Blue Laws
a term first applied in the eighteenth century to certain supposititious laws of extreme rigor which were said to have been enacted in New Haven colony, where the Bible was adopted as the statute book and all forms of enjoyment on the Sabbath were frowned upon. At present the name is commonly used ture interfering with the personal liberty to describe any laws of a puritanical naand one State, New Jersey (October, of individuals. More particularly, strict 1921) forbids the dissemination of any information whatever. U. S. Federal Sunday-observance laws. Most of the law prohibts the sending of birth-control information through the mails or by interstate carriers. The birth-control movement is mainly educational, but the sterilization of the insane and feebleminded is advocated. BLOCS, LEGISLATIVE. The term bloc has long been used in European politics to designate a combination of parties or groups in a parliamentary body either for the purpose of supporting some particular program or for the purpose of creating a majority to carry on the government, as in the case of a "government bloc." Where numerous political parties exist and where no one party numbers a majority of seats in a legislative assembly, a bloc is necessary for the constitution of a working cabinet.
In the United States, the so-called agricultural or farm bloc was organized in 1921, consisting of about 100 members of the House of Representatives and 22 members of the Senate, chiefly from the agricultural States of the West and South. The membership is drawn from both the principal national parties, the purpose of the bloc being merely to support legislation favorable to agricultural interests. The opponents of the farm bloc have objected to it as a form of class government, the forerunner of other blocs to support the interests of self-seeking classes, and as inimical to party government and party responsibility. The members of the bloc, on the other hand, declare that its purpose is only the protection of an interest fundamental to the national prosperity, and that it is not to be regarded as an organized group, but rather as a movement. The bloc members hold conferences to consider measures of legislation and have regular recognized leaders in Congress. A so-called "tariff bloc" was organized in the Senate in March, 1922, States have laws against regular Sunday labor, but the older laws against Sunday sports and recreations have been largely repealed or have fallen into disuse. This tendency, however, is strongly opposed by such organizations as the Lord's Day Alliance and International Reform Union, and with considerable success in some parts of the United States. Many ancient "blue laws" are still unrepealed, while in some States new laws of this character have but recently been added to the statute books. BOLIVIA-CHILE-PERU DISPUTE. (See TACNA-ARICA.) BONUS LEGISLATION.
States. In the first three years following the conclusion of the World War in Europe, cash bonuses or other forms of aid to veterans were granted by law in almost every State of the United States, the total amount of such bonuses being estimated at from $350,000,000 to $550,000,000. As a rule, the cash bonuses were granted in amounts payable in accordance with length of service, and in several of the States referendums were held to_confirm the acts of the legislatures. In New York the act providing for a bond issue with which to pay the soldiers' bonus was declared unconstitutional by the State Court of Appeals, Aug. 31, 1921, on the ground that it lent the credit of the State for the benefit of individuals.
Federal. Both national political parties pledged themselves in the platforms and campaign of 1920 to enact some form of veterans' aid, and bonus bills were introduced in Congress during 1920 and 1921. But on July 12, 1921, President Harding appeared before the Senate to ask that action be deferred on the ground that the country was not in a condition to bear the additional taxation required.
The President later declared for a bonus