Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-10-09
TRYING TO BREAK IFS FORCE.


tirpant efforts that are being made,
through a prostitutsi use Of the
telegraph wireI and Of the pres Of
the country, u break the force Of
the manifesto recently issued 10y
President Woodruff, and which
WAS sustained and accepted 10y the
general Conference Of the Church
on Monday. One Of these con
temptible attempts appears Ia the
Denves Nstgs, in the form Of a dis
patch dated at this city.
The attitude Of our Denver CO
temporary in relation 20 what has
been called "The Mormon Cues
tiono has. n a rule, been consistent
and just The person who supplied
this dispatch 90 point has endeavOred
to mislead II, however,, and probably
expected TO cause It TO change it,
consistent attitude. There Is n
present no evidence OF his having
eHcceedei, as no comment on the
dispatch appears in the Ne'0s col
umns.
The sender Of the telegram s.Ites
what took place at the Conference
when the manifesto was aiopted
fairly enough, bat he sppeEds lot
Of anti mormon rubbish to it for
the evident purpose Of destroying
tho effect Of the document and the
action taken upon it by the general
assembly Of the Church. He wa
afraid . leave the matter to the dis
passionate judgment of the reader
lest they might get a proper under
standing OF the subject. The dis
patcher thus comments:
The news that the conference had
endorsed the manifesto against p5lyE-
amy spread rapidly throughout the
city, but 1t created no CONSERVATION
or surprise. In fact, If scarcely oc-
casioned any comment. The anti
Mormons rather expected such a
move, and viewed il in the light Of
projected legislation and said il was
only another trick Of the Mormon
Church to retain control OF the Tern
tory"
The thin-brained deceiver who
penued this could not see the con-
Hict in his own statement Jusi
imagine an incident spreading
"Iapidly throughout the city,
Causing emo COMMENT The very
fact that the news Of the fact spread
with such Capidity, proves the uni
verssl comment it created. As il
completely swept away the anti
Mormon hobby the local active
politicians have been riding so long,
the CONSERVATION il carried among
that cIlss may be more
readily imagined than deserted.
This oRsternation is being e1-
hibsted by such persons as
the fellow who sent the
deceE tive dispatch to the Denver
NeOS as they are in mortal terror
hest the manifesto he taken for what
St Is, a genuine Eznrassinn ~ ~.
attitude OF the 'tMUrmOn'' Church
in reference 10 the laws Of the United
States forbldding plural marriages.
The ''offi ,isl deciaration'' wa
what Tie and-"Mormons" de-
manded, so long as they believes
that the hea OF the Church aud the
Church itself would not issue anu
adopt such measure. The
moment It is done, however, they
cha acterize il as a subtersuge. such
repGdiation, without a scintilla o.
evidence 70 back it, Is villainous.
The only attempt at evidences Of
fered by the clique to which tht
disps cher belongs Is VIVA. he says
occurred five years ago, when tn,
Latter-day Saints, icing their
sentiins1ts in mas meeting.
formulated a petition 70 tn
President Of the United States
re.ting forth their grievance.
against the csnduct OF certain
Federal officials who hld gone
outside the Ia in an anti
Mormon = crusade. In that
document the Je'ef Of the Latter
day Saints In the doctrine OF plural
marriage was honestly set forth.
This dsclarA.ion o. bi.er Is stiff
f4rther emphasized by the dispatch
er by the following quotation hr
gives from the report OF tAe Utah
Commission 10 the Secretary Of the
interior, forwarded about the same
time As the petition referred r.:
This article OF their faith is A.
much an essential and a Substantial a
psrt Of their creed rs their belief in
baptism, repentance for the forgive
ness OF sins, ana the like. All ortho-
dox MOrmons belive polygamy 10 be
right and that it i an essential part Of
their creed"
From the Use m lde of these pro-
ceedings Of the asst it would APPEAR
that a class Of political tricksters
and religious fanatics and bigots
take the ground thas the right OF
petition and 6etisf should be denied
70 the "Mormons, 4" and that when.
they exercise them they should be
denounced ani bounded aud robbed.
The Supreme Court decisions, sub
sequently rendered, sustained the
position Of the petitioners in refer
eEoe to the Persecutive conduct Of
certain federal officials, whose ac-
tons the court Of last resort over
turnsI.
Aud further, if there Is any citi-
zen, religious or otherwise, within
these Unitei States who is to be de-
prlved Of his rights because his
belief does not agree with The Leliei
Of somebody else, it is time that
fact was understood. We have
always had the impression, hacked
by express language used by the
Supreme Court Of the nation. that
the laws only deal with overt acts
and not with belief, which Is with
out the pale Of legislative action.
The browning absurdity is
reached by the fellow who sent the
telegram to our Denver cbtemporsry
when he cites past teaching and
practices Of the ''Morm0nsT rs evil
dence that the manifesto is not what I
IL PurpOrts TO he. There is no one
that We know Of that is attempting
b deny that the doctrine has in