Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-12-12
THE TEMPoRALITIEs.

1t seems that Senator Edmunds' new
bill has for its object the confscation OF
the property of the Mormon church. The
New York Sun thinks this will do more
to suppress Mormonism than any meas
ure that can be adopted. Ii the desire of
Senator Edmunds and others is to break
up Mormonism, it is a most unworthy
desire, and does no credit to them. In
so far as certain practices of the Mormons
are in violation OF the law, and an
usurpation of authority over most essen
tial factor Of society and the State, they
should be suppressed. The policy of
prohibiting the accumulation of vast
wealth in the hands OF an ecclesiastical
corporation may be wise, especially where
the accumulation OF such wealth is for
the purpose of gaining that power which
ever accompanies vast wealth. This
would be but a revival of the policy
which caused the enactment of the stat
utes of mortmain in England at a time
when the power of the Roman church
had become almost rival to that of the
Parliament and King. The accumulation
of vast wealth in a dead hand must ever
be detrimental to the true policy of free
government. The wealth OF the Mormon
church has not reached this point, but it
has grown wonderfully, and it has
not been of that nature which
applies solely or properly to sacerdotal
matters. To the expenditure of wealth
for the purpose of erecting houses of wor-
ship, be those houses never so costly,
their establishment and adornment never
so grand, there can be no objection except
the objection OF bigotry. If Senator Ed
munds' bill aims at houses of worship.
no matter what the nature of that wor-
ship may be, how foolish and superstitious
TO some, how blasphemous to others, he
is preparing bill to perpetrate a great
wrong and perpetuate religious intoler-
ence. 1t is true that the nature of the |
bill is not definitely known and cannot |
be until the full text is seen, and until it
is seen judgment upon it may be erron-
eous
There is one thing of which, in all
probability, Senator Edmunds is not
aware in regard to the property of the
Mormon church. The value of all its
property is matter Of conjecture, while
hIany of the stories told of that wealth
have been both wild and idle, absurd
even to believers in Monte Christie.
The Bank of England canard is probably
the most stale and stable of all these
stories, and has the same foundation that
the stories about American heirs to
English earldoms have. But to return
to the question to which Senator Ed
munds has addressed himself. He will
never be able to find out where the great
mass of wealth of the Mormon church is,
because the great mass of that wealth is {
held in trust, while the titles of the trus- t
ees appear absolute upon the records. t
10 reach this property, how will Senator |
Edmunds proceed? And it is this very
class of property, we take it, that he de- c
'ires to reach. This fact must be taken
nto consideration, for the fact would play
most important part in the enforcement
'f any law intended to confscate the
property of the Mormon church. We are {
Inclined to think that by the time Senator
has got his bill enacted into u
aw and is all prepared to "smash the u
lahdi," he will find the cupboard of the u
iormon church bare. p