspected until the
Lords Day Alliance announced it's belligerent
Intentions
Even now, some people are of the opinion
that the alliance can not be sincere in what
it says-that there is some ''jinx'' about the
| thing somewhere. For instance, the other
night the following conversation between
two business men on the subway, filtered up
to the reporters ears:
II believe it's all trumped-up scheme on
the part of the Republican party" said the
first business man sagely. "They NAV have
given these old boys a little encouragement,
just to throw them over in the end For
| even feeble-minded person can see that the
people are not going to submit to any more
restrictions on Sunday. It's bad enough to
get through as it is. Well, then, what would
make better impression on the people than
Tor the Repubs to squash the blue law agita-
| ton just as soon as they get into office?
What would win the public's confidence
| quicker?"
'"Hmn, that's a pretty theory" said the
second business man, "but remember that
everybody thought that prohibition was a
joke until the supreme court declared it
wasn't. The first thing you know We'll all
| be dragged out of bed on Sunday morning by
probation officers employed by the commm
nifty to see that we go to church,
A Blue Law Advocate
On the whole, New York is inclined to
treat the Sunless Sunday movement very Sc
riously, and anyone who has heard the Rev.
Henry L. Bowlby general secretary of the
Lords Day Alliance and leader of the move
ment state his case can be perfectly sure that
the alliance means what 1t says. Mr. Bowl
| by is short of stature and has short, thick,
| energetic hands. His eyes are small and
shrewd, his mouth thin, determined line
above a stubborn chin. In Altoona, Pa,
where he was formerly minister of the gos-
| pei, he was known as an excellent field pas
tor" rather than an eloquent preacher. In
| other words, he is an extremely efficient ex-
ecutive-the very type one would expect to
find presiding over the crowded, business-like
offices of the Alliance in the Presbyterian
| building on Fifth avenue.
When being interviewed, Mr.. Bowlby is
self-confdent, but cautious. He is careful
not to say anything on his own authority, but
quotes deliberately from the pamphlets of
the alliance, while one of the officials of that
organization, usually his attorney, sits
| watchfully at his elbow.
When asked if the reported aims of the
alliance were true, the other day, the rever-
end exective asserted that he, personally, had
been continually misquoted by the newspa-
pers, but would be glad to rehearse the pro-
gram and purpose of the organization.
"Our organization is backed by Is de-
nominations" he began, '"inclIding all ex-
cept the Roman Catholics the Jews, the
Seventh Day Adventists and the Unitarians.
We are well-fnanced. Our lobby at Wash
| ington will be a strong and effective one. We
shall work in every congressional district in
| every state. We shall advocate and spread
propaganda and cause voters to write I'M
ceasingly to their Representatives in congress
until no congressman who cares to stay in
| congress Will dare reTuSe to vote for our
measures These were the methods used by
| the Antl-Saloon League, and they were eff
| fective.
I'VE propose to pass no blue laws There
are no such things as blue laws and never
were, so far as 1 know. We don't propose
to legislate people into church. We do pro-
pose to secure legislation which will make
| 1t easier for people to go to church In other
words, we shall try to close the baseball
parks; the golf links; the motion picture
ana other theaters; the concert halls: the
amusement parks; the tennis courts, and the
oathng beaches We shall fight all amuse-
menus where an admission is charged. We
snail oppose golf, baseball, tennis football
ana other sports even if purely amateur or
ueVold OF financial cost to those watching or
taxing part, because they set bad examines
ior cnlIoren who otherwise might be con-
TENT TO go to Sunday school,
TO Gut Off the Gas
I'VE shall seek to restrict the sale of gas
dime for pleasure automobiles and urge other
measures that will stop Sunday automobiling
and JOY riding. This will not bring the old
fashioned horse and buggy back be-
cause we believe that the Lords Day should
| be day of rest for man and beast
| Excursion steamer rides on Sunday will
| be opposed by us on the grounds that they
are unnecessary to the moral welfare of
America: We also see no reason why the
public libraries or art galleries should re-
! main open Sunday. And Sunday ne~7-
papers are certainly unnecessary"
when pressed for his opinion of something
| that the people could do on Sunday besides
go to church, Mr.. Rowlby declared that there
| would be no objection to them walking in
the fields or parks or attending the beaches.