Chief Justice Terry of the supreme court of California, in declaring enforced Sunday observance unconstitutional, said: “The enforced observance of a day held sacred by one of the sects, is a discrimination in favor of that sect, and a violation of the freedom of the others. ... Considered as a municipal regulation, the legislature has no right to forbid or enjoin the lawful pursuit of a lawful occupation on one day of the week, any more than it can forbid it altogether."-9 California, 502. but for the purpose of curtailing them for the mere gratification of a class, which is contrary to the principles that should govern wise statesmanship. It is not the province of Congress either to restrict any natural right, or to create special privileges for any class. The principle was thus stated by Thomas Jefferson, June 7, 1816, in a letter to Francis W. Gilmer : Our legislators are not sufficiently apprised of the rightful limits of their power; that their true office is to declare and enforce only our natural rights and duties, and to take none of them from us. No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another; and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him; every man is under the natural duty of contributing to the necessities of the society; and this is all the laws should enforce on him; and, no man having a natural right to be the judge between himself and another, it is his natural duty to submit to the umpirage of an impartial third. When the laws have declared and enforced all this, they have fulfilled their functions, and the idea is quite unfounded, that on entering into society we give up any natural right. Will the Sixty-fourth Congress prove true to the principles so wisely and firmly established by the founders of our government, and consistently adhered to in the past? 洽 洽 C. P. B. I HONOR the man who is ready to sink Half his present repute for the freedom to think, And when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak, Will risk tother half for the freedom to speak, Caring not for what vengeance the mob has in store, Let that mob be the upper ten thousand or lower. -James Russell Lowell. Important Notice! To All Lovers of Liberty Please read carefully the "Petitions to Congress" on the opposite page and the last page. Fill in the blank spaces, start the list with your own name, and secure as many other signatures as possible. If there are not enough lines on these petition blanks for signatures, paste one or more sheets of white paper at the bottom, after cutting the petitions out of the magazine. Send petition S. 645 to one of the Senators from your State in Congress, the other two petitions send to one of your Representatives in the House. Address in either case in care of the Capitol, Washington, D. C Remember this Extra can be secured at $1 per hundred and $8 per thousand copies. If you are in need of further information to assist you in prosecuting this work, address Editor Liberty Magazine, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. The civil government has no more right to compel a man to surrender one seventh of his time to the state than it has to compel him to yield one tenth of his income. Both are divine requirements for the sake of sustaining religion and its worship, with which civil government can have nothing to do by right.- EDITOR. To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: Believing (1) In the complete separation of church and state; (2) That Congress is prohibited by the First Amendment to the Constitution from enacting any law enforcing the observance of any religious institution, or looking toward a union of church and state, or of religion and civil government; (3) That all such legislation is opposed to the best interests of both church and state; and (4) That the first step in this direction is a dangerous step, and should be opposed by every lover of liberty of conscience; We, the undersigned, adult residents of State of earnestly petition your Honorable Body not to pass the Compulsory Sunday Observance Bill (S. 645) entitled, "A Bill to Provide for the Closing of Barber Shops in the District of Columbia on Sunday," or any other like religious measure. Send this petition to one of your Senators in Congress. Cut line below and attach a blank sheet of paper for additional names. PETITION TO CONGRESS To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: Believing (1) In the complete separation of church and state; (2) That Congress is prohibited by the First Amendment to the Constitution from enacting any law enforcing the observance of any religious institution, or looking toward a union of church and state, or of religion and civil government; (3) That all such legislation is opposed to the best interests of both church and state; and (4) That the first step in this direction is a dangerous step, and should be opposed by every lover of liberty of conscience; We, the undersigned, adult residents of State of earnestly petition your Honorable Body not to pass the Compulsory Sunday Observance Bill (H. R. 652) entitled, "A Bill to Provide for the Closing of Barber Shops in the District of Columbia on Sunday," or any other like religious measure. NAMES Send this petition to one of your Representatives in Congress. ADDRESSES (Over) Mr. Works introduced the following bill, which was read twice and referred to the A BILL To provide for the closing of barber shops in the District of Columbia on Sunday Be it enacted by the Senate and, House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this Act it shall be unlawful for any person to open or allow to be opened or carry on business in any barber shop or place where the business of shaving, hair cutting, shampooing, or the like shall be conducted on Sunday in the District of Columbia; and any person or persons who shall violate the provisions of this Act upon conviction shall pay a fine of not exceeding $20, or in default thereof be imprisoned not exceeding sixty days, and for a second offense shall be imprisoned not exceeding sixty days. Full Text of Proposed Compulsory Sunday-Observance Law Now Pending in the House of Representatives 64th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 652 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 6, 1915 Mr. Keating introduced the following bill, which was referred to the Committee on the A BILL To provide for the closing of barber shops in the District of Columbia on Sunday Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this Act it shall be unlawful for any person to open or allow to be opened or carry on business in any barber shop or place where the business of shaving, hair cutting, shampooing, or the like shall be conducted on Sunday in the District of Columbia; and any person or persons who shall violate the provisions of this Act upon conviction shall pay a fine of not exceeding $20, or in default thereof be imprisoned not exceeding sixty days, and for a second offense shall be imprisoned not exceeding sixty days. To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States Believing (1) In freedom of speech and of the press; (2) That Congress is prohibited by the First Amendment to the Constitution from enacting any law looking toward the abridgment of the freedom of the press; (3) That a censorship of one man is opposed to the best interests of the American Republic; and, (4) That the first step in this direction is pregnant with evil consequences, and should be vigorously opposed by every lover of liberty; therefore, We, the undersigned, adult residents of State of earnestly petition your Honorable Body not to pass the Bill (H. R. 6468) entitled, "A Bill to Amend the Postal Laws," and also (H. R. 491), with the same title, or any other like measure. A photographic reproduction of full text of these bills will be found on the other side of this petition. (Attach a blank sheet of paper for additional names) (Over) Members of the House Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads: John A. Moon, of Tennessee, Chairman; David E. Finley, of South Carolina; Thomas M. Bell, of Georgia; William E. Cox, of Indiana; Arthur B. Rouse, of Kentucky; Frederick L. Blackmon, of Alabama; Edward E. Holland, of Virginia; Samuel W. Beakes, of Michigan; Daniel J. Griffin, of New York; Peter F. Tague, of Massachusetts; Eugene Black, of Texas; William A. Ayres, of Kansas; Charles H. Randall, of California; Halvor Steenerson, of Minnesota; Martin B. Madden, of Illinois; William W. Griest, of Pennsylvania; Ira C. Copley, of Illinois; Charles M. Hamilton, of New York; Daniel F. Lafean, of Pennsylvania; Calvin De Witt Paige, of Massachusetts; James J. Britt, of North Carolina; J. Kuhio Kalanianaole, of Hawaii. Address: Hon...... House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. (Over) LIBERTY A Magazine of Religious Freedom Editor, CHAS. S. LONGACRE Associate Editors, L. L. CAVINESS, C. E. HOLMES Managing Editor, C. P. BOLLMAN Entered as second-class matter May 1, 1906, at the post office in Washington, D. C., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. Published quarterly by the Review and Herald Publishing Asso |