— Defendant was charged with the crime of “keeping open a place of business for sale and trade in goods, wares and merchandise on Sunday, committed as follows: ... on the 21st day of July, 1901, in the county of Walla Walla . . . to-wit, a store for the purpose of sale and trade in goods, wares, and merchandise upon the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday.” Upon arraignment the information was demurred to upon the ground that the same does not charge any crime or offense against the laws of the state of Washington. The demurrer was sustained, and the state appeals.
The information is framed under § 7251, Bal. Code, which is as follows:
“It shall be unlawful for any person or persons of this state to open on Sunday for the purpose of trade or sale of goods, wares, and merchandise’, any shop, store, or building, or place of business whatever: Provided, That this section shall apply to hotels only in so far as the sale of intoxicating liquors is concerned, and shall not apply to drug stores, livery stables, or undertakers. Any person or persons violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars.”
The only question presented for review is the validity of the statute. The first objection to the statute urged by counsel for defendant seems to suggest that Sunday laws arenot within the general police powers of the state. It is appropriate to observe here of this contention that the uniform expression of judicial opinion, in an unbroken current for centuries, with apparently a single exception, classes these laws peculiarly within the police powers of the state. The learning and industry of counsel have favored
“We are, then, to regard the statute under consideration as a mere municipal, or police regulation, whose validity is neither strengthened nor weakened by the fact that the day of rest it enjoins is the Sabbath day. Wisdom requires than men should refrain from labor at least one day in seven, and the advantages of having the day of rest fixed, and so- fixed as to happen at regular recurring intervals, are too obvious to he overlooked. It was within the constitutional competency of the general assembly to require this cessation of labor, and to name the day of rest.”
Mr. Justice Field, in Ex parte Newman,
“Its. requirement, is a cessation of labor. In its enactment, the legislature has given the sanction of law to a rule of conduct, which the entire civilized world recognizes as essential to the physical and moral well-being of society. Upon no, subject is there such a concurrence of opinion, among philosophers, moralists and statesmen of all nations, as on the necessity of periodical cessations from labor. One day in seven is the rule, founded in experience, and sustained by science: . . . The prohibition of secular business on Sunday is advocated on the ground that by it the general welfare is advanced, labor protected, and the moral and physical well-being of society promoted.”
To the same effect are the following decisions and authorities: Frolickstein v. Mobile,
It may well be concluded that the power of the legislature to enact these laws, as an appropriate exercise of the police power, is set at rest by judicial authority.
It follows from the source and nature of such legislation that the inquiry into the other objections urged by counsel for defendant — that the law is void because it invades the rights of persons and property, and deprives the defendant, of each without due process of law, and that it discriminates between different classes, and is therefore repugnant to' § 12, art. 1, of our constitution, and the fourteenth amendment of the federal constitution — is narrowed to an inquiry into the reasons or motive of the enactment. The usual and substantially the ancient and original, Sunday law prohibited secular occupations on Sunday, excepting works of necessity or charity. In the legislation of all the states in the Union, except, it seems, in Illinois, the substantial features of the law are the same. There have been different views in the minds of
“In the exercise of the police power in establishing a day of rest, a very large discretion must be allowed to the legislature in determining what kinds of labor or business should be prohibited, and what are and what are- not works*633 of necessity or cliaritv; unless their classification is manifestly purely arbitrary, and not founded upon any substantial distinction or apparent natural reason which suggests the necessity or propriety of different legislation, the courts have no right to interfere with the exercise of legislative discretion. Courts will take judicial notice of the fact that, in view of the custom to keep barber shops open in the evening as well as in the day,- the employees in them work more, and during later hours than those engaged in almost any other occupations, and that this is especially true on Saturday afternoons and evenings; . . . ”
The same case, upon appeal to the supreme court of the United States,
“We recognize the force of the distinctions suggested and perceive no adequate ground for interfering with the wise discretion confessedly necessarily exercised by the states in these matters, by holding that the classification was so palpably arbitrary as to bring the law into conflict with the federal constitution.”
