The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1885-01-11
THE LAW.
1.-THE Law is Supreme and Must be
0beyed."

SALT LAKE CRY, January 10, 1885.
To the Editor of THE HERALD:
THE law is supreme and must be
obeyed." This was part OF the speech
of "Utah's fayorite son." Mr.. ]. l.. Raw
Inns, at the meeting of the young De
mocracy on Thursday evening, at the
Theatre, as reported in THE HERALD, re-
ferring specially, as generally under
stood, to the laws made with view to
suppress the Mormon religion. The
same gentleman is represented as saying
that, as things were going, Ireland
would be paradise to the condition OF
Utah, and that he and his associates
were endeavoring to avert such evils
and they wanted to save their fathers
| from prison and from fleeing to the
mountains for safety.
"Utah's favorite son" may mean very
well, but he does not know everything
Let us look at this matter little closer
The law must be obeyed, whatever il
may be. Must it indeed? If it forbids
prayer, you must not pray. If it for
bids baptism, you must not be baptized.
If it forbids ordination to religious
Office, you must not be ordained. If ii
forbids preaching, youmust not preach
If it forbids any kind of religious act
whatsoever, you mnst not perform that
act, no matter what it may be. But
more than this. If the law requires a
thing, you must comply. If it com,
mands you to steal, you must steal. Ii
it commands you to commit seduction
adultery, abortion or other murder, you
must do that damnable thing. 1.-THE
law is supreme and must be obeyed.
! This is the logical outcome of this doc
trine of "Utah's favorite son." You
must have no scruple, no conscience
whatever, when the law comes across
your path You have nothing to dc
but to servilely submit, no matter how
unspeakably you may despise yourself
| for so doing.
Looking on the past, if people had
been as wise as "Utah's favorite. son,
what difference there would have been
in the history of the world! DAME
would not have been cast into the der
of lions. The three Hebrew children
would not have been cast into the fiery
furnace Jesus would not have beer
cruci6ed. The ancient apostles woulc
not have been prosecuted and slain
The ancient Saints would not have
had to wander in sheepskins ant
goatskins, nor seek shelter ant
safety in dens and caves of the earth
The blood of Christian martyrs would
not have crimsoned the ground of an
Gent Rome. The terrible tortures o
the atrocious inquisition would not hav'
been suffered by anybody. The Nor
mons would not have been persecute'
hal Honnty
marshals for obeying the first grea
Bible law, to increase and multiply.
What an awful pity that "Utah's fav
orite son" did not exist centuries ago
and was not reproduced every centur,
since, that the world might have learne,
wisdom from his lips, that the religion
world might have been saved from al
theil horrible sufferings by,,his wonderful
panacea, 1.-The law is supreme, an
must be obeyed! ~
The truth is, there are proper limit
to human law, wherein il should b
cheerfully and religiously obeyed. Blu
when it exceeds these limits it shoul
not be obeyed, and, moreover, it will nc
be obeyed by all, as long as the worl
stands. AS in the past, so in the future
there will be some noble people eft wit
consciences, with souls of their owl
} who will not bow down to Baal, thong
in the form of human law.
To the last syllable recorded tim
| some laws will be disobeyed, as the
verify ought to be, whether or not prisol
bars or fleeing into the mountain
follow as a consequence. To talk {
wanting to save people by urging theI
to debauch their consciences is th
e veriest wickedness and pueriity. An
E community that would accept such az
} wee from "Utah's fagorite son" or an,
: body else, would deserve to be toelifte
: around the world. If that advice wei
: universally adopted, all mankind woul
d be saturated with moral cowardic
: would be rotten to the core, and woul
e be ripe for some impending and appa
!. ling, yea imminent and overwhelniiI
| cosmic catastrophe, that would swee
r out of existence such a worthless race
l. beings.
a Much more might be said upon til
It vital subject, but time and space a
1t limited and duties are pressing. So til
l. must suffice for the present. a
d Did 1t Ever Strike You