Untitled article by Grant Adkins

Pacific Press Publishing Company · New York · March 23, 1893

What Principle?

By Grant Adkins

In a communication to the writer, regarding the closing of the World's Fair by congressional action, the Hon. John C. Houk, of Tennessee, says:—

I do not hesitate to say that I shall vote in the future as I did in the past—to close the World's Fair on Sunday, for the reason that I am opposed to its opening on principle, and because my constituents are opposed to it.

Pray tell what is the “principle” on which our honored representative wishes the Fair closed on Sunday by congressional dictation? Is it the “principle” of the United States Constitution, which says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”? Or is it the “principle” of the Declaration of Independence which says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”? Or is it the “principle” laid down by George Washington, that “Every man who conducts himself as a good citizen, is accountable alone to God for his religious faith, and should be protected in worshiping God according to the dictates of his own conscience”? Or is it the “principle” of the lowly Nazarene, as is formulated in the Golden Rule?

The moment that Congress voted to close the Fair on Sunday it did then and there violate the “principle” of the United States Constitution and by so doing did “establish” by law a Sabbath for a religious purpose, and in so doing did commit the Government of the United States to a religious combination to decide Sunday-school difficulties and Church affairs. And that constitutes an establishment of religion in this land by civil law, and is, therefore, contrary to every sentiment and principle of Americanism.

We do not care a snap for the Fair being either closed or open on Sunday. What we oppose and object to is having it done by legislation. Congress has no religion to give anybody, and therefore has no right or business to say how, when, or where or whether man shall worship God at the World's Fair, any more than in Dublin, Ireland. Now, as the day is established and that by Congress too, the next step to be taken will be to say how it must be observed. But we need not worry, our representatives will settle that question in due time.

Again Mr. Houk says:—

But so far as Chicago is concerned, I believe the closing of the World's Fair on Sunday will be the worst thing that could happen to her.

Nevertheless, he is going “to vote in the future” as he did in the past, to close the Fair on Sunday, still “believing it would be the worst thing that could happen to her.” Yet, he must vote for it on “principle,” although it would bring on Chicago the worst thing in the world. Now the worst thing in the world is sin; and if Sunday closing produces that, Sunday laws would be the cause, and this is no strange since they originated with the “man of sin.” It follows that the “principle” Mr. Houk wishes the Fair closed on is a principle from which the “worst thing” springs, and that is just exactly the kind of “principle” underlying all Sunday laws, from the first, enacted by Constantine A. D. 321, down to the one enacted by the American Congress in 1892. Perhaps if Mr. Houk had read carefully the Constitution of his country, and the Bill of Rights of his State, he might have discovered another and a worthier principle, namely, the principle of religious liberty

GRANT ADKINS. Fountain City, Tenn. Jan. 30, 1893.