FOR PASTORS AND CHURCHES VID. PAGES 11 AND 12 The Defender A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE Published by the Headquarters of the League, 520 Tremont Temple, Boston, Massachusetts TELEPHONE MAIN FOUR-FOUR-ONE-FOUR-M. Vol. XX JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1915 No. 1 Containing a Report of the Directors, General Secretary, Field Secretary and Treasurer of the Lord's Day League for the Year Nineteen-fourteen Also Briefs of the Notable Addresses made at the Annual Meeting, with Banquet, Celebrating the Twentieth Anniversary of the League at Park Street Church, Boston, January eleven Nineteen hundred and fifteen ** Greetings and Messages from Eleven Churches and Denominations - from the Common wealth of Massachusetts — from the Federation of Labor-from the Young People - and from the College and Laboratory✰✰ Lord's Day League of New England HISTORY THE LORD'S DAY LEAGUE OF NEW ENGLAND is the only organization for the defence of the Lord's Day in New England. It was incorporated in May, 1895. Bishop R. S. Foster was elected its first president and served until January 1, 1897, when Senator George F. Hoar accepted the presidency. In January, 1905, Hon. John D. Long was elected President of the League in place of Senator Hoar, who served faithfully and efficiently for eight years, until his death. On the resignation of Mr. Long, Ex-Gov. John L. Bates was elected President in January, 1910, and Mr. Long was made Honorary Life Director. At the same time its name was changed from the New England Sabbath Protective League. Additions have been made from time to time to its strong official boards, representing the different denominations and sympathetic organizations. Its work has been practical and far-reaching, along wise, conservative lines. It has received and retained the endorsement and co-operation of the best elements of the six New England states. It confidently appeals to the public, as deserving the patronage of all friends of the Lord's Day. OBJECT "ITS OBJECT shall be to maintain the observance of the Lord's Day as a civil rest day and a day for religious uses," DEFENDING it against the encroachments of business and pleasure. METHODS ITS METHODS include ORGANIZATION and AGITATION, INSTRUCTION by press, pulpit and platform, EDUCATION of the young and morally ignorant, the PROTECTION and ENFORCEMENT of Sunday laws, and the securing of BETTER LEGISLATION in the interests of the workingman and of good citizenship. FINANCES ITS WORK must be supported almost entirely by private and public donations as it has no adequate endowment. It is inter-denominational, including twelve or more denominations in its list of officers and members. In order to introduce its important claims to the public, and enable it in the meantime to meet current office expenses, publish its organ, THE DEFENDER, and distribute it and other Sabbath literature, convene and hold rallies, conventions and field-days in different parts of New England, help preserve our present laws and seek better ones,—a guarantee fund is necessary. To raise this, attention is called to the three forms of membership given below: Life Membership. $100.00 Will friends of the Lord's Day kindly send us memberships and subscriptions? All members will receive regularly THE DEFENDER (the bi-monthly organ of the League), and also other literature as they request it. THE INTERESTS OF THE "LORD OF THE SABBATH" DEMAND YOUR PRACTICAL SYMPATHY. SEND ALL DONATIONS AND PLEDGES AS BELOW. FORM OF BEQUEST I give and bequeath to the Lord's Day League of New England, incorporated under laws of Massachusetts to be paid by my executors to the treasurer of said League, the sum of $ the same to be applied to the general uses and purposes of said League, under the direction of its Board of Directors. STATEMENTS N. B. All information sent to the Secretary concerning violations of the Lord's Day, will receive attention, and be treated as strictly confidential, and assistance will be rendered, if possible. Local information, communications and short articles for publication will always be welcome, and used when possible in THE DEFENDER, of which (together with Pocket Pamphlets and other literature) about 2,000,000 pages are distributed annually. The Secretary's engagement to address Churches, Young People's Societies, Women's Christian Temperance Unions, religious bodies, social and labor organizations, on both Sundays and week-days, are usually made some weeks in advance. No expense is involved except entertainment, and an offering with envelopes, to aid the work of the League. Correspondence is invited. All inquiries as to dates and other matters, will receive prompt attention if addressed to MARTIN D. KNEELAND, General Secretary, 520 Tremont Temple, Boston. PRESIDENT-Ex-Governor JOHN L. BATES, LL.D., East Boston. HONORARY LIFE DIRECTOR-Honorable JOHN D. LONG, LL.D., Hingham, Mass. HONORARY ADVISER-WILLIAM, CARDINAL O'CONNELL, Archbishop of Boston, Mass. REPRESENTATIVE IN SOUTH AMERICA-Rev. H. A. MANCHESTER, D.D., Rio Janeiro, Brazil. Rev. ARTHUR LITTLE, D.D., Dorchester, Mass. Sen. CARROLL S. PAGE, LL.D., Hyde Pk., Vt. FIELD SECRETARIES For New Hampshire and Vermont-Rev. E. A. TUCK, Concord, N. H. DIRECTORS. Rev. W. H. VAN ALLEN, S.T.D., Boston, (Ep.) Rev. W. W. ILIFFE, Brookline, Mass. (Pres.) Rev. J. F. JOHNSTONE, Ph.D., Hart., Conn., (Pres.) Rev. EDW. D. MALLORY, Dorchester, (Cong.) Pres. L. H. MURLIN, LL.D., Boston, (M. E.) Rev. H. J. WHITE, D.D., Hartford, Conn. (Bap.) This anniversary is so important that we have decided to let it speak for itself. No cuts whatever will be presented on any of its pages, of any of its officers or members. We find that we are obliged to leave out either the faces or the addresses. You can see our faces, fellow readers, almost any time, but you can read such words as were spoken at our Twentieth Anniversary, by representatives of eleven denominations, but once in twenty years. In fact, an unprejudiced resident said to us the other