In State ex rel. Walker v. Judge, 39 La. An. 132 (
“There exists a remarkable consensus of authority that the establishment of a compulsory day of rest in each week is a legitimate exercise of the police power. Such laws*634 have been passed in nearly every state of the Union, and their constitutionality has never been successfully questioned in but a single case; within our knowledge, that of Ex parte Newman,9 Cal. 502 , and it was subsequently overruled by the same court in Ex parte Andrews,18 Cal. 678 .”
And meeting the objection of inequality, it is observed:
“It only remains to consider the objection urged against the law on the ground of inequality, because of the numerous exceptions contained in the act. The objection has not the slightest force. The law is not unequal in any constitutional sense. 'Xo- person in the state is permitted to pursue-any of the prohibited callings on Sunday; every person is at liberty to pursue those- which are excepted. The same discretion which authorized the legislature to- determine that the public health, tvelfare, and convenience required the adoption of the general rule equally authorized it to exempt from its operation certain specified callings on the ground that the public welfare and convenience would he more hindered than advanced by the suspensions of such callings. It is not for us to control the lawmaking power is such a case, or to require it to fit its laws to a Procrustean-bed of our own construction.”
Counsel for respondent have not furnished the authority of a case- that has adjudged a statute so broad as ours invalid because of its exceptions or on the ground of inequality. On the- contrary, there, seems to be practical uniformity in the construction of similar statutes in those courts-where the question has been raised. In Ex parte Koser,
“The exclusion made by section 301 was not arbitrary and the discrimination was reasonable. It was very easy to perceive that there are features in the character of the callings referred to in section 301, and in their relation to the community in which they exist, which render such exclusion proper, and one upon which the legislature might wisely exercise its judgment in leaving them unaffected by penaí enactment. . . .It is consistent with this view, to conclude and hold that such a law is a general one, uniform in its operation, and that by it no privilege or immunity is granted so as to bring it in conflict with the clause of the constitution above referred to.”
In Liberman v. State,
“The merchant and trader pursuing his business in every city or town in the state is equally alike subject to its provisions and liable to its penalties. It appears to us that it might with equal propriety be claimed that almost one-half the laws found upon our statute books are local.”
In People v. Bellet,
“Laws public in their objects may, unless express constitutional provision forbids, be either general or local in their application. They may embrace many subjects or one, and they may extend to all citizens, or be confined to particular classes, as minors or married women, bankers or traders, and the like . . . The legislature may also deem it desirable to' prescribe peculiar rules for the several occupations, and to establish distinctions in the rights, obligations, duties, and capacities of citizens. The business of common carriers, for instance, or of bankers, may require special statutory regulations for the general benefit; and it may be matter of public policy to give labor*637 ers in one business a specific lien for tlieir wages, when it would be impracticable or impolitic to do the same for persons engaged in some other employments. If the laws be otherwise unobjectionable, all that can be required in these eases is that they be general in their application to the class or locality to- which they apply; and they are then public in character, and of their propriety and policy the legislature must judge.”
It is true-, there are two or three cases that have held an act which singled out the business of keeping barber shops open on Sunday class legislation, but these are opposed to the overwhelming weight of authority. One of these is Eden v. People,
“This state has not, however, followed the other states in the adoption of the English statute, but we have legislated on this subject for ourselves in a manner thought to be for the best interest of our people.”
And in California a statute prohibiting bakers from conducting business on Sunday was similarly held invalid. But this case is distinguished by the supreme court of California from the more general law under consideration in Ex parte Koser, supra.
But counsel for respondent urge that the case of Tacoma v. Krech,
“Ordinances prohibiting the sale on Sunday of certain special articles of trade have been attacked as being class legislation and making unjust discriminations. The rule is that the municipality is vested with discretion as to what restrictions upon trade are necessary for the public welfare, and an exercise of this discretion will not be interfered with by the courts unless it is clearly unreasonable or oppressive.”
In State v. Considine,
“The legislature is the supreme authority, within constitutional limitations, to determine what is and what is •not an immoral business or a nuisance, and, when it has*639 so determined, its enactment is valid unless the legislative act is clearly partial, arbitrary and oppressive.”
It is concluded, upon principle and authority, that the statute under consideration is a valid exercise of legislative power, and here is the limit of judicial inquiry.
The judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded for further proceedings in accordance herewith.
Dunbar, White, IIadley, Mount and Anders, JJ., concur.