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The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grdce d la g6n6rosit6 de I'^tablissement prdteur suivant : La bibliothdque des Archives publiques du Canada Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre reproduites en un sevil cli«:h6 sont fiimies d partir de I'angle supdrieure gauche, de gauche d droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la mdthode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 r f c , //^^V:gC^<^ SABBATH OBSERVANCE BPi^^ECH OP / OHN Cha RLTON, M' ON BILL TO PROVIDE FOR BETTKR OBSERVANCE OF THE LOUb'S DAY* i'0 ■ MOUSE OF COMMONS, 26th FEBRUARY, 1885. OTTAWA: PRINTED BY MACLEAN, ROGER & CO., WELLINGTON STREET. 1885. SABBATH OBSERVANCE SPEECH OF JOHN CHARLTON, M.P , ON BILL TO PPOVIDE FOR BETTER O^SERVANCfE OF THE LORD'S DAY. House of Commons, 26ih Ftbruary, 1885. Mr. CHARLTON moved iho second reading of Bill (No. 19) to pro'/ide for the better observance of the Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday, by prohibiting Sunday excursions in certain cases. He said: In rising to-night to advocate the passage of this Bill, I will acknowledge that the pro- priety of my course would be open to doubt, were there no other law to warrant it than mere human law. But, Sir, there is such a thing as a higher law, a law recognised by this nation, which is avowedly a Christian nation, and recognised by all Christian nations; and it is under the warrant and the provisions of that law that it is proper to urge the pass- age of a Bill of the character of that now before the House. If we had nothing but mere human law to actuate us, it would not be proper to urge the Bill; but as human law is overshadowed by this higher law, the homan law-giver has no right to pass an enactment that supersedes the deca- logue. The human legislator has no right to pass an enactment that defies or sets at naught the spirit of jus- tice and truth. The human law giver may not pass a law that casts discredit upon morality. The higher law is, in fact, the law of the world. We have it expressly declared by the Almighty that "By Me kings reign and princes decree justice." All human laws should be tried by this higher law ; all the world is under it to-day, whether that law is recognised by the world or not ; and by the provisions of this higher law, governors, princes, kings, and the people of this earth shall ultimately be judged. Now, Sir, the requirement of the observance of the Sabbath forms a part of that higher law. It is one of the provisions of the Decalogue which is binding upon man. And if we turn to ecclesiastical utterances, we 1 2 ^htXi find that, so far as tho authorities of the Protestant Church are concerned, their utterances upon this point are a unit. There exists no diversity of opinion among them as to whether the fourth commandment is binding upon the human race and upon governments. If we turn to the utterances of the prelates of the Catholic Church, we shall also find their recognition of that law, clear and unmistak- able. I find, Sir, thatattherequest of His Grace Archbishop Gibbons, of Baltimore, His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII delivered an earnest address to the Eoman Catholic Church which opposes Sunday and festival profanation. From the address, which was published in the Catholic Mirror, of April 23, 1881, I take the following extract: — '' The observance of the S&cred Day rhich waa willed expres'ly by God from the first origio of man, ia imperatively demanded by the abaolute and eesential dependence of the creature upon the Creator. And thia law, mark it well, my beloved, which at one and the same time «o admirably provides for the honor of God, the spiritual needs and dignity of man, and the temporal well-being of human life. This law, we say, toucbea not only individuals, but also people and nations, which owe to Divine Providence the enjoyment of every benefit and advantage which is derived from civil society. And it is preciselv to this fatal tendency, which to-day prevails, to desire to lead mankind far away from Qo*d, and to order the affairs of kingdoms and nations as if God did not exist, that to-day ia to be attributed this contempt and neglect of the Day of the Lord. They say, it ia true, that they intend in this way to promote industry more actively, and to procure for the people an in- crease of prosperity and riches. Foolish and lying words ! They mean, on the contrary, to take awav from the people the comforts, the conaola- tiona and the benefit! of religion ; they wiab to weaken in taem the sentiment of faith and love for heavenly bleasings ; and they invoke upon the nations the mopt tremendous scourges of God, the just avenger ct His outraged honor." This, Sir, is the language held by the head of the Eoman Catholic Church. With regard to the utterances of the church dignitaries, I find that a pastoral was issued by His Grace Archbishop Taschereau, dated April 26, 188u, which is clear and emphatic in regard to this matter. The Archbishop, in referring to " a disorder which seeks the public gaze, and which causes deplorable scandal," says : " We mean, O dearly beloved brethren, those pleasure excursions made eartb would oar jreat cities become, and in time our land become, with one day in seven given up to idleness, to the theatre, to dissipative shows, to unchecked intrmp* ranoe, or to the driving on of that flood of worldliness, which, in spite of all religiouB restraint, is even now threatening destruction to all that is nobl )kt and purest in our social life." Rev. Dr. Kogel, a Court preacher in Germany, has de- livered an address, in which is presented a sad view of the immorality of the Berlin people : " The necessity of work, and the tyranny of work rob men of their Sunday rest. And the afternoon of ounday, which a part of the work- ing men have for themselves, it spent in dianipating pleasure^ in drinking AafoofiA an iM0a Dr. Arthur Pierson, of Philadelphia, in an address upon Sabbath observance, says : " A community that consents to the wanton destruction of the Chris- tian Sabbath is committing virtual suicide ; it is like a man who cuts otf bis left arm with his right. And if you want to see the natural and providential retribution that follows such a course, go and study the history of the French Revolution, when a nation went down in lo the gulf of anarchy." And again : "Voltaire was no fool ; he saw that an habitual observance of the- Sabbath, with its stated seasons of religious meditation and public wor- ship, must both preserve and extend Christianity in any community ; and he acknowledged that he despaired of being able to expel from the world superstition, by which he meant religion, so long as persons as- semble regularly and in large numbers for the worship of God. Anu jrou will find that wherever the Lord's Day is regarded as set apart by Divine authority, and is observed as a day of rest from ordinary work, and of occupation in spiritual things, the hold of both Ghr stian precepts and moral principles is correspondingly firm ;nd strong. The Sabbath is the very bulwaik of social order." But why multiply quotations from pastors and divines. I proceed to enquire whether Sabbath laws are inconsistent, firstly, with the higher law ; secondly, whether they are inconsistent with the laws and institutions of this Empire ; thirdly, whether they are inconsistent with the laws and institutions of the English speaking nations and common- wealths; and, lastly, whether they are inconsistent with the principles of human liberty. This higher law with regard to the Sabbath of which I speak first, was not a law which governed the Jews in their observances under the Mosaic dis- ?ensation only, but it was a law coeval with creation itaelf. 