The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-01-28
A MISLEADING ORGAN.

A MISLEADING ORGAN.
Among the great newspapers of the coun.
try the st. Louis Globe Democrat is conspic.
uous for blindness and perverseness in nj
terances regarding Mormons. 1t has often
occurred to US that our contemporary was
deliberate and willful in its misstatements
otherwise 1t could not be wrong with such
unbroken uniformity. If ignorance were
responsible for the errors now and then
there would be laundering into the right.
There is never such laundering on the part
of the CD, the paper invariably being in
error in its editorial treatment of the ma
jority of the people out this way.
The Idaho statehood movement furnishes
the editor OF our contemporary another OPP
portunlty to "get off wrong" He thinks
Idaho's appeal will probably be the means
of settling question (which is of the
greatest interest to the country, and on
which there has been and is wide differ
ence of opinion" though just what that
question is is not stated with any degree of
clearness, and the reader will have to guess
as to what the question is. The editor then
goes on to say that the new constitution
OF Idaho contains a provision barring
Mormons from the exercise of the suf-
frage; that the expectation of the
Idaho Gentiles is that in the event of state
hood being granted the influx of Mormons
would be largely increased; that the Nor
mons already in the territory are naturally
opposed to the provision mentioned, and a
delegation Of them has gone to Washing
ton to protest against admission if the
clause shall be retained in the organic law.
He says doubt is felt in Congress as to the
constitutionality of the provision, and the
matter has been referredl to the supreme
court, the Senate committee on territories
meanwhile deferring all recommendations.
AND then the editor proceeds to say: ssrhis
is not, strictly speaking, a matter in w hich
religious liberty is affected 1t is a
question in which the elemental decencies
and proprieties are involved, and touches
the basis on which Christian society rests.
Mormonism as theological system is not
struck at by this proposition, but the crime
OF polygamy and its resulting social i'm
purities, infamies and decentralization is
dealt with"
Now, If our contemporary had desired to
state the case correctly, it would have said
'this is, strictly speaking, matter in
which religious liberty is Affected Tt is
that, and neither more nor less. 1t is not
aquestion of barring polygamists from citi-
zenship, but of depriving Mormon
the exercise OF any civil rights in the state.
The constitution runs against members of
the Mormon church, not merely against no.
lygamous members of the church. If the
clause had held that any man guilty of 20
lygamy should MT vote or hold
Office, if the Mormons had opposed state
hoodit would have been on the ground that
the community was not able to bear the
increased burdens Of a state government
Did not the Mormons themselves, in state
convention few years ago, adopt a pro-
vision in the constitution forbidding polye-
amy! On that subject they even went
further than the Idahoans have gone
binding the state not to change the anti
polygamy clause without the consent of
the United States Congress. Those who
framed the Idaho constitution care
little or nothing about polygamy That
does not annoy them. In fact
they know that the practice in that
territory virtually ceased years ago. and
that new polygamous marriages would be
as surprising there as in New York. Wash
ington or elsewhere. 1t is the Mormon re-
ligion, the belief which the Idahoans have
legislated against and which the proposed
without giving the adherents an opper-
tunity to be heard. 1t is because of the
legislation against religious belief that
the Mormons are opposing statehood. and
not on account of a declaration against n
practice made criminal by the laws of the
Let Idaho make its proclamatio n
against polygamy as vigorous as it NAV.
and no Mormon will oppose statehood on
that ground. But when Idaho saws
that man born in Idaho, who has
resided there all his life, has broken no
law, has done nothing that a good man can
not consistently do, shall not be citizen
of the state, shall not vote, hold office. or
serve on juries, shall in fact be an alien. is
there not occasion for protesting against
statehood There are hundreds and thou
sands of Mormons in Idaho who have never |
been polygamists, who never thought of |
being polygamists, and who would not be |
if there were no law for |
bidding the practice; yet, they would be |
deprived of all political |
rights, and outlawed because of their be-
lief in the matter Of religion. Would these
men be worthy the name if they did not
protest against the statehood scheme
devised and urged by the fellows who are
pack of the state movements We think so.
md so does the editor of the Globe Demo
rat, though he hasn't the courage to ex-
)ress lis honest conviction.
When Idaho gets ready for American
for statehood consistent with
American ideas and republican theories. for
statehood which recognizes the right of
very man to his religious belief, his actions
to the laws of the country, the
dormons will favor the movement as ear
testify and as energetically as others can
possibly do; and in such a state the Nor
nons would be pillar Of strength
.a=.@=
SAYS THE Tribune: "The robber of new
made graves again intimates that there is
~ 4 bo+ T |