Quarterly Notes
| Published date | 01 April 1931 |
| Date | 01 April 1931 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X3100400215 |
QUARTERLY NOTES
THE
SUNDAY OBSERVANCE ACTS
DURING
the past few months certain interesting proceedings under old en-
actments relating to the observance of Sunday have aroused much public
comment. There are on the statute book in Great Britain many statutes
laying down what cannot be done on Sunday or, on the other hand, what
ought to be done on Sunday.
The
Sunday Observance Act, 1677, is an
enactment which comes under the latter category. Under that Act pro-
ceedings were recently taken, as reported in The Times of
loth
January, 1931,
in order to enforce against a particular individual the statutory injunction
that Call and every person and persons whatsoever shall on any Lord's Day
apply themselves to the observation of the same by exercising themselves
thereon in the dutyes of piety and true religion publiquely and privately.'
It
was suggested by counsel, who appeared on behalf of the Sunday Games
and Freedom League, that the object of the prosecution was to bring to the
notice of other people that they could be fined under this Act.
The
defen-
dant, who was a Manchester City Councillor, appears to have been chosen
because he was a public man.
It
was proved in support of the summons
that he did not Cmake any action of a publiquely religious nature on a par-
ticular Sunday
'-this
being the definition of Cpiety and true religion'
given in an Act of Parliament. In the course of his evidence the defendant
said that he did not go to church on that particular Sunday because he did
not think it right to be forced by the law to attend a place of worship. He
drew attention to the fact that there were
300,000
adults over twenty-one in
the city who were liable to be prosecuted under the Act, and that it would
need some
20,000
policemen to carry out the law.
The
magistrate who
dealt with the case decided that the defendant had committed a breach of
the statute, and he Cadmonished' the defendant.
The
magistrate declined
to exercise the power given to him under the Act to bind the defendant over
on condition that he attended church.
These proceedings are obviously a matter of considerable public interest.
Complaints are always being made that old and obsolete laws, which have
ceased to reflectthe sentiment of modern times, should be amended so as to
bring them in accordance with the spirit of the time, or repealed altogether.
Nevertheless, there is a strong body of opinion in favour of preserving what
some may regard merely as a picturesque anachronism. No one in his senses
would contend that this requirement of the Sunday Observance Act should
be rigorously enforced,
but
most people recognize that something of value
to the community would disappear if such an enactment as the Sunday
Observance Act, 1677, were repealed entirely. With the exception of the
recent proceedings in Manchester, we doubt whether any single person in
recent times has found that his liberty of conscience has been interfered with
by the fact that this statute continues to be in force.
The
attitude of the public towards an old law which has been preserved
3°4
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