'wo great institutions mark the first laws given to man. These two institutions are the rest of Sabbath anU marriage. The Sabbath is instituted, the command is given in the same chapter, the second chapter of Genesis, as that in which the ordinance or sacrament of marriage is instituted. It is known that the Sabbath was observed long before the giving of the law upon Mount Sinai; Moses, liimBelf, refers to breaches of this cummand before the law was written upon the tables of stone. This command, that oat of the seven days, one should be observed as a day of rest, was observed from the earliest days of creation ; the lan^aago of the commandment proves thin. The language of the fourth commandment is to remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. " Remember " a law already in existence ; remember a law now and hitherto binding upon you. " Kemeraber the Sabbath day to keep it holy ; and the reason is given : For in six days God made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh; wherefore He blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." The Decalogue which contains this command is a moral enactment not limited in its application to any race, a>ea, or time. It is a law which prohibits not only Sabbath desecration but idolatry, blasphemy, disobedience to parents, falsehood, theft, and murder. All these crimes, as well as the crime of desecrating the Sabbath, are men- tioned in this law. This seventh day, it is evident from the language of the Bible, was ordained by the Or'jator of the world. We are told in the New Testament that all things were made by Christ. We are told that for Him and by Him all things were created, and we are told that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and that man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for man. Proceeding on this authority, we find that the laws of the nation of which we form part have recognised the binding character of Sabbath observance from the earliest ages. We find a statute passed in the year 8*76 by King Alfred, which distinctly recognised the binding character of the fourth com- mandment, which incorporated the entire Decalogue as part of the English law. We find that law reaflSrmed and its pro- visions extended by various monarchs. The list of statutes in England requiring the observance of the Sabbath is a very long list. The law was amended in 925; it was again amended in 958 ; again in 1009; again in 101*7; amended again in 1354 under Edward III ; again in 1388 under Richard II ; again 1428 under Henry VI; in 1464 nnder Edward 1 V ; in 1552 under Edward VI ; in 1 558 under Elizabeth ; in 1617 the colony of Virginia adopted the Sabbath law; in 1625 the lat7 was again amended under Charles I ; in 1643 the first Sabbath law in the colony of New Haven was adopted; in 1644 it was adopted in Scotland; in 1648 in Massachusetts; in 1648 in NewYork; in 1661 it was again amended and perfected in its operation in the reign of ■Charles II. In 1837 liquor selling was prohibited for the '] firHt time in MaBsachaselts, and in 1833 in Great Britain ; io 1864 liquor Bbops ^ere closed upon the Sabbath day in Scot* land ; and in the same year a proposition to open museums in London was delieated by a vote in the House of Commons of 237 to 48 ; in 1856 a similar proposition was defeated in the Commons by 376 to 48; and in 1878 it was defeated in the House of Lords by 76 to 39. The present English law with regard to the observance of the Sabbath is in many respects a stringent law. It is unnecessary to enter into details in regard to its provisions, but the fact that such a law exists upon the Statute Book of England is a proof that the power r ^sts with the Government of England and with the Govern mt of the colonies to make provisions with regard to tho observance ot the Sabbath. If we go to the country acioes the border wo find that Sunday laws exist in every one of the thirty-eight States of the Union, except California. One general ieatuie of these laws is the prohi- bition of any work on tbe Sabbath, except works of necessity and mercy. In the details of these provisions, various features exist, various differences exist in the different States. In some States only one local train and milk trains are permitted to run. In Massachusetts no train can run except by consent of the railroad commissioners. In all these States provisions are made for the purpose of securing the observ- ance of the Lord's Day. My next enquiry will bo : Are Sabbath lawp, which we find exist upon the Statute Book of Great Britain, and which have been a part of the English code for a thousand yearn, which exist in every one of the American States but one, which exist in this country and exist in all the English colonies, are these laws inconsistent with the principles of human liberty, are they an infringement on human right, or is there a sufticient reason for the enactment of these laws, consiuently with tho principles of human liberty ? Law in the abstract expresses what just men will not do, and what other men must not do. Law restrains human liberty, it restrains the liberty of human action, it says that human action shall be free in cer- tain directions and certain channels only, and, when human action transcends these bounds, then human law steps in and prohibits and punishes the transgression of the bounds laid down. The object of human law is to provide for tho public good. That should be the object of it. The under- lying principle should be the greatest good to the greatest number. It is upon this principle that the dignitaries of the fioman Catholio Church have acted in the pastorals I have read. It is upon this principle that human law should be enacted. Now, Sabbath laws are not inconsistent with haman liberty, in this reepeot, that they are calculated to promote public health. I find that, at the time the World's Exposition was held in London, 641 medical men of London, in a petition to Parliament against the opening of the Crystal Palace on the Sabbath for profit, said : '* Your petitioners, from their acquaintance with the laboring classes and the laws which regulate the human ecouomy, are convinced that the seventh day of rest, instituted by God and coeval with the exis- tence of man, is essential to the bodily health and mental vigor uf mea of every station of life." This law also prohibits cruelty to animals. It may re^ strict human liberty in that respect, but it is conEf them are Sabbath-breakers. Chaplain Barnes, of that prison, says : " When a church-goer comes to prison, it invariably makes a sensation among the prisoners." The celebrated judge, Matthew Hale, says that those convicted of capital crimes, when he was on the bench in the great majority of cases, con- fessed that the commencement of their career of crime lay in the neglect of the Sabbath; and Justice Strong, of the United States Supreme Court, gives utterance to the same ' antiments. We will find that, wherever the cry is raised tt.at the Sabbath must go, it is a hoodlum cry, that it is loudest among the vile, that it comes from the class opposed 9 to all law, homao and Divine, that it is the cry of the nihilist, of the socialist, and of that enemy of civilisation the dynanoiter. The basest of all classes are the classes who are opposed to the restraints of the Sabbath. I urge, in the next place, that Sabbath enforcement is not inconsistent with the principles of human liberty, because it promotes the prosperity of the individual and the prosperity of the State. We have, in fact, the Divine