--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Kimball, Andrew collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 23 number: 1 published: 1919-11 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Kimball, Andrew, "Against Sunday Desecration and Tobacco," *Improvement Era* 23, no. 1 (November 1919): 63–66.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2301unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2301unse start_page: 63 end_page: 66 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1919-11) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2301unse publication_year: 1919 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1919, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Against Sunday Desecration and Tobacco Against Sunday Desecration and Tobacco By President Andrew Kimball, of the St. Joseph Stake of lion A Weekly Half Holiday At our late quarterly conference, August 9, 1919, we de- clared for a weekly half holiday and other progressive steps to- ward the observance of a sacred Sabbath. Our thousand and fifty representative members present, voted in the affirmative. The St. Joseph stake covers an area including Texas, New Mexico, and three counties in Arizona, a stretch of 342 miles from El Paso to Miami, and contains over 6,000 members of the Church and 19 wards and branches. While we do not expect at present to control a greater area than the Gila Valley, Graham county, Arizona, in time we hope that sentiment will grow favorable towards the same privileges among the outlying wards and branches in mining camps, and in other states, therefore, we feel assured of success within the valley. Outraged by the liquor interest's unreasonable and unre- lenting violations of everything decent, we became desperately in earnest, and wiped out the liquor traffic. Just so, the rapid increase in Sunday desecration, a flood of games and athletic sports all coming on Sunday, has outraged sacred rights, and we have begun proceedings to stop the mad rush. We have declared, we have begun, and we are now weaving about this twin relic of the saloon evil, a fabric of enlarged and intensified public senti- ment, and we feel assured we have it in the web. Following the passage of the resolution; the officers of the stake and ward worked out some details and voted to adopt Friday afternoons, commencing at one o'clock, as a holiday: meeting the situation more than halfway, we proposed to con- cede a time for rest, recreation and sport, before we undertook to insist upon a quiet observance of Sunday. We decided to begin Friday, August 22, since which time the cause has gained each week, but we may have to change the day; for, as a farming community low in manpower, our most conservative men believe it will work a hardship and great is gaining loss of crops to insist upon Friday, but the principle ground and will win. The Graham County Athletic Association is to be or- 64 IMPROVEMENT ERA ganized, as an outgrowth of the half holiday and sacred Sunday movement. Prominent men of the county, not associated with our Church, called a mass meeting at the court house and urged that we cooperate and make it a county athletic association; that the late State Legislature had made it legal to hold boxing matches within its borders, and that no such contests could by law be staged on Sunday. By combining our sports, we can take advantage of the boxing Sunday prohibition law, and thus fortify our movement with more than sentiment. After framing by-laws and rules of action, delegates were sent to each town and ward with permission to call the people together at the close of our sacrament meeting, Sunday, 21st, Sept., where the articles were acted upon, and three delegates from each locality sent to a central meeting called for Monday night the 22nd, at the court house, to ratify and, if possible, de- cide upon the exact half holiday. If the day cannot be de- cided upon by the representatives, it will be our purpose to refer it to the people. "Right kind of stuff in our boys." A picked nine of old base ball players, called the "Valley Team," all "Mormon" boys, have been holding the championship, and therefore outside teams have challenged them for games. Sunday games were becoming very annoying to our peace-loving people; we re- monstrated, time and time again, against Sunday games. After we made the declaration, our boys played their last game with the Moreuce team, but said: "'Mormon' boys don't play base ball on Sunday," since which time, they have made good. Graham county is the center of a larger circuit from El Paso to Phoenix, and surrounded by mining camps. They need us, and by co-operation with the County Athletic Club, we are assured that base ball and all such sports, in future, especially in the Valley, will be played on some other day than Sunday. Against Tobacco The St. Joseph Stake is also in the fight against the cigar- ette. While attending the young people's convention last June, in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, I was strongly impressed that a resolution should be adopted, pledging the youth of Zion to discountenance the use of tobacco in any form, and to use every effort within their power to overcome the pernicious cigarette habit. * * * I returned home with a firm determination that we would try it out in the St. Joseph stake. Arizona has a splendid law, the result of the good work of our "Mormon" members in the Legislature; it is published in the September number of the Juvenile, (see also Era, Vol. 22, p. 1037) but law AGAINST SUNDAY DESECRATION 65 without sentiment and enforcement, is a dead letter. We re- solved therefore to put it to the test. At a meeting of the heads of departments, the committee drew up a petition and resolution. The people of each waid circulated the petition, and we passed the resolution at Union Day meetings; and at the last quarterly conference, August 9, 10, %iere were 1,050 people who pledged their support. The petition was addressed to the Superior Judge, County Attorney, and Sheriff, who gladly joined with the movement and welcomed the support such public sentiment would give them. Several arrests have been made. We have the juveniles scored up, they in turn expose those who sell and buy for oth- ers, so that matters are taking right shape for a clean-up. While working for a half-holiday and a sacred Sabbath, we made it the subject for the stake, to be. carried to the people by the acting teachers keeping it foremost before the people on all occasions. Editorials and articles in our local papers were also given. So, with the tobacco question, it gets first place until many old tobacco users dodge the issue and become less obnoxious in flaunting the filthy weed before the young. Be- sides this, we are taking up a labor with older members, urging them to quit the use of tobacco, and join us in the campaign against the filthy weed. The resolutions follow: On Tobacco Whereas: Recognizing the evil effects of the use of iabacco, in any form, upon human beings, and more especially the young; And Whereas: There is a law upon the statute books, prohibiting the sale, or use oftobacco to minors, Therefore: Be it resolved, that we, the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of the St. Joseph stake in conference assembled, do pledge ourselves to sustain the law, and support the officers of our state, county, and towns, in carrying out the purposes of the law against the use, and sale of tobacco to minors. (Passed by 1,050 representatives of 6,000 Latter-day Saints, St. Joseph stake.) On the Sacred Sabbath We, the people of the St. Joseph Stake of Zion, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in conference assembled, by our vote today, do sustain the slogans as voiced by the great body of the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations of the Church, viz: "We stand for a sacred Sabbath and a weekly half holiday." "We stand for spiritual growth through attendance at Sacrament meet- ings." We stand for a Sunday law, and pledge ourselves to support the law- making body of this State in providing for a weekly half holiday, and meas- ures in keeping with our constitution for the suppression of all games and 66 IMPROVEMENT ERA sports calculated to disturb the peace and quiet of those who desire to hold sacred the Sabbath day. We stand for a Sunday law and the Slogans of the Young Men and Young Women of the Church, as re-affirmed at the June conference, this year, in Salt Lake City, and pledge ourselves to not only stand for the prin- ciples as outlined, but will use our best efforts and influence to carry them out. We remonstrate against games of base ball, and any and all such games, being played on Sunday, and urge the supervisors and town councils of the various towns to reject any proposal for the use of public grounds for such purposes; not only do such sports call into action those who partici- pate, which we as a Christian people declare to be wholly wrong, but such amusements detract from, and draw our young people away from a more wholesome environment on the Sabbath day. (Passed by 1,050 Latter-day Saints representing 6,000 members, St. Jo- seph stake.) St. Joseph, Arizona.