New Britain herald., 1925-07-07
MAYOR HITS BACK
 AT PULPIT CRITIC
Replies to Rev. F. |. Brooks on
 Sunday Store Hours
WOULD CUT THEM DOWN
Expresses Regret "That Public It. terances Are Sometimes the Pro- duct of Too Little Consideration of the Matters Involved"

'It Is 10 be regretted that public utterances are sometimes the pro- duct of too little consideration of the matters involved Mayor A. NJ. Paonessa remarks in a letter mailed today to Rev. r. l.. Brooks, pastor of the Peoples Church of Christ, in which the mayor advises the pastor as to his stand on the question Of keeping stores open on Sunday. Mir. Brooks in a sermon Sunday evening objected to what he claimed was the mayors stand in the matter. and remarked that the absence of
 public protest astounded him.
 Mayor Paoncssa's Letter. Mayor Paonessa's s letter follows; Dear Sir
 Tn the absence of contradiction of published statements purported to
 be quotations from your sermon of last Sunday evening. l assume that you were quoted correctly, and if so it is my desire to correct your tm-
 pressions of my stand on the open ing of stores Sunday mornings.
 You are quoted as saying: I mo- l tice that his honor, the mayor of our
 city, has suggested that the stores
 be allowed to open their doors for q short time on Sundays. Give them a
 short time and they will soon take all the day. I am astounded that | (, htey tO
 the mayors suggestion
 l The above shows, at least, but l little knowledge of the subject you attempted to discuss. In the first place, the idea of opening stores on | Sunday originated with the mer- chants themselves not with me; and the idea Is not to increase the patronage of stores or commercial ize the Sabbath, but to cut down the number Of hours of Sunday de- voted 10 business and give strug- gling storekeepers an opportunity to enjoy d few hours of recreation on | Sunday, without suffering the possl- | bility of loss of trade. We have at
 present more than 100 stores open
 upwards of 16 hours on Sunday, l Being for the most part neighbor- hood groceries doing limited busi- ness, they cannot afford to close on 1 that day, lest their trade be taken | over by competitors. The mer-
 chants felt they might reach an agreement whereby persons might
 be served on Sunday and given the
 benefits of store refrigeratOrs, and at the same time the merchants be allowed q day of rest. They asked my office to assist and willingly did so. If we are successful in our endeavors, the hours of Sunday business will be reduced from IS to two hours.
 "1 know of no way we can elimi- nate Sunday business. l know of no law that would back up such an ! order If our government was 10 issue one. If you are interested in the proper observance of the Sab bath then, since 1t is not possible to close stores entirely, would it not be consistent with the role of a clergyman, to join in a movement to minimize the commercialzing of Sunday?
 Tt is 10 be regretted that public utterances are sometimes the product of too little consideration of the matters involved. I am hopeful that the matter of Sunday opening of stores, having been ex- plained to you. your impressions of my stand will be altered.
 Respectfully,
 .. a., "A, Nj, PAONESSA. MaJ-or