promise that " in the keeping of my commandments there is great reward." That promise is always fulfilled. In keeping these com- mandments there is great reward — great reward to the in- dividual, great reward to the nation. It ensures prosperity in the one case and in the other ; and it will be found, Sir, that the best moral condition and the greatest industrial prosperity are always inseparable. It will be found, more- over, that every non Sabbath-keeping country in the world is comparatively poor. II we compare the condition of Eng- land, the condition of the British Ooloniec, the condition of the United States, where the British and American Sabbath is kept, with the condition of such countries as China, India, Japan, Turkey, Eussia, Germany, Italy and Spain, and the Spanish American States, we will find suilicient proof of this assertion. I notice, next, that the enforcement of Sabbath observance is not inconsistent with the principles of human liberty, be- cause it promotes the best interests of the laborer and of the masses; it promotes, in short, the greatest good to the greatest number. The Sabbath is the day of rest ; it is the law which gives the laboring man one day in seven as a day of rest; it is the law which shields him from the merciless exaction of capital, from the exactions of those for whom he labors. We will find. Sir, that this one day in seven is a natur- al arrangement. Seven was the sacred number ; the week of the ancients was a week of seven days. Other periods of rest have been tried. Under the French Government, in the days of the Revolution, the Sabbath was abolished, and a rest of one day in ten was established, and experience proved that that was unnatural. One day in six has been tried, one day in eight, and one day in nine. One day in six has been found to result in the rest coming too often. Wherever the day of rest has been more seldom than one day in seven, experience proves that it does not come often enough, and that one day in seven is the natural period of rest. And, Sir, it is a law of nature that rest is required for animals — rest even is required for machinery. Ir. fact, physicians will tell you that a cessation of medical treat ment for one day in seven in almost ail cases produces 10 beneficial result?. Now, Mr. Speaker, the laboring man is deeply interested in this matter. If Sabbath re- Btrictions are observed the laboring man will re< ceive six days' pay for six days' labor; but if the barrier of the Sabbath is broken down, the result proves that the laboring man receives six days' pay for seven days' labor ; that the day of rest is gone, but the aggregate of the man's earnings is not increased. This, Sir, is always the case. It is well known that the tendency now-a-days is to over-production. The increased facility for production, by means of the discovery and improvement of machinery, renders it difficult to keep production within the bounds of the demand ; and to increase the laboring days from six in a week to seven, is still farther to aggravate the evil of over-production that already exists. A fisherman of New Eomney, in England, when on examination with regard to this matter of labor on the Sabbath, said he had dis- covered that Sunday fishing kept down the price of fish. There was a great deal of philosophy in that remark. Sun- day fishing would keep down the price of fish. Sunday labor of this kind is detrimental to the interests of the laborer, of whatever calling the laborer may be. The celebrated Louis Blanc says : " The English working man produces 88 much in 56 hours as the French working man does in 72, because bis forces are better husbanded, in consequence of resting one day in the seven." The celebrated John Staart Mill says : *' The operatives are perfectly right in thinking that if there was no Sunday rest, seven days' work would have to be given for six days' pay." And Paley, long ago, put the same truth more strongly, when he said : "An addition of the seventh day's labor lo that of the other six would have no other eOect than to reduce the price." An attack. Sir, upon Sunday rest is an attack upon the interest of the laborer, because Sunday's rest is the poor man's blessing and the poor man's day. To day, Sir, in English-speaking lands, tnere are 2,500,000 people, to say nothing of those engaged in domestic service and in works of necessity, who are deprived of their Sunday rest — 2,500,000 persons who are deprived, through the laxity of the laws with regard to this matter, of that great blcbsing which is their right. Now, Sir, theie is a marked contrast between the mode of the observance of the Sabbath in Anglo-Saxon coun- tries and upon the continent of Europe ; and those who u wish to introduce hero the continental Sabbath in place of the Sabbath that we now enjoy, wish to confer upon this country a curse rather than a blessing. What is the character of the continental Sabbath? At most an hour in the morning is given to mass, and the rest of the day is dedicated to the world, the flesh and the devil. Horse -racing, parades, reviews, pic-nics, excursions, drink- ing, dissipation — a holiday for the rich, and a day of toil for the poor — these are the characteristics of the con- tinental Sabbath. Another characteristic is, that the nations living under that Sabbath are yearly sinking into immoral- ity and into crime. A very satisfactory proof of this will be shown by a compari>son of the morals of the countries in which the British and the American Sabbath prevails, and the morals of countries living under the continental Sabbat . Take, as a criterion, the record of illegitimate births. They amount to 4 per cent, in London, to 3 i per cent, in Paris, to 34 per cent, in Brussels, to 5 1 per cent, in Vienna, and to 72 per cent, of the whole number in Eome, against 4 per cent, in England. In some cities of the United States the continental Sabbath has been intro- duced. It has been introduced in Chicago, in St. Louis, in Cincinnati and in San Francisco ; and in every one of those cities deaths by violence are more numerous in proportion to the population than in the worst governed countries in Europe, except Italy and Spain. The result of the intro- duction of the continental Sabbath into those cities in perfectly apparent. Look at Cincinnati, blood-stained and murder-cursed, with the worst classes of the population in possession of the city government, and lawlessness and crime rampant and governing that city. Who are the champion* of the continental Sabbath? Wherever you tind tho liquor dealer you will find one there. If you find a gambler, there is a champion of the continental Sabbatb, and every prostitute is also a champion of it* Legislators of the type of Tweed ami that villainous lot of New York aldermen who controlleii tho city under his regime — these are the advocates of tho continental Sabbath. And what, Sir, are the characteristies of what they term a free Sunday ? It is a Sunday free froin rest, it is a Sunday free from religion, it is a Sunday free from mental culture, it is a Sun- day free from moral improvement, it is a Sunday free for the employer to compel the employee to labor for him. These are the characteristics of the free Sunday, of the con- tinental Sabbath. It is a sign of the march of im- provement that there is a growing discontent with the continentul Sabbath in Europe. The masses are beginning / 12 to rea^iise that that mode of keeping the Sabbath is not one condijicive to their welfare. They are beginning to chafe and ir^row restive under it, and agitation for its improvement 18 rif^e in that country. Sabbath societies have already been forrjiod in Milan, in liorae