day, that in all his acquaintance with Boston he had never seen such a splendid representative gathering as that which gathered at Park Street Church. We wish that we could give all the words spoken instead of a brief synopsis of notable utterances, made before the one hundred and fifty or more people who were present at the banquet. As you read the reports and greetings, breathe a prayer for our next twenty years, that they may be years of still greater advance. TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY AND DIRECTORS OF THE LORD'S DAY LEAGUE OF NEW ENGLAND, 1914 With gratitude to God for the blessings of another year, we enter upon our twenty-first year of service. The twenty years behind us are thickly strewn with evidences of the divine favor. Let us glance backward. In the year 1891 the desire and demand for a better Sunday materialized in a paper which was signed by a large number of men prominent in church and state and business life. Near the head of the list stood the honored name of Bishop Phillips Brooks. This paper was a strong and earnest protest against the prevailing secularization of the Lord's Day. It was one of the causes and immediate occasions of the formation in Boston of the Massachusetts Sunday Protective League,. with League, with Hon. Thomas Weston, followed by Chas. D. Botsford, Presidents. This organization was a stepping stone to a broader movement which led to The New England Sabbath Protective League, in May 1895. The first President was Bishop Randolph S. Foster, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The following names in the order given constitute the entire list of the incorporators. tendance at the first meetings, including Emery B. Gibbs, Rev. Arthur Little, William Shaw, Rev. Walter Calley and Rev. Reuen Thomas, who drafted the declaration of principles, and was the first VicePresident for Massachusetts. We notice also that Hon. Neal Dow was the Vice-President for Maine, U. S. Senator Carroll S. Page for Vermont, and that the first three members on the list of the Executive Committee were Gov. Frederick D. Greenhalge, Rev. Edward Everett Hale, and Joseph Cook. Senator George F. Hoar became the second President of the League in 1897, and served 8 years until his death. Gov. John D. Long succeeded him for five years, when in 1910, Ex-Gov. John L. Bates became President. It will be impossible to mention the long list of men, with now and then a woman like Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, who formed the early Board of the League. All of the Protestant denominations were represented, and very soon the work reached out into different parts of New England, aroused interest, and crystallized into action. The times were ripe for an offensive and defensive movement. The public mind and conscience needed an awakening and leadership. Nearly every Sunday, excursion trains and steamboats were running. Uncensored Sunday theatres and amusement resorts were open in towns and cities, and not unfrequently saloons, gambling places and dance halls. Private work, trade, and business, as well as municipal enterprises were beginning to characterize the New England Sunday. These illegalities led to protests, criticisms, legal and legislative struggles. Sunday Work by In this brief synopsis we can only refer to a Railroad Men few of the many lines of work which engaged the League in its early history. Seven days' work on railroads (both passenger and freight service), also illegal work in stores, shops, mills, factories, claimed its immediate attention. In several instances oppressive and illegal conditions were remedied and public sentiment was aroused. Mr. Sanford, the head of the Railroad Commission of Massachusetts, was in warm sympathy with the effort of the League to get a weekly rest day for freighttrain employees. After one of the hearings, he said that again and again men who had been given Sunday rest through these efforts, had thanked him with tears for the privileges of church and home, one day in the week. In a large number of instances, these. men and other seven-day toilers have been helped by the League during these twenty years. Sunday Excursions The Sunday excursion business was also investigated, with the result that the old Massachusetts Lord's Day laws were enforced by the Railroad Commissioners as they had not been for a long time. All Sunday excursion trains and boats, that is, low fare trains and boats which did not have a seven-day schedule, were refused permits. Many toilers are today. enjoying the fruits of that victory, greatly to the quiet of those parts of New England which were invaded. The general sentiment prevails that the week-day excursions have been a satisfactory substitute for Sunday excursions, with equal or greater profit to the railroads. A similar law in the Statutes governing Sunday entertainments, during these years. The old abuses, whereby, as it was proved at the public hearings, shows and theatrical entertainments were permitted, at which gross indecencies in word and action, spiced with vulgarity and profanity, were practised, were at once removed. A new law was obtained limiting the Sunday shows to sacred concerts, given by religious or charitable societies. After several years of trial, this law was found to be the occasion of many serious abuses on the part of fake societies manufactured for the occasion. The legislature was called upon to give relief to this situation, and the present system of censoring entertainments was substituted. While this is much superior to the previous method, as that was superior to the method which preceded it, it still permits evils which should be remedied. We are glad to state that neither of the other five New England states has legalized theatricals, moving pictures and the like, although several bills have been introduced for that purpose. We trust that the condition which fastened itself upon Boston, sometime before the League came into existence, will not prevail in other New England cities. |