While they have as a people observed the
laws--although seeking to have the laws changed so as to permit here the
home customs of open concert halls and beer gardens on Sunday afternoon
and evening--their influence has been strongly felt in favor of loose
Sunday observance, and this has been sufficient to stimulate the natural
tendency of the American element to make the day one of amusement and
recreation, regardless of laws. The result is that now we have a lawless
American Sunday quite different from and more objectionable than the
continental Sunday.
[Sidenote: Disregard of Law]
In the larger cities throughout the country the encroachments of the
money-makers have been steady. Performances of all kinds are permitted,
theaters run either openly or with thinly veiled programs, saloons are
open to those who know where the proper entrances are, and many forms of
business and labor are carried on seven days in the week. The Jews
claimed that it was a hardship to have to close on Sunday, when their
religious observances came on Saturday, with result that a good many
manage to keep shops and factories open all the year around. Pleas of
necessity have been put forward where contractors desired to push jobs
and profits.
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