and in Naples. In Germany the Cat/iolics and Lutherans are petitioning the Government for a better observance of the Sabbath ; and the Emperor William of Germany, the Grand Duke of Baden, and the King of \^ urtemburg, expressed sympathy with the object of these B/>cieties. j Now, surely, I have given evidence enough to show ;i,hat the continental Sabbath has proved to be a curse rather than a blessing on the continent. I might, Mr. . Speal<:er, spend this whole night in giving evidence / from great men, which point to the desirability of enforc- ing Sabbath observance. I will give a few of them. Black- / stone says: " A corruption of morals usually follow a pro- fanation of the Sabbath." DeTo3queville: " Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot." Mirabeau: "God is as necessary as liberty to the French people." La Place : ** I have lived long enough to "inow what at one time I did not believe, that no society can be uphold in happiness and honor without the senti raents of religion." The great Amer- ican historian, George Bancroft, says: " Certainly our great united commonwealth is the child of Christianity, and it may, with truth, be asserted that modern civilisation springs into life with our rf>ligion, and faith in its principles is the life-boat on which humanity has, at divers times, escaped the most threatening perils." Franklin, says : " What are laws without morals, and whence shall we get morals except from religion ? " Washington : " Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in ex- clusion of religious principle." Daniel Webster: "The longer 1 live the more highly do I esteem the importance of the proper observance of the Christian Sabbath, and the more grateful do I feel towards those who impress its importance on the community. Mr. H. Stewart, in an address at the Sabbath Convention at Rochester, in 1842, said: "Every day's observation and experience confirm the opinion that the ordinances which require the observance of one day in seven, and the Christian faith which hallows it, are our chief security for all civil and religious liberty, for temporal bless- ings and spiritual hopes." When Sir John Sinclair wrote an essay against what he considered a Puritanical observance of the Sabbath in Scotland, his friend, Adam Smith, though an apologist for Hume, said: ''Your book. Sir John, is very ably composed, but the Sabbath, as a political institution, 13 is of iDestimable value, independeotly of its claims to Divine authority." Sabbath observance has been advocated by such men asiiiadstone, D'Israsli, Shaftesbruy.Argyle, Bright, Lic- coln, Garfield and thousands of others. The action of the Bri- tish Government in late years has been such as to show unmis- takably the desire of the ruling classe» in England to honor and observe the Sabbath. Three ti' ..:, as 1 mentioned a short time since, has the British Parliament refused to con- sent to the opening of the British Museum on Sunday. The proposal has been defeated in each instance by an over- whelming majority. In the House of Commons it was defeated with only forty-eight votes in the affirmative, and in the House of Lords with but thirty-nine in the affirma- tive. When the Electrical Exhibition was held in Paris in IbSl, the English and American Governments united in closing their exhibits on that day, and Mr. W. W. Atterbury, secretary of the ^lew York Sabbath Association, in a letter to Secretary Blain, called attention to the fact that the English and the United States Governments, at the time of the World's Kxposition in London, honored the day by closing their exhibits, and he requested Mr Biaine to in- struct the American Minister at Paris that the same step might be taken with respect to the Electrical Exhibition. This is Mr. Blaine's reply: " Dkpabtmbnt of StATBo ••Washington, July 18, 1881. '■ Sir — Your letter of the 14th instant, callinf^ the attention of this GoTernmeDt to the propriety of respecting the Sabbath in the American section • f the Intoi national Exhibition of Electricity, which is soon to be held at Paris, has been reoeired. " I have to inform you, in reply, that your Mmely suggestion meets with my cordial Mpproval, and I have accordingly inHiructed Mr. Morton, the Americiin Commit sioner-Qenerai, and Mr. Walker, the Honorary Ex- ecutive Commissioner, to adopt measures to secure the proper observance of tte Sabbath in thn American section ot the Electrical Exhibition. " I am, Sir, your obedient servant, •'JAMES Q. BLAINE." When application was made to Senator Hawley, then president of the Centennial Exposition, to open the exhibi- tion on the Lord's Day, his noble answer was: " Before God, gentlemen, I would not dare to open the Centennial gateH on the Sabbath." So much for the utterances of great men upon this question. With rehpect to the observance of the Sabbath and the rules tor its observance, and the tendency to set ihose rules at defiance, a now element has been in- troduced within late years. That new element is the suppo^ed necessity for railway work. There are 900,000 railway employees in Great Britain, the United States I 14 I . ,'.-,1 and the BiitlBb colonies, and in conscquonco of the action of the railway authorities with leepect to work upon the Sabbath, at least one-half of those 900,000 are constantly employed on the Sabbath day. Their employment is a matter of great hardship. They are subjected to loss (f their weekly rest. The const quence is a deadening of moral influences, and, to a great extent, loss of self-respect. , This is a condition of things which does not meet with the approval of the railway employees. Nine out of ten feel it is a great hardship, and express their opinion against being compelled to work on the Sabbath. I have here a petition adopted by 450 locomotive engineers of the New Yo-^k Central Railway, to Mr. Vanderbilt, for the cessation of Sunday labor. It is a document which covers the whole ground, and I will ask permission from the House to read it. In this document these railway engineers set forth to this railway magnate their reasons for asking for a cessa- tion of Sabbath work. They point out the evils of the sjv- tem under which they are required to perform Sabbath labor. After pointing out how the running of trains ou Sunday had become a great hardship, they continue : "We have borne this grievance p»tiently, hoping every succeeding year that it would decrease. We are willing to submit to any reasonable privation, mental or physical, to assist the officers of your company to achieve a financial triumph ; but after a long and weary service, we do not see any sings of relief and we are forced to come to you with our trouble, and most respectfully ask you to relieve us from Sunday labor, as far as it is in your power to do so. Our objections to Sunday labor are : First — this never-ending labor ruins our health and prematurely makes us feel worn out like old men, and we are sensible of our inability to perform our duty as well when we work to an excess. Second — that the customs of <^' civilised countries, as well as all laws, human and Divine, recogn Sunday as a day of rest and recuperation ; and notwithstanding intervals of rest might be arranged for us on other days than Sunday, we feel that by so doing we would be forced to exclude ourselves from all church, family, and social privileges that other citizens enjoy. Third— nearly all of the undersigned have children that they desire to have educated in everything that will tend to make them good men and women, and we cannot help but see that our example in ignoring the Sabbath day has a very demoralizing effect upon them. Fourth— because we believe the best