Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-05-21
POINTS OF VIEW.

accordance with the view which he ha
: obtained of subject. The worth OF til
Judgment must depend upon the thol
oughness of the view. The views
everyone may be right SO far as they &c
but a partial view often gives an erron
eous impression. The story OF tn
knights who met upon the road and con
yersed about the statue which stood
before them, the one declaring tha
the shield upon the statues arm was mad
of silver, while the other protested tha
it was of gold, illustrates this. Both wer
right SO far as the view of each extended
but the view of each was limited to ont
side of the question, and willingness t.
investigate the matter would have saved
the sanguinary conflict which followed
If the Federalists and Republicans of ou
early history had viewed the Constitution
and the needs of the whole country from
two sides alternately, the country woult
never have known the fierce conflicts o
days to follow, and perhaps the war OF the
Rebellion would never have been. !
the North and the South had calmly
looked at the slave question, either fam
! iliarizing itself with the views of the
other, secession might never have been
known, and many lives and much treas.
ure would thereby have been saved. But
it seems a part of human nature to sec
things from only one side, and it may be
that if mankind were endowed with this
faculty they would not be mankind. To
view question impartially and see it in
the light of those who are opposed to us,
! it would be necessary to know the secret
workings of the heart, to know the un-
uttered longings of the soul. 1t would
be the power of seeing ourselves as
others see us, and that God has not
vouchsafed to us. But in political ques-
tions it is necessary to take as many
views of things aS can be had; and
they are, the more just will be the APP
probation of the things viewed. The
wants of men are much the same, but
the methods of gratifying them are vastly
different, and the conflicts of men are
more on account of their methods than of
their measures. In every campaign for
political supremacy which the country
sees, the arguments too often and too
largely consist of elimination and re-
elimination, while vital questions are
" "sicklied DER with the pale cast of
thought" or are passed by entirely un
noticed.
Throughout the whole country there is
perhaps no place where this is more
prominently the case than here in Utah.
Between the two parties here, the Nor
mon and the Gentle, there exists dead
lyenmity, and each party views the other
from this one point of enmity. Is it to
be wondered al, then that these two parties
entertain of each other the most erroneous
opinion? To the average Mormon a Gen
tiles sole desire is to persecute the
Mormon people; and to the average Gen
lie Mormon is peason who would kill
every Gentle if not restrained by Govern
nent and troops. To each party the
other has attained the absolute in wicked
ness, and all who belong to those parties
ire alike and without distinction; other |
hings have degrees, but not so the wick /
dness of these parties. Ii charge is
made against a person of either party, by
he other, he is deemed guilty; and, if he
,e in reality guilty of a crime
,harged against him and is so found by
ury of his countrymen, the party to
which he belongs will in a measure palli-
lte his crime, while those who are hostile
% him will claim that he was more guilty
han he was found to be. Perhaps an
Undue compassion viii be given those who
ire cleared of the crime charged against
hem, and heroes will be made of them
merely on account of the accusation made
against them. The position of both
parties here in regard to such matters is
veil told in the comments which the
Earl of Clarendon makes upon those who
lad been connected with various dis
equitable doings, just prior to the advent
If Charles the First to the throne. Here
re his words:
And the reason is clear; for besides that.
tter the first storm, there is some compass
Ion naturally attends men like to be in
Misery; and besides the latitude of iud0ino
n those places, whereby there is
DOM for kindness and affection.
nd collateral considerations to inter-
ose Ito which this man contributes his
lallce, that his wit, all men what they
lease, and most upon heafsay, with kind
I uncharitable delight of making the charge !
5 heavy as may be-, odious generals that t
le proofs seldom make good: and then a
ian IS no sooner found less guilty than he
suspected, but he is concluded more inno
mt than he is; and it is thought but n inst
pRratlon for the reproach that he deserved @
IT, to free him from the censure he de- :
rved." Wv O
The above very well describes our Do
ion IN Utah, and is it not time that S
tn parties took wider and juster view 4.
things which so widely divide this %
Would it not be better for