DEMAND FOR SUNDAY LEGISLATION A LIFE TIME'S SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2938, 25 November 1916, Page 10

DEMAND FOR SUNDAY LEGISLATION

A LIFE TIME'S SERVICE

Sir, —I have noticed in your columns and those of other papers the last day or Wo considea'blo discussion concerning a stricter observance of Sunday, and the need of more Sunday legislation. Now, sir, there aro some principles underlying Sunday legislation that are frequently overlooked, and which the public ought to know; and! I therefore crave a little of your valuable space to draw nrief attention to them. First, whence does Sunday derive its alleged sacredncss? Certainly not from tnc Fourth Commandment, for_ iii both the Old Testament and the Now the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment is the seventh day, the day preceding Sunday, and corresponding to our Saturday. See Exodus 20:10; Matthew, 28:1; Mark, 16:1, 2; Luke-, 23 :56 and 24 :1, etc. Though wo search' the Biblo through and through, wo cannot find a single text of Scripture wherein (1) Christians are commanded to keep Sunday; or (2) wherein Sunday is stated to ho the Sabbath; or (3) wherein ordinary work on Sunday is said to 'be a sin; or (4) sport or other pleasure-seeking on Sunday is said to bo more sinful than on other days of the week. In the language of Scripture, Sunday is only one of "the six working days." Further, it seems to me, sir, that legislation on religious questions is outside the jurisdiction of civil government. Did not tho Saviour Himself say, "Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; .and unto God the things that are God's"? Matthew, 22 : 21. The realm of Caesar (civil government) has to do with civil matters, those that lie hetween men and his fellow man, and tho protecting of men in the God-given rights—rights hounded by tho equal rights of other men. .The realm of religion or conscience the State has no right to invade. It is not for it to say that an individual shall he Teligions, or that he shall not be religious, or what religion, he must follow. All this the subject must himself settle with God, inasmuch as ho must finally personally answer for himself before tho bar of God. So with a religious day like the Sabbath or its man-made rival Sunday. Whether one shall keep the Sabbath or shall not keep it. or what day he shall keep as such, lies altogether outsido the purview of civil government, and rests wholly between man and his Maker. Again, Sunday laws show favourit-. .ism, and are therefore unfair to several sections of the community. The conscientious observer of another day, such as tho Jew. the Seventh Day Adventist, or tho Seventh Day Baptist, is penalised because of his very conscientiousness; for, after keeping Saturday (which is the very day the fourth commandment requires kept), ho is penalised for his obedience to tho commandment by not being permitted by law to carry on his lawful calling on Sunday. Further, the atheist _ or the non-churchgoer has as much right (as far as the State is concerned) ,of not worshipping on-Saturday or Sunday as those of a more religious turn of mind have to do so. Tho matter lies between the individual and God. Reason or persuasion is always permissible and proper, but legislation never. The demand for Sunday legislation by the Church is selfish. It demands that the Sunday worshipper bo coddled and favoured by the State and other people restrained. The conscientious Christian or other observer of the seventh day (Saturday) goes to his place of worship on tho day of the week most widely and generally given Tip to secular business and pleasure. He does not notice tho multitude of distractions, because he does not look for them, and his mind is concerned with higher things. He eniovs tho right to worship .on the day., and ho. radiuses the equal right of others to spend Uhe dav in their.'own- way. ■. . . Siindav laws are relics- of tho dark ages., Like other legislation thev carry the germ of intolerance; and are a disfijrurement or blemish in the Statute books. t Christ has promised His presence and His power to His Church. Strong in His word and in tho might of His spirit, she does not seek municipal or State aid or legislation. When sho does so, it is a tacit acknowledgment that sho is shorn of divine lacking somewhere in the divine spirit and the divine word, and reaching out for merely human aid in her weakness.— I am,'-etc., RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. November 24, 1916.

Sir,—Can you tell me why the matron of a hospital who has served twentyfive- years in it should not be entitled to a pension ? As an instance, I should like to aski if tho lato matron, Miss Payno, of the Wellington Hospital, receives a pension from the Government? Surely if ally woman ever deserved ona she does. Twenty-five years of her life is a long stretch to give to suffering humanity, and at the end of that time to bo simply voted £150, a little over six months' pay; seems very inadequate, especially as it is only within recent years that the salary has been raised from a mere pittance. As a matron in our New Zealand nursing history, she stands out as a landmark. I am sure Dr. Ewart will agree with me in this. Matron. Payne was, and is but for ill-health, undoubtedly the best trainer of nurses the Dominion has produced. Trained at the Wellington Hospital herself, when appointed matron she' proved herself a most efficient organiser, and lias done most admirable work. It is from the Wellington Hospital that the other hospitals of tho Dominion have drawn their matrons and sisters, and so raised the standard of nursing to its present high state 'of efficiency, and recognised wherever our New Zealand nurses have worked. As an instance of this, there is Matron Thurston, of Christchurch Hospital, now of Walton-on-Thames Hospital. She was trained under Miss Payne and developed Christchurch ' Hospital training on the same lines. There is also Sister Cecilia M'Kenny, late matron of Wanganui Hospital; Sister Jean Todd, late matron lof Timaru Hospital; Matron Berry, late of Napier Hospital; Sister Bertha Nurse, matron of Brockenhurst Military Hospital; Sister Frances Price, matron of No. 1 Stationary Hos.pital, Franco; Matron Brooke, of the Hoipital ship Marama; Sister Brandon, of Rotorua; and Matron Early, of Aotea Convalescent Home, Egypt. In* addition to these are many other Wellington Hospital sisters and nurses at the front, many of whom have been mentioned in dispatches. These all had their training at her hands. Such being the case, I feel tho country owes a deep debt of gratitude to Miss Payne, who has so unreservedly spent herself in the i service of the public, and fully deserves recognition, by tho Government. I hope some abler pen than mine will take this matter up and see it through.—l am, etc., 'A FORMER WELLINGTON HOSTITAL SISTER.