interests or the company we serve as well as ourselves, will be promote! thereby, and because we believe locomotive eng neers should occupy as high, social, and religious positions as men in any other callings. We know the question will be considered : How can this Sunday work be avoided, wiih the immense and constantly increasing traffic? We have watched this matter for the past twenty years. We have seen it grow from its infancy until it has arrived at its now gigantic proportions, from one train on the Sab- bath until we now have about tnirty each way ; and we do not hesitate in saying that we can do as much work in six days, with the seventh for rest, as is now done. It is a fact observable by all connected with the immediate running of freight trains that on Monday freight is compara- tively light ; Tuesday it Etrengtbens a little, and keeps increasing until Saturday ; and Sundays are the heaviest of the week. 15 " The objection may be offered, that if your lines stop the receiving points from other roads will be blocked up. In reply, we vrouli mosi respectfully suggest, that when the main lines do cot run, tributaries would only be too glad to follow the good example. The question might also arise, if traffic is suspended t%enty-four hours, will not the company lose one-seventh of iti profit?? In answer, we will pledge cur experience, health and strength, that at the end of the year our employers will not lose one cent, bat, on the contrary, will b) tiie gain- ers iinancially. Our reasons are these: At present, the duties of your locomotive ejgineers are incessant, day after day, night succeeding night, Sunday and all, rain or shine, with all the fearful inclemencies of a rigorous winter to contend with. The great strain of both mental and physical faculties constantly employed has a tendency, in time, to impair the requisites jo necessary to make a good engineer. Trouble! in mind, jided and worn out in body, the engineer cannot give his dut'es the attention they should have in order to best advance his em- ployer's interests, We venture to say, not on this broad continent, in any branch of business or traffic, can be found any class in tbe same position as railway men. They are severed from associations thit all hold mo3tdear, debarred from the opportunity of worship, that tribut'j man owes to bis God, witnessing all those pleasures accorded to others, which are the only oasis in the deserts of this life, and with no p-os- pect of relief. We ask you to aid us. Give us the Sibbath for rest after our week of laborious duties, and we pledge you that, with a sys- tem invigorated by a season of repose, by a brain eased and cleared by hours of relaxation, we can go to work with more energy, more mental and (.hysical force, and can and will accomplish more work and do it better,*if possible, in six days, that we can now do in seven. We can give you ten days in six if you require it, if we can only look forward to a certain period of rest. In conclusion, we hope and trust that, in conjunctioa with other gentlemen of the trunk lines leading to the sea- board, you will be able to accomplish something that will ameliorate our condition." This memorial from the locomotive enginers to W. H. Van- derbilt covers the entire ground. it was a reasonable petition, an unanswerable petition, but a petition which was not granted by that magnate, though perhaps the time will come when he will answer for that failure to do his duty to his men in a court where the great railway prince will stand on the same level with the poor engine driver. There are some hopeful features, with regard to railway work on the Sabbath, and that is the evidence that almost all the railway managers are ill at ease with regard to this infraction of Sabbath laws. The •editor of the Chicago Railway Age, Mr. E. H. Talbot, in 1883, opened a correspondence with various railway managers throughout the United States, with reference to the question of Sunday railway labor, asking their opinions as to whether the evil should not be lest^eoed, and as to whether Sunday traffic could not be abandoned. Many of these replies are of very great interest— of sufficient interest to warrant me, I think, in troubling the House with a few of them. 1 have one here from Mr. L. J. Sargeant, traffic manager of the Grand Trunk road. He says : 16 " Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, " TbAFFIC MaNA02R'8 Officr, '< MoMTRBAL, 26th May, 1883. " To the Editor* of the Railway Age : ** I beg to acknowledge the receipt of jour letter dated 2l8t instant, addressed to Mr. Hickson, and to inform yoa in reply, that it is not the practice of this company to run pasaenger trains on Sunday, excepting for the purpose of completing; continuous journeys. Such trains, atartei on Saturday night, are permitted to go through to destination. " As regards freight trains, we find it impracticable to suspend that servire wholly on Sundays, and should only be able to do so by common agreement between all railway companies. " On the whole, it is conceivable that the public may find the total jQspension of traiiis on Sunday not to their benefit, as, for instttnce, in the case of a through train, which, if stopped on its journey, might cause serious incoavenieace. At the same time it would be proper, itioth in the interest of railway employees and for the general benefit, that Sunday labor should be kept within the smallest prame class of traffio from and to common points were in accord, it wou'd bu practicabl-, to a very large extent, to abandon the running i^f rctilway trains on the Sabbath day. The cbief difficulty is, ihat in th -se dnys ot sharp compe- tition time has become such an importa it element that if one railroad company would voluatarily cease its traffic for one day during the week, while others continued, it wouM lose largely thereby. Yet, for ex- ample, were eacb of the trunk lines to absulut<-ly refuse to exchange traffic of any kind with their conuections, from 6 p. m. Saturday until Monday morning, it would be a simple matter for these trunk lines, as 17 itil aa well as for their^western connections, to so arrense the movement of traffic as to practically do away with the running ofSunda^ trains. " 2. There is no question as to the desirability of prohibiting Sunday work on railways. The law of nature, to say nothing of the biffher law, requires that man should hare rest one day in seven. Is there any reason why a railway engineer or conrluctor is not entitled to bis rest as much as a merchant or manufacturer ? " 3. This company has endeavored to so m. range the runs of its train- men and engineers as to bring them h me on iSunday, but little can be done in that directioc without concerted action on the part of all companies interested in the same traffic " 4. I do not believe at the end of the year the loss in traffic would be appreciable, were all Sunday work stopped, and in the better morale of the men the railway companioa would be abundantly paid for doing away with work on this da^. " Looking at the question from either a moral or economical stand- point, no candid person can uphold the running of trains on Sunday. What is there in the essence of a railroad company different from any other business, which will require an exception to be made of it and its employees to work when others are allowed and expect rest ? ''The effect of this constant and never-ending work is not only injurious to the men themselves, bu' most deplorable to their families. If it is true, as Lord Bacon says, that a man who has a family has giren a hostage to fortune, it is equally true that he should be allowed to live, at least, part of his time