Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-01-06
LII

to Judge as 70 hHeu "" "
4 friendly disposed or otherwise to
walls the government
The late President i""rs once
h said. scYou might as well accuse "
: of being unfriendly disposed towards
onr RELIGION as to say that we arr
2 unfrien1ly disposed toward the
s-ovarn,meut OF our land; because
/; shereis no item that is regarded as
: more directly resulting from the in
: sniration OF heaven than the estab-
2 Iishment Of the government OF the
United States.s Our practice has al
ways been in harmony with this
. theory. An along The path that has
, been trodden by the L~atter-day
Saints are to be found evidences OF
their loyalty and friendliness to the
United States government. When,
wc r.1y ssk, have we ever sought TO
Cypress anyone, or acted unfriendly
toward those principles which un-
derlie this government? Had the
Latter-day Saints been disposed to
manifest any nntagonism toward
the government, a number OF crises
have occurred in their experience
which would have afforded them
n very excellent opportunity. There
are those among US who remember
very clearly when they were driven
from tile States Of Missouri and
Illinois. Some Of the most promi-
nrnt senators Of that day called
upon the Church leaders ami asked
them 10 leave. Our fathers ~coniFiied
with that request, unjust though it
was; they left their beautiful city
on the banks Of the Mississippi
River, and sought for thatpeace and
liberty among savages which had
been denied them among the So
callsd Christ an people Of the West
ern Slates.s Alter this expulsion
from their ,bames-fOr IL can be
called nothing else-and while ca
route for thisregion, thatgovernment
which had treated them 30 unkind-
iy-eyen refusing them that protec-
ton Which was theirs by right
sent a representative 10 our fathers
who were tlien encamped with
their tents and wagons upon the
banks Of the Missouri - and
had the audacity 20 ask them to
furnish i've bundled ~ tkeir able
bodied men to go TO California 10
engage in the war with Mexico.
What did our fathers DO at that
juncture? Did they say: ''You per-
mitted us % he driven from Mis-
souri,, 10 Ie stripped Of all our earthly
pOsseSiOrs, orr homes given to the
flames, our wives and children sent
adrir over the frosted ground until
their tracks could be followed by
the blood iDiitheir footprints; you
/ permitted US TO t- hRrrassed and
I perplexed by mobs in IllinOlr even
while under tiIe pledged honor OF
that state; you permitted our lead
ers TO be murdered in cold blood, and
mobs 70 murder and burn until we
Were compelled to leave the confines
Of your nation?D Did they bring
AL these horrible witnesses against
the Injustice Of our government aui
say, 1--WE eau furnish no battalion
10 such a government rs that?o No;
on the contrary. The Church lead
ers rejOioed that they now had an
opportunity to display their friendli-
ness 10 the government and to give
them an unmistakable testimony Of
their loyalty and fealty to the land
Of their birth, or choice. President
1Oung's reply therefore was: "You
shall have your battalion, even II It
IS 20 lie furnished from the Elders Of
our Church," And 30 II wRR.
Those men enlisted in the service OF
the United States and marched 10
the Pacific coast. Had il been the
purpose Of the Latter-iay Saints 10
establish an independent kingdom
in the land, uTeir opportunity was
when they first entered this valley. 4
They we're removed n thousand
miles from the sfrOntiers Of the
United states. There was no pros
pect at That time of there
very OOn being q means Of
RAPID communication between
this valley and the east. The peo-
pie h6d been lei here by n man
whom they learned 10 revere and
love, n mau who Possessed pre-emi.
nently the qualities Of n king. had
The saints desirci one. But when
they settled in this place, isolated
from the rest Of the world, from the
east and the west from the north and
n south, did they take that course?
No; rs soon as practicable they ap-
Piled for admission into the Union.
They could not forget, nOtwithstand-
ing all the opportunities by which
they were surrounded, that thei-
destiny was linked with the destiny
Of that nation whose Constitution
God bad inspired.
There was another time when a
crisiH nrose which gave the Latter
Jay saints 4 rsry excellent OppOr-
tunity of nfaniftsting any feeling of
unifIendliness they might have en-
tertaiRet against the government.
There came a period when the
Union was severed, when powerful
states, one after another, seeded
rom Il. and their representatives
LEFT the halls Of Congress. IL was a
question rs TO whether the seceders
would NOT lie successful In their .
enterprise. N there had been I'M
in the hearts Of the Lat ]
ter-Gay Saints against the govern |,
ment, then was their opportunity to
show IL, To have not only a north
ans Il south, but a west as well. 1
Just about the time the war was
breakiDg out the telegraph line con-
Meeting US with the east was conf
and the first message that L
Over the wires was one from :
Young, saying: utah |
liands firm in her allegiance and =
loes not secede.5
President George q. Cannon here
eaned over aud whispered to Elder
Roberts, who hereupon remarked;j /
am Informed by Brother Cannon L
hat there were overtures made :
o our representative in Con-
Iress 10y the seeding States oil
lie south asking us to unite with
hem IN that movement; but those
ri 5rtuHities were disregaided. And
Why! Because We knew who the
Master builder Of this ship Of State
vas, ami that our destiny WIS
mixed with II.
OF taie &c have given further evil :
.ence-of our loyalty 20 the country
n which we live. | DO not believe
he pages Of history can reveal n
uieter submission on the part Of n
tOvhat have been regarded as
MUST laws; We have borne that
ThicllIether communities would not
ave tOlemted.
The other day, in reaing a r
tile of or, history, | came upon
he w9tds Of . man who is highly
steemed in the midst Of Israel-a
IAN who Joined HE fortunes with
ne Church when to all human APP
earance that Church would erum- T
le and 50 to decay man who has
cen wei and h~onorably known
noDg US, whom We revere, and
no today occupies a high station
| the Church. l mean u veneer
be Brother, Daniel II. Wells.
'hen the Saints had been settled
this land four years, when they