The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-09-19

ootn parties In wyoming are afflicted with the
delusion that their prosperity would be pro-
NOTED by tax on Mexican silver-lead ore and
most OF the Democrats in Congress had voted
against such an imposition. Finally the Wyo-
ming Mormons are all Republicans. and the
constitution makers were careful to allow them
to vote without any test whatever, while the
Idaho Mormons, who are Democrats, are rigor
ously disfranchised On top of all this, the
state has been gerrymandered SO that even If
the Democrats had carried it they could not
possibly have carried the legislature. Under
such circumstances it must be admitted that
the Wyoming Democracy has made game
fight.
The best edited Democratic newspaper
of the Pacific is the Alta, and it is one OF
the fairest and squarest in its treatment of
the Mormons and their ''problem." Here
is its comment on the Wyoming election:
1t will not do to dismiss with word the Re-
publican treatment of the Mormon question in
Wyoming and Idaho. That party has deity
used prohibition in Ma inc to its political ad-
vantage for many years, until the politics of
that state has become as void of the quality of
conscience as a potato is of grape-juice In
Portland there are 400 drinking places, all run
ming by suferance of Republican judges and
prosecuting attorneys, and all paying for i'm
nlunity TO violate the law by standing in for the
grand old party. Rum and the Canadian Pa
cific railroad keep that extreme wing Of the
party in good trim. In Idaho and Wyoming
something else had to be tried to make sure of
four United States Senator's. In Idaho the Nor
mons had long been voting the Democratic
ticket. The members of that church in Idaho
are mostly Americans. They are OF the original
Mormon community and its descendants, who
were New Workers and western men. The
Wyoming Mormons are English and Scandina-
Wan. They have always voted the Republican
ticket, and their vote made Wyoming Republi
can, as the American Mormon vote made Idaho
Democratic. The present Congress admitted both
Idaho and Wyoming to the union, and gave to
Idaho constitution which DISTINGUISHES and
outlaws all Mormons. not for berg polyga-
mists, but for being Mormons. In Idaho a
Mormon is forbidden to perfect his title to land.
or to teach school, or practice law. The Jews
in Spain were never more completely shut out
and away from all civil rights than are the Nor
mons of Idaho. They cannot sit on a jury, and
are, we believe, also denied the right to testify
in any Judicial proceedings An Idaho Mormon
may be outraged and pillaged in any way his
enemy may select, for he has no redress. Re-
member that these are not penalties for polyg-
amy, but for belonging to the Mormon church,
some Of whose members are polygamists
Turning to Wyoming We find her admitted to
the union, with no dsqualifying or disfranchis-
ing clause affecting the Mormons IN her cpnsti-
tuition. They are left in possession of all their
civil and political rights, may perfect their title
to lands, teach school, practice law and medi-
cine and worship according to the Book of Nor
mon, as reward for voting the Republican
ticket. The net result of this neat arrange.
ment Il expected to be two Republican United
States Senators from Wyoming, elected by the
Mormon vote, and two from Idaho, elected by
DISTINGUISHING the Mormon vote. These are
the current Republican victories, secured from
Maine to the Rocky mountains by a partner
ship of Rum, Railroad and Religion.
Now watch the unfcl ling of tins rol cy. The
Mormons h ave at la sec re pol tcsl pow r
They have ele ted two Unit d ST i;es. Senator's
Wyo ming h IS not oaly Mormon suffcaee bu,
woman Suffrage, and the women Ct III TAI i
don't forget to vote. The Mormon ssue axes
on a new pct, and We very Ii UGH mistake Ii {
astuteness Of the church -eadeis if III " ara
not found TAX ng subs a tia advlnta. e Of t. eli
partnership VITA the Rep ID lean party.
Now, what are the real facts in regard
to the election: We d. not know them all
familiar, which is more than can be sale
by nine out of ten of the men who have
been writing so much about last week.
event. First, the Mormons in Wyoming
are neither all Republicans nor all Dem
ocra's and never have been They have
never all voted Republican ticket MOI
have they ever all voted a Democratic
ticket. 1t is perhaps true that a maiorit,
of them ara Republicans. We know tba
at the past three elections at least, cover
a period Of six years, the majority hav
voted Republican tickets. 1t is presume
that they have done SO from principle
the same as Republicans in Vermont vot
r for the tickets of their party. 1t i
: also unquestionably fact that at the lat
election the majority of the Mormon vot
, was cast in favor of the Republican nomi
q nees, but it must be clear to every body VIII
is at all acquainted with the status of tn
people up there that considerable pc,
= centage of the Mormon vote did not go fo
r the Republicans A reference to the fi2
a ures will demonstrate this. Two years ag,
: in a very full vote, the Republican maiorit
o was nearly three thousand. At that tin
+ most of the Mormons voted with the r
q publicans, as they had been in the habit
: doing. The increase of population sinC
a has not been great, and it is only fair to a
sumo that US many Democrats as Republ
cans, saying nothing Of the Mormons, hay
gone into the state. The Mormons hay
= increased faster in population, perhap
= than others. There are probably 25
Mormon voters in the state, col
: fined almost exclusively to tt
:, counties of Uinta and Sweetwater Nov
:, if the Mormons all voted the Republica
= ticket, how is it that the Republican m
u iority of 1900 two years ago has been r.
duced to 1,200g Is it not plain that if til
Republican Mormons of two years as
continued with their party, the later a
rivals have been largely Democratic! n
other Interpretation can be put upon tt
=, returns. 1t is certain that if the 2,5
- Mormons had voted with the Republican
the majority of the latter would have bee
- much larger than in 1888, instead of bein
y reduced to less than half the total vote I'll
. year named.
AS for the reasons why so many MOI
= mons voted for Republicans one need n,
= search far to find them. One of these
: the same as that which induced Democrat
= Montana, two years ago, to send
. Republican to Congress and to mai
the state legislature so close that tt
Republicans stole it.. The Democratic par
in Congress opposed the admission of ii
n territories, and thus antagonized good Del
- ocrats in the territory who manifest,