with those for whom he has to care, and certainly should have, at least, one day in seven, which, under oar system of railway labor, he cannot have, to devote to his own and private matters. " I am glad you have taken the matter up, for I believe if it is pre< sented to our managers in the best Ught, whether from a moral or economical standpoint, a few moments reflection will show to each of them that we are all committing a fearful mistake in allowing the con- tinuance and rapid growth of this Sunday work. " Yours truly, "H. B. LEDYARD, " President:' Following is a short communication from Mr. Rutter, presi- dent of the New York Central. He says : " It would be a great jelief to managers and employees if all traffic on our railroads could cease during Sunday. I believe that every man is entitled to one day's rest in a week. It was for this that the Sabbath day was created, and it is very much to my regret that I feel compelled to sav that the stopping of Sunday traffic is impracticable. • • • "It is hardly necessary for me to raise all the questions that occur to me in connection with this, and I can only say, tbat if any plan can be devised for the stoppage of Sunday work on railroads, I will gladly co- operate in it,'' Next follows a letter from Mr. Bennett H. Young, presi- dent of the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Eailway Company, who had the courage to totally suspend the Sunday traffic on his road, with the exception of one local mail train. It is a letter addressed to the editor of the Railway Age, as follows : — " Some weeks since I felt impelled, by various reasons, to order the diBcontinuance|uponthe|LouisviIle,New Albany|and Ohicsgo Railway, aa far as possible, of all labor on the Sabbath day.' This order was not the result of an impulse, nor was it issued without the expeetatioa of sharp 2 18 criticism and even unkind misconatruction ; it was made because I con- sidered it right, riewcd either from a reliipons, political or practical standpoint. It has provoked more discassion than I anticipated, but the expression of a neceeeity for a day of rest on the part of other railway managers has been to me exceedingly gratifying. "While admitting that this is an age of intense practicality, and that in the hurry and drive of the present of our country, many are disposed to forget all other consideratii ns than those of gain, this discussion has demonstrated that upon one ground or other there is deep-aeated in the minds of the business men of this country a desire to observe a dav of rest. For one, I do not hesitate to sav that I consider the Sabbaih a Divine institution, and that a disregard oi the day is a violation of God's command, and that the mere fact of operating a railway for public necessity is no excuse for the dishonor done to the precept of our Maker. " As religious bias 1. ust more or less affect particular views on this aabject, many would be disposed to put aside those considerations and demand some more practical argument on the question. In the dicussion of so broad a subject points can only be stated. " 1. Then. I suggest that without a day of rest man can neither enjoy health nor freedom. The Sabbath is essential to religion, and religion is essential to freedom, good government and prosperity. History con- tains no example of a free, progressive and successful people who did not recognise God. No thoughtful man can controvert the statement that religion is dependent upon the observance of a day of rest. Blot out the Sabbath in this country, and with it the influences of religion for a period of fifty years, and the face of our social, moral and political condition would be entirely changed. The testimony of all railroad men in this discuss on has shown that a day of relaxation or rest is essential to the proper andfaithful discharge of the dutiea which devolve upon railway employees ; and if this were not so, human.experience fully establishes this principle. '• 2. Whatever may be the religious views of men, it has been univer- sally conceded that religion makes a man better qualified for the dis- charge of everv duty, and that in every sphere in which he acts the impulse of a Christian life is for good. *' If railways teach their employees to violate the Sabbath, and also with it to violate the laws of the State, and thus dull the obligation they feel both to God and to the State, they must necessarily have less respect for the laws of the railway itself, and less sense of obligation to their employers. No man who has any intimate connection with rail- ways can fail to observe the lack of interest on the part of the employees in the corporate welfare, and this is m a large degree attributable to the indifference of the corporate managers themselves to the rights, privileges and consciences of their employees. With the eradication of religion goes all idea of future punishment, and this renders men less controllable and less amenable to reason. Religion is a safe-gaard for property as well as liberty. One church is worth a dozen policemen : and the social and moral power of religion in the discharge of the duties devolving upon men is simply immeasurable. " I see that in one of your late issues it is rumored this order of mine will be rescinded. I have onl^ to say that, so far as tried, the results are more than satisfactory ; no injury or loss has been sustained ; the em- ployees have in many ways expressed their grati tude and thanks for this privilege which has been extended to them in the way of cessation of work on Sunday ; and that so long as I remain in the management of the road no char ge will be made. *' Truly yours, "BENNBT H. YOUNG, "PretidenV* Two months after, the Bailway Age contained an editorial giving the results of this action of the manager of this road 19 —an editorial entitled, " Two Months of Sunday Observ- ance : " " The two months which have paased aiace President Young iisuedaa order forbidding tlie runninf;^ of Sunday traini, except those carrying mail, on the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railway, hare been the most prosperous of any in the history of the road. President Young recently telegraphed : ' Our June busfnesa has been larger than ever before, and the aggregate earnings the largest on record.' While the ezperitsnce of one railway for two moatha is by no means conclusive of the question at issue, yet it certainly tends to refute the position taken by so many managers, that a single niilway or a portion of the railways of the country cannot afford to cease Sunday work, and that Sunday observance is not practicable unless all railwiiya unite in it. The Louis- ville, New Albany and Chicago road has discontinued Sunday traffic and has increased its business, and there is no indication that its earn- ings for May or June are one dollar lees than they would have been if its employees bad been worked seven days ia each week The results of the reform inaugurated by the management of this important line will be watched with great interest. While the religious element in the Sroblem should not be ignored or undervalued, the decisive point will oubtless be the economical results of the experiment. Meanwhile'it is very gratifying tu know that the host of employees of one railway in this country have been permitted, during brigijt May and delicious June, to enjoy the sweets of Sunday quietness and rest without doing financial injury to any one." The last quotation I shall give with reference to Sunday work is an article from President Samuel Sloan, of the Dela- ware, Lackawana and Western road. This is a road which occupies a very enviable position in regard to Sunday labor. It