The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-08-03
THREE C0RAERED FIGHT
A Bitter Political Struggle in Utah
Which Ends With To-
days Election.
Liberals Charging the Old Parties
With Working for the
MOrmons.
A CLAIM, That the Church of Latter Dny
Saints Is Ms Active as 1t
Ever Was.

OGDEN, Utah, Aug. 2.-The three cornered
fight which has been waged in Utah with
great bitterness will be decided by to-mor-
rows election. The most striking feature
of the campaign is the sudden revival of
the liberal or gentle party. It had been
suppressed in fact. it had been promised
by many influential liberals that if the NOR
mons would disband as a political organi-
zation and enter the national parties the
liberal party would follow suit. But the
result is disappointing. After watching for
months the educational campaign" which
the democrats and republicans have been
carrying on in every part of the terri
tory the liberals have formally repudiated
the new movement as m mormon trick. They
declare that the result Of the movement
will be an effort to secure statehood for
Utah at the next session of congress. They
claim that Utah is not ready for statehood,
and that the Mormon church is too danger
ous power to be entrusted with the con-
troll of q new state. Under United States
control the laws are impartially and un-
sparingly administered, but if statehood
comes. with mormon sheriffs, judges and
prosecuting attorneys, they claim that all
the laws against polygamy will become in
operative.
Liberals who have gone into the new
movement charge their former allies with
bad faith. They say. "For years we have
been demanding that the mormon church
should go out politics, and now that it has
done so we ought to accept the act as done
in good faith" The liberals retort that the
republicans and democrats are only cats'-
paws to rake the Mormon chestnuts out of
the fire; that the campaign of both parties
is being manipulated from the office of the
president of the Mormon church. They
claim that certain members of the church
have been "set aside'' to be republicans,
and others to be democrats, for the ocoas-
sion They tell stories of mormon bishops
presiding at a democratic rally. and the
next night assisting in the organization of
a republican club.
The platforms of the liberals all aver
Utah until the gentiles clearly outnumber
the mormons; that they are republicans,
democrats, prohibitionists and greenback-
ers in national politics, but for the present
agree to sink all such distinctions and
work together for the growth of American
| ism in Utah: that the questions of tariff
reciprocity and states rights are of little
interest to the people of Utah when com
pared to the local issue, the control of 90.
litlcal affairs by the mormon church.
The election to be held Tomorrow is fol
county officers and members of the legis-
lature. The liberals have everywhere nom.
mated genties, but the republican and
democratic tickets especially in Salt Lake
and Ogden, are about equally divided be-
tween mormons and gentlles. In botE
cities each of the three parties has Il daily
paper as its organ. While the fight is 9
three-cornered one there is very manifest
sympathy between the national parties
which are giving most of their attention te
the liberals. The latter aver that there
will be such a trading of candidates that
solid mormon delegation will be chosen