524 
Pharmaceu  tic  a  I  Meeting . 
/  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\  November,  1906. 
clerk  on  only,  so  that  each  gets  these  hours  every  three  weeks.  We  keep  a 
strict  account  of  our  sales  and  the  profits  go  to  charity  and  to  religious  work, 
so  that  we  always  have  a  charity  fund  to  draw  on  for  such  purposes. 
Mr.  Wilbert,  in  commenting  on  this  letter,  said  that  Mr.  Red- 
seeker,  in  his  characteristic,  practical  way,  has  evidently  solved  the 
shorter-hour  problem,  at  least  sufficiently  well  to  demonstrate  that 
if  others  should  accept  his  findings,  or  would  repeat  his  observations, 
they  would  agree  with  him  that  it  would  pay  them  to  follow  the  hours 
for  closing  adopted  by  other  business  men  in  their  neighborhood  or 
town.  Mr.  Redsecker's  disposition  of  the  profits  from  his  Sunday 
sales  appears  to  be  a  commendable  one,  and  if  generally  followed 
would  go  far  to  solve  the  question  of  Sunday  closing. 
Mr.  Wilbert  then  called  attention  to  a  characteristic  communica- 
tion which  he  had  received  from  Prof.  C.  S.  N.  Hallberg,  of  Chicago. 
This  was  particularly  interesting  as  illustrating  how  widespread  the 
present  agitation  for  Sunday  rest  really  is.  The  communication  was 
in  part  as  follows : 
SUNDAY-RKST  AGITATION  ABROAD. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  widespread  recognition  that  is  being  accorded  to  the 
evident  need  for  rest  and  recreation,  by  the  human  organism,  it  may  be  inter- 
esting to  call  attention  to  several  phases  of  the  agitation  and  the  results  so  far 
attained. 
In  France  the  recently  enacted  "  Sunday -Rest  Law  "  came  into  force  on  Sep- 
tember 2d  of  this  year.  From  the  available  uewspaper  reports  it  would  appear 
that  the  several  provisions  of  the  law  are  being  generally  complied  with.  This 
general  compliance  with  the  really  radical  innovation  of  compulsory  rest,  is 
somewhat  surprising  when  we  remember  the  nature,  tendencies  and  tempera- 
ments of  the  people  themselves.  The  French  people  while  they  are  known  to 
be  temperate  and  industrious  are  also  known  to  be  extremely  frugal.  Their 
frugality  frequently  borders  on,  if  it  does  not  closely  simulate,  avarice  and  has 
undoubtedly  been  the  direct  cause  of  the  widespread  habit  of  working  seven 
days  in  the  week. 
The  French  Sunday-rest  law  is  the  direct  result  of  a  movement  inaugurated 
several  years  ago  and  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  a  day  of  rest  and  recrea- 
tion is  essential  to  the  proper  conservation  of  the  health  of  individual  members 
of  the  community.  Sunday  was  chosen  as  the  most  convenient  day  of  rest, 
not  because  of  religious  influences  but  because  a  fair  proportion  of  the  members 
of  the  community  were  already  accustomed  to  shut  their  shops  and  offices  and 
devote  that  day  to  other  than  business  purposes . 
The  law  provides  that  neither  workman  nor  employer  in  any  establishment, 
either  public  or  private,  religious  or  secular,  professional  or  benevolent,  work 
more  than  six  days  in  the  week,  and  that  the  seventh  day  shall  be  a  day  of  rest 
of  not  less  than  twenty-four  consecutive  hours.    The  second  provision  declares 