is a road in which the late William E. Dodge was largely interested, and which has, since it first commenced running trains, scrupulously abstained from Sunday work. It is a road now reaching from New York to Buffalo, with western connections, and is one of the most prosperous in the United States. Mr. Sloan siys : ' ' It seems to me that all railroad managers must sympathise with efforts to diminish 'Sunday labor,' now, T regret to see, on the increaee. In my judgment the necessity, so much urged, does not exist, nor do the fniblic demand from railroad management more work than ordinary abor. Railroad men have a right to rest one day in seven and to ob- serve the Sabbath as much as any other fellow-citizens. It must be, and '* conceded by all interested, that health and good discipline are pro- rioted by this rest. Without repeating the excellent suggestions made by prominent railroad officials in the foregoing communications, I think that it would be an easy matter fur the Trunk Line Oomminsion to take up the subject, and refer it to a committee to report some regulations or agree upon certain trains that may be deemed necessary to meet any reasonaole demands of competing interests or the public wants in regard to perishable prope rty. ^ "SAMUBL SLOAN, " Fre>.',dent." So much for the positions and opinions of railway managers. The quotations I have made fron^ z great mass of communica- tions from railway officials show most oonolusively that these 20 men, u a nile, feel that the position occupied b^ the rail- way oorporations in the United States is not a desirable one. They evidently feel that in depriving their employees of Sunday rest, and in transacting the great mass of business transacted on the Sabbath, they are guilty of wrong-doing, and many of them feel the desire, and have taken stops in the direction of carrying out the desire they feel, to lessen the evil. No doubt it would be desirable to introduce a Bill upon this subject, ol wider scope than the one presented to- night to this House, but this is probably impracticable. All the railways in Canada have absolute control over their local business, and tho forbidding of excursion trains on the Sabbath will not imperil tho interest of any trunk line in tho Dominion, but if we went further we might seriously in- terfere with railway corporations whose operations are, to a great extent, through business, and being thus intimately unifed with the traffic in the United States, tho co opera- tion of the United States railways would bo required. But we can deal with tho question so far as the Bill now pre- sented to the Houso deals with it, and it is to prevent this form of Sunday desecration, those ex- cursions by railway or steamer, that this Bill is introduced. Many arguments are adduced in favor of Sunday excur- sions. They are said to bo conducive to health and rest, and that it would be a hardship to deprive the people at large of the privilege of going upon Sunday oxoursioiis. I propose, for a few moments, to examine into that assertion and see whether it rests upon adequate grounds. Best and health, I think, we will find when we examine into this ques- tion, are not promoted by Sunday excursions, but that as a rule they have a directly opposite oflFoot. So far from promot- ing health and rest, they are often drunken saturnalias, resulting, more often than not, in riot and even in robbery and murder. Let me give a specimen of Sunday excursions. It is rather an aggravated specimen, but it will answer as a specimen of the whole class : " Fbkb Liquob, SABBA.TH-BBBAKINO AND MuBDBB.— Oa the S&bbatb, August Slat 1884, in the afternoon, a barge towed by a iieam tug made fast to a pier at the foot of Weat Bleyenth street, in New York. She had returnea prematurely from an excuraion on which ahe had set out in the morning. Scarcely were her lines made fast when a crowd of drunken men poured hurriedly ashore and rapidly dispersed. Many of the men were without hats or coats, and the races of many were bruiaed and bleeding. The dreaaes of the women were disordered, and their hair fell tangled about fheir shoulders. On board, the evidences of a fierce fight were everywhere apparent. The deck was strewn with broken glass, with sandwiches and bMled hams, and was slippery with ice cream and beer. In the cabin the dead body of a middle-aged man lay on the floor, his three sons aobbing beside him." •1 Then it goee on to doBCribo the excursion of the employees of the Empire steam laundry, New York. Thev weregoinff down to Linden Grove, on Staten Island, for rest and health ; thoy went well primed with whiskey and beer, and were not long out when the men became infuriated by liqaor and engaged in a free fight, in which the wooen alno took part. A poor and inoffensive German, who had charge of the lunch counter, being unable to fill twenty orders at once, was attacked by these people with beer bottles and clubs, mangled dreadfully and beaten to death. This was a fair specimen of Sunday excursions, such as sail every Sabbath day from New York to Coney Island and Staten Island. The Eev. Mr. Crafts, who has taken great interest in the Sabbath question, has addressed enquiries to a groat number of employers in various parts of the Union. He has addicssed enquiries to about 150 large employers of labor, the object of these enquiries being to ascertain whether the employees who spend the Sabbath in this way, or the church-going employees are the most valuable laborers, and the answers are almost uniformly to the effect that the church-going people are the most valuable. One employer, who employs 200 men, says, " Church going men are 25 per cent, more effective as laborers than those who spend their Sundays in Sunday excursions." A German pastor, who has charge of a large church in Ne^l York, .mys : " Those who spend Sundays in pic-nics require all day Monday to get over the effects of their recreation." The general testimony on the subject is that Sabbath observers and church-goers, whether laborers, mechanics, merchants or professional men, are in far better condition to enter on work when they spend the Sunday in church-going, than those who spend the Sunday, even in comparatively innocent pleasure. Pic-nics, no doubt, are tiresome, while, on the contrary, short practical sermons are restful. Colonel Fairbanks, of the standard scales business, says : "Those who attend church and Sunday school ou Sunday are the most valuable in our business. I can tell the diifer^ence between them and others in the work in the shop." Church-goers can be recognised in a crowd, for they are clean, healthy and prosperous. Mr. Clem Studenbarker, the manager of a very extensive wagon factory in Ohio, says : " My ob^''''Tation is that clerks and mechanics who spend their Sabbath it. arch and Sabbath school work are the best fitted for the work in the ofiBce, or in the shop, on Monday morning." The celebrated Hugh Miller, the great geologist in Scot- land, gives the following very interesting deacription of the 22 appearance of a train of Sanday ezcorsioniBts returning to Edinbargh after a day in the country : — > << There did not seem to be much enjoTment about the wearied and somewhat draggled groups; they wore, on the contrair, rather an un- happy physiognomy, as if they had missed spending the day quite to their minds, and were now returning ead and disappointed to the round of toil from what ouglit to have proved a sweet relaxation and relief. A congr;:gation just dismissed from hearing a vigorous evening discourse would have borne to a certainty a more cheerful air." But it may bo asked what roasons may be given for sup- pressing Sunday excursions ? I would answer that they are open to several objections. They are open to this objection : They rob one class of employees of their Sunday rest in order that they may minister to the pleasure of others. I refer to the men employed upon railway tra*' s and steamers. These men are prevented taking Sanuay rest in order that the passengers by train or steamboat may enjoy Sunday pic-nics. The next reason is, such excursions are fruitful of disorder, vice and crime ; the next is, because such excursions invade the Sabbath quiet and morality of places to which thoy go, and the next reason is, because they secularise the Sabbath, and, by breaking down its sacredness, they prepare for the abolition of the rest to all classes that the Sabbath is designed to give. It may be said : It is unnecessary to deal with this question by law ; it is a moral matter ; let public sentiment settle it. In relation to that, I may answer that the Sabbath cannot be preserved without law. It has been found necessary to put laws upon the Statute Book with regard to Sabbath observance in England since 876 ; in the fourth century, Constantine passed a law in regard to Sabbath observance ; and it will be found that, where there are no Sabbath laws, there is practically no Sabbath. The Christian sentiment of Canada, I believe the universal Christian senti- ment of Canada, is in favor of this measure. I believe I am warranted in this assertion by the pastoral letter of Arch- bishop Taschereau, by the utterances of His Holiness the Pope, of Cardinal McClot^key, of Archbishop Gibbon, of the Bishop of Buffalo, all these high church dignitaries expressly prohibiting Sunday excursions and declaring them to be sinful. I am warranted by the concurrent testimony of the Protestant divines in this country, and by the demand of the great mass of the Christian people of this country. I am warranted in saying that the Christian sentiment of Canada, of all sects and classes of believers, asks for this Bill from this House. We fortunately, as a people, enjoy a very high character with respect to Sabbath observance. It is said that the city of Toronto enjoys the proud position ^3 of being the city of all the cities upon the face of the globe where the Sabbath is observed most strictly ; and this char- acteristic applies to such cities as Hamilton, London, in a great degree to such cities as Ottawa and Montreal, to the cities of the Maritime Provinces, and even to Quebec. An hon. MEMBEK. Even ? Mr. CHARLTON. Yes ; the mode of spending the Sab- bath in Quebec is perhaps not quite as strict as in Montreal or in Ottawa, but, as compared with other cities in other countries, there is not a city in the Dominion of Canada that does not occupy a favorable position in regard to Sabbath observance. Now, we have a right to ask, with all the con- currence of testimony from the various prelates and divines in this country and the evident pressure of public sentiment in this respect, that this Government shall do all it can possibly do to preserve this noble record which this country has, and I have the honor to present this Bill to the House of Commons for its second reading to-night. The Bill pro- vides simply that Sunday excursions by steamboats plying for hire, or by railway, or in part by railway and in part by steam- boat, starting and returning the same day, shall oe prohibited; and it provides a penalty of $500 for an infraction of this law, to be collected upon complaint of any individual in the county, city or town fror.^ which the excursion starts, one- half of the penalty to go to the informer or prosecutor and the other half to the municipality of the county, city or town in which the action is brought. The Bill does not apply to ferries or to steamboats employed thereon, but simply and exclusively to excursions by steamboat or railway, or in part by steamboat and in part by railway, Mr. Speaker, I move the second reading of the Bill. Mr. CHAPLBAXJ in speaking to the question, compli- mented the mover of the Bill upon his researches and his earnestness. He admitted that the Sabbath was of divine origin, and said that no one could deny the good in a human- itarian sense of one days rest in seven. The manner of spending Sunday was a matter of education. Men who gave an hour to mass and the rest of the day to recreation might be just as good fathers of families as those who spent the day reading the bible in their houses. The Bill he held infringed upon Provincial rights and proposed legislation that came within the limits of Provincial rather than of Dominion jurisdiction. Sir JOHN A. MACDONALD. The speech of the hon. gentleman who introduced this Bill has oeen addressed to the whole subject of Sabbath observance, but the Bill is 24 confined to only one branch of that question. The first clause provides : " Sunday excursions by steamboats plying for hire, or by railway, or in part by any such steamboat and in part by railway, and having for their only or principal object the carriage of Sunday passengers for amusement or pleasure only, and to go and return on the same day, by the same steamboat or railway, or any other owned t,' the same per- son or persons or company, shall be unlawful and shall not be deemed a lawful conveying of travellers, within the meaning of any statute of Canada, or of aay Province of Canada, permitting the conveyance of travellers on the Lord's Day." The second clause goes on to say that the owners shall be liable to be sued in a civil court by civil action for a large sum of money, and this sum is recoverable in any court of competent jurisdiction, in the place in which the steamboat or train employed on the excursion started, or through which it passed, or at which it stopped, and the money recovered shall be divided, one moiety to go to the plaintiff, and the other moiety to the municipality of the city, town, village or place from which the unlawful excursion started. The Bill is limited to excursions, and it is provided that such conveyances shall be considered to be unlawful, and that the owners of them shall be subject to a civil action. It seems to me that the constitutional point taken by the Secretary of State is a good one; that this is a matter affecting civil rights. If Parliament should take the responsibility of declaring that such excursions, or any act of non-observance or breach of observance of the Sabbath, was a crime, it might thereby be brought within the crimi- nal law, and therefore within the competence of this Parlia- ment., it seems to me that the mere fiact of its not being declared to be a crime, but merely to be an unlawful act, and the action to be brought a civil action for damages, gives away the case, so fai* as the competence of the Do- minion Parliament is concerned. The hon. gentleman, in fact, declared in his speech that he did not propose to inter- fere with vessels sailing on a long voyage, or railways carrying through traffic. That might interfere with our relations with the United States, or with the great currents of trade. Well, it might be, Mr. Speaker, that under the authority of several decisions, that the effect of this through traffic, this wholesale traffic, being the traffic which the hon. gentleman does not wish to interfere with — that traffic might come within the Dominion law ; but these excur- sions, such as in Toronto harbor, or those my hon. friend has spoken of from Montreal or Quebec, certainly ought to be within the governance and control of the Provincial Legislature, and the provincial administration of affairs — within the cognizance and control of the municipalities. It appears to me that the Bill is ultra vires. mmmmtmm >'^mdM