What Were the Blue Laws in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
BAN ON SUNDAY SALES ENDS TODAY IN MASSACHUSETTS
See the article in its original context from
March 27, 1983
,
Section 1 , Page
25Buy Reprints
TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers.
About the Archive
This is a digitized version of an article from The Times's print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.
Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.
Sunday sales in Massachusetts have been a risky enterprise since 1648, when elders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared, ''Whoever shall prophane the Lord's Day by doing any servill worke should be fined or whipped.''
This weekend the heirs to that Puritan ethos can spend the Sabbath shopping for waterbeds, rock albums and designer jeans. The so-called blue laws of Massachusetts are passing the way of the stocks and pillory.
After decades of debate balancing economics against religious and social mores, the State Legislature voted last December to repeal the Sunday closing law effective this weekend.
Gov. Edward J. King, who was defeated in his re-election drive earlier in the year, signed the bill with some reluctance, saying he favored keeping Sunday a day for the family. Nearby States Profited
''Were Massachusetts truly an island, the extra shopping day would not increase the total retail business done in the commonwealth,'' he said. ''But we are not an island, and today we lose important economic activity to bordering states.''
In colonial times all New England states had laws forbidding various Sunday activities, including trading, farming, hunting and fishing.
Later some of these colonial restrictions became state law. The law forbade ''any manner of labor, business or work'' on Sunday, ''except works of necessity and charity.'' First offenders were fined $20 to $100. Subsequent violations drew fines of $50 to $200. But through the years 50 exemptions were added to the law, permitting small convenience stores to sell a variety of items on Sundays.
While many communities around the nation still have laws limiting various Sunday activities, Massachusetts was considered among the most restrictive.
''Ours was the most punitive of any state in limiting economic activity on Sundays,'' said State Representative Timothy Bassett, a Democrat who was a chief sponsor of the drive to permit Sunday shopping. He said the shopping ban was too restrictive for a society where both husband and wife now work.
In past years larger retailers and labor groups opposed change. Last year they agreed to support Sunday openings, persuaded in part by estimates of $1.3 billion in additional sales and 15,000 new jobs. Mr. Bassett said the state would gain $22 million to $44 million in additional taxes.
But opposition to Sunday shopping continues. ''We feel it's a desecration of God's law and an unthankful gesture to the deity,'' said the Rev. J. Grant Swank Jr., a spokesman for the Lord's Day League of New England, which says it has 2,000 members among the clergy and laity. ''We've wiped out a precious day to put our feet up and find ourselves again.''
The Rev. Peter Conley, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, said that although Catholic theology did not ban shopping for necessities on Sunday, it did look on the day as one to be spent with the family. ''Now commercialism has made an entry,'' Father Conley said. ''For what purpose. Materialism?''
Under the new law, those who agree to work, with some exceptions, will receive time-and-a-half pay. Those who do not want to work are protected by the state's labor laws. Liquor package stores will remain closed.
Some merchants oppose the new law. Owners of smaller businesses think the additional payroll, fuel bills and overhead will cost them more than the few extra sales. ''They see it as spreading six days of sales over seven,'' said Ronald Frazier, whose South Shore Chamber of Commerce opposed the change.
But larger retailers expect to make money. Elliot Stone, president of Jordan Marsh, said the chain's Rhode Island department stores had a sales increase double that of its Massachusetts stores last year.
Most businesses have taken a low-key approach to the first week of Sunday sales, which falls on Palm Sunday. Some, like the merchants in Boston's Downtown Crossing district, will have bands and Easter bunnies to attract shoppers.
bohlerereepliefor.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/us/ban-on-sunday-sales-ends-today-in-massachusetts.html
0 Response to "What Were the Blue Laws in the Massachusetts Bay Colony"
Post a Comment