Arizona weekly enterprise., 1890-07-05
A RESPONSE.
EX-GOVERNOR sAFFORD REPLIES
 TO 4 CRITICISM.
A Discourse upon Personal organs---The Mormon Disfranchisement and the Possible Extent to which the Policy may be reasonably
 Carried.
TARPoN SPRINGS. FLA. June 26t

4AhROG ECRAlNSSS5 iJA., uuO AObu EDITOR ENTERPRIsE:-I desire to ex- press my thanks to the Arizona Repub
 ican in the brief comments made on the article wrote, relative to disfranchising the Mormons for religious opinions.
 1 The article in question contains sev- eral errors, but at the same was gentle manly and respectful, which is quite in contrast with criticisms heretofore made 1 upon articles which l have written.
 The Republican seems to be impressed l that because l entertain some views in i harmony with THE ENTERPRIsE, that il ! is conclusive proof that I have bought an interest iii the paper or, in some way have some financial pull on it. While l should consider it creditable to own an 1 interest or the whole of newspaper as ] excellent as l esteem THE ENTERPRISE to 1 be, still the fact is that I have never paid 1 a dollar either as subsidy or ownership | to THE ENTERPRISE or it's owners, and have no more influence in the conduct oI policy of the paper than the man in the moon. The fact is, if I were bidding for popular favor in Arizona, which I am not the last thing l should want would be newspaper that would be considered g personal organ. Such an institution never did nor never will win popular favor; for the reason that an organ al ways creates jealousies on the part oi 1 other papers, and every word, and every 1 line, IS scrutinized, and the supposed owner or owners are held responsible fo1 every slip of the pen and are blamed fo1 much that they do and many things left undone Besides, the people do not look to paper that is supposed to be an organ as giving expression to the real sentiments of the paper at all times, but rather expressing the views of the or. | gan-grinder.
 While believe the proprietors of THE ENTERPRISE are personally friendly tc me, still would not respect them nol their manhood, if they were to be swerved one hairs breadth from what they believed to be right, because I entertained ad verse opinions. We are not all made alike and it is just as natural for us mol to all think alike, and an honest differ. ence should always be treated with en tire respect,
 With regard to certain Mormon bish. ops having been mobbed in Florida; l have never heard of such an occurrence nor do believe there ever has been suct
 disgraceful scene. To tue eternal shane of those who participated in it, l
 believe in Alabama and Georgia, Nor mon missionaries have been illtreated and possibly driven out of those states, anc it is just this kind of persecution, whether enacted in Arizona or Georgia, that condemn. claim that every move made in this direction helps to gain more con verts and increase the power of the church In republican government, yor must depend upon the intelligence of the people to correct all errors, and If oul l 1,1- ,7 T., a free press will do not 1t, then the Re public is doomed. But the moment one party, or one church, or a number o
 churches together, sets themselves up al the true and only party or church tha
 has by divine right or otherwise, the ex
 elusive censorship over the opinions O
 others and deny to those opposed to then the right of free speech, 8 free press
 and all political rights, then we hay; made the first step towards despotism
 and we admit to that extent, that oul
 republican form of government is fail
 uTe, and that we can no longer rel,
 upon the safeguards adopted by ou
 fathers for core, t ng errors of opinion, bu
 must rely upon the strong arm of power
 If the Mormon is to be disfranchised fo
 his opinions before he has committed
 any crime, you could just as well g
 further and declare that it is felon.
 for him to entertain such opinions, anC
 he could be tried and sent to the peniten
 tiary, his property confscated etc, ana
 after you get the Mormons all securel,
 under lock and key in the penitentiary
 the government could then take hold o
 other sects and people who disagre
 with the majority Gol-Ro'lats J. Inger
 soil and those who agree with him coul,
 be taken in tow and made to declare tha
 the bible is a sacred book, and it's teach ings are true, and if they did not choos
 this very reasonable request of the ma jority, then they could be treated tn
 same as the hformons, and so the goot work could be carried on until all excep
 those of the majority who belonged t
 the one true and living church could b
 removed. It IS true this course woul
 require vast extension of penitentiar
 facilities, but if this became too bul thensome task, then the good old wa
 of burning at the stake, beheading, etc could be returned to, or in our advance
 civilization 1t might be deemed nor humane to kill these heretics by the us
 of electricity.
 These are comparatively small detail that can be properly be arranged whe
 the new policy, or rather the old one, gel
 well under way in Arizona and othe places that have come to the conclusio } that free schools, free speech, and ire } press can no longer be relied upon control public sentiment
 The Republican is of the opinion tha l have committed an offence by in som
 way running counter to the opinions f the Supreme Court It is evident ths ] the Supreme Court, from decisions a
 ready made, would sustain the validit 5 of the Act providing that Mormons shoul l be disfranchised. With regard to th 5 wisdom of such decision, have notl r ing to do. Many times in the history f our Government, decisions have bee i made by the U. s. Supreme Court th: ! have appeared to be largely controlle t by political prejudices of the time an r have not been sustained by calm reaso :. when these political settlements ha7 g passed away. Such may be the oas
 relative to the Mormon question; but thi
 does not affect the question at issu
 No one questions the right of Arizona give to every citizen of sound mind, T I gardless of what his religious views mg be, if he has not been convicted of erim 0 the right to vote. The decision of u . Supreme Court does not abridge nor R ISCC tnIo IlSAt' 4AS CL1y OI1OCG lu0 QSS4 s ion of the Supreme Court has upon u ' question is that if such proscriptive Ia ' should pass, the Court as now constitu j. ed, would no doubt sustain it, and if suc y infamous law should be enaoted, and u s Supreme Court should sustain it, E. would be the duty every good citize !, to obey the mandates of the Court unt e such time as it was changed
 | Hence it will be seen that the matt q of tugging the Supremes Court into u
 controversy is foreign to the subjec
 The question is purely and simply whet 3 CT the people of Arizona desire to disfra 1t chise one of its oitizsns, who has commi ted no crime, except entertaining rehe n ous views in opposition to the majori t' of the people.
 T. I don't believe the old Pioneer, who h. P stood shoulder to shoulder in days r. danger with those of all religious opi 1T ions, including the Mormons, and h 1T found true, noble, unselfsh men amor s them all, is going, now hat the clouds e danger have nearly passed away, to jo e in 6 crusade that would deprive one