THE SUNDAY QUESTION AROUSED SERIOUS POLITICAL CONFLICT DURING THE MID-19TH CENTURY IN BOTH LONDON AND NEW YORK. CLOSELY ALLIED WITH THE ISSUE OF LIQUOR CONTROL, SUNDAY CLOSING LAWS PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN ELECTIONS IN BOTH COUNTRIES. THE RESPONSE OF THE LONDON AND NEW YORK POLICE FORCES TO THE SUNDAY QUESTION IS A CASE STUDY IN THE INFLUENCE OF REFORM GROUPS ON THE POLICE, IN ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF DEALING WITH VICTIMLESS CRIMES, AND IN THE PROBLEM OF POLICE LEGITIMATION IN HETEROGENEOUS SOCIETIES. THE LONDON POLICE FORCE, CONTROLLED BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT RATHER THAN BY LOCAL OFFICIALS, WAS ESTABLISHED AND SOUGHT TO WIN LEGITIMACY DURING A PERIOD OF POLITICAL CRISIS. THE LONDON POLICE COMMISSIONERS WERE POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT AND ESSENTIALLY MASTERS OF THE DESTINY OF THE POLICE FORCE. THROUGH MODERATE ENFORCEMENT OF SUNDAY LAWS, THE LONDON POLICE FORCE SERVED AS A MEDIATOR BETWEEN THE CLASSES, STRIKING A BALANCE BETWEEN THE DEMAND FOR PUBLIC ORDER AND THE MAINTENANCE OF CULTURAL FREEDOM. IN NEW YORK, POLICE OFFICIALS WERE NOT INDEPENDENT. CAUGHT BETWEEN CONFLICTING GROUPS AND SUBJECT TO THE WHIMS OF PARTISAN POLITICS, THE NEW YORK POLICE EMBODIED THE VIEWS OF OTHERS IN THEIR POLICIES. UNLIKE THE LONDON POLICE, THE NEW YORK POLICE WERE NOT UNDER PRESSURE TO LOOK BEYOND THE LOCAL IMPACT OF THEIR POLICIES AND PRACTICES. REPRESENTING THE SABBATARIAN VIEWPOINT AFTER 1857, THE NEW YORK POLICE WERE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT BALANCING GROUP DEMANDS TO ACHIEVE PUBLIC ORDER. THE FAILURE OF SABBATARIAN REFORM IN LONDON REFLECTED IN PART THE POLICE COMMISSIONERS' UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRICE THE POLICE FORCE WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR SUCH REFORM, AS WELL AS THE COMMISSIONERS' POWER TO PROTECT THE FORCE'S INTERESTS. SABBATARIAN SUCCESS IN NEW YORK REFLECTED POLITICIANS' CONTROL OVER THE POLICE AND THE INABILITY OF THE POLICE FORCE TO AVERT THE CONSEQUENCES OF MORALISTIC REFORM. NOTES ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED).