Year: 1874

Some Connecticut "Blue Laws"


There are a number of laws in the stat
ute-boOks of all the old States which are
now never enforced. OF some such still
existing in Connecticut, the Hartford Post
discoUrses pleasantly as follows:


While very excellent as viewed from a
purely religious standpoint, and doubtless
meeting at the time of their enactment the
views of large majority of the citizens
of the State, any attempt to enforce them
in this generation would be laughed to
scorn. Whether we are more wicked or
only little wiser and little more liberal
than our forefathcrs, are points on which
there will be found a wide diversity OF
opinion. Few are aware that person
taking a ride for recreation on the Sabbath
day, with his family or otherwise, becomes
liable to arrest and fine, yet such is the
law. Sec. of Title 81 reads:


"No person shall do any secular business,
work or labor, works OF necessity and mercy eX-
cepted, nor keep open any shop, warehouse or
workhOuse, nor expose to sale any goods, wares
or merchandise, or any other property, nor en-
gage in any sport, game, play or recreation on
the Lords day, between the rising OF the sun ana
the setting Ol the same, nor shall any traveller,
drOver, wagner or teamster travel on said day,
between said times, except from necessity or
charity, and every person so offending shall pay
a fine not exceeding 81, nor less than 81, etc.
If this law should be enforced according
to its strict letter. it would throng the sta
tion-house every Sunday with worthy citl-
zens of Hartford who had started for a
quiet afternoon drive to Wethersfield, East
Hartford. or any of the adjoining villages
or towns. And further than this, if the
team should be hired one, the person
letting the same for travel other Ito quote
the words of the law than from "neces-
sity or mercy would be liable, under
Sec. 10 of Title -, to a fine of $50. But
the officer who would attempt to prosecute
under this law would be very apt TO get a
coat of tar and feathers for his trouble,
even in the good, law-abiding State of Con-
necticut.


We now come to another singular law,
as found in Sec. 199, Chap. 10, Title u, of
the Revised Statutes, as follows:


Every person who shall be guilty of bias
phemy against God, or either of the persons of
the Holy Trinity, or the Christian religion, or the
Holy Scriptures, shall be punished by fine, not
exceeding 500, and by Imprisonment in COM
mon Jail, not exceeding one year, and may also
be bound to his good behavior at the discretion
of the court"


Blasphemy was made a capital offense
in the code OF 1912, and remained so until
the revision of 1884, when the penalty
was changed to whipping on the naked
body, not exceeding forty stripes, and sit
ting in the pillory one hour. In the re-
vision of 1921, the present provisions were
enacted. Webster defines " blasphemer''
in these words: "TO speak of the Su-
preme Being in terms of impious irrever-
ence; to revile or speak reprOachfully of
God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit" Now
the question very naturally arises whether,
under strict construction of the statute.
any person speaking disdainfully of the
Trinity from the fact that they deny it)
could not be prosecuted! However, al
though similar laws will be found on the
statute books of several of the States, and
nearly all of these in New England, prose
cutions have been of very rare occurrence,
and for many years past none have been
heard of.


At the time of the adoption of the State
Constitution, its authors seemed to have
quite as strong feeling as the early set
tiers in favor of the support of the Gospel,
and took good care to provide legally for
contributions thereto from all persons who
were received into church membership.
And at that time. not to be church-mem-
Der was nearly equivalent to being beyond
| the pale of society.


The following is an extract on this point
! from Art. VII. of the Constitution:
"And each and every society or denomination
of Christians in this State, shall have and en-
joy the same and equal powers, rights, and priv
| ileges; and shall have power and authority tC
| support and maintain the ministers and teachers
| of their respective denominations, and to build
and repair their houses for public worship, by d
| tax on the members of any such society only, tO
be laid by major vote of the legal voters assem-
/ bled at any society meeting, warned and held ac-
/ cOrdlng to law or in any other manner


A very wise and just decision as to the
force of this article on religion is that the
! Legislature cannot divide an ancient, 10
cal, or territorial ecclesiastical society into
two or more such societies, nor divide the
fund owned by such ancient society, and
assign portion of it to a new society
This was the ruling in the case of the
Second Ecclesiastical Society versus the
First Eccleiastical Society of Portland.


Sec. 10 of Chap. 4, Title Z, of the Stat
utes, provides that this tax shall be laid on
the members according to the assessment
or ''grand list'' last made out according to
law, or according to the next legal list
and shall be payable within one year. II
is further provided that rate-bills shall be
made out against the members of the Com
mittee of the Society who shall apply TO a
Justice of the Peace of the county for a
! WdTTdllJ uHtCleu 10 llle cOlectOTS dppOlnl-
ed to collect the tax, authorizing them to
levy and collect the same. Under this law,
if, at a meeting of the members of the
Pearl Street Church, it should be decided
to expend $4,000 in the improvement OF
the church editice, an assessment based on
the grand list could be made on the prop
erty of all the members of the society, and
they could be compelled TO pay the amount
assessed. Resignation of membership af-
ter the vote had been passed would moi
free member from this obligation, if op-
posed to such expenditure, he having
been a member Of the society at the time
of the passage of said vote. and therefore
mutually involved with the other mem.
berS. 1t is not known that any funds have
been raised under this law for the past
fifty years or more, as there is little diff
Guilty in securing voluntary contributions
But if the majority of the members OF any
church organization choose to take adj
vantage of its provisions, they have full
legal authority TO do so. The injustice o
this constitutional PROVISIONS that no per
son can become member of any ecclesi-
astical organization without, in fact. sub
mitting his entire property to tax by 6
majority vote of the members thereof, fol
use for church purposes.