The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-04-15
IT WAS A FALSE A1aRm.

NAdl cnurcn 90 you De-
ioi's and that people unless they be-
long to certain church cannot OBJ
tam employment. This it declared
haa come TO it with painful direct
nus was followed up with an invita-
non % other papers to tell the new
fiedsed officials that they are to take
q u.Aerert course, and accompanied
WIN covert threat that unless some
lnlns Of this kind was done TO check
the evil there would be a resurrection
oil me dead carcass of Liberalism and
revival of local strife.
TIE Herald expressed its doubt as
to me accuracy of the Tribune's infor-
nation and also its opposition to any
pohlcal or religious test in this city
Tor ofiiee or employment. And de-
Stree that in any further changes of
TINS kind. names and cases should be
cited.
now comes the Tribune with recog-
M ION Of The HeraId's right position
On mis- important question. and eta
lion Of alleged facts as follows:
II has come to The Tribune from
lMeHIy directions that in the Water
ill'iSesl department in this city. more
nan twenty men have been discharged
silullly because they are Gentiles, and
1leit EIaces have been filled with men
sVIsit because they were Democrats
ana Mormons. and because they car
lieu 70 The Watermaster recommended
los from the bishops Of their respec-
tleef wards.
rom just as many sources it has
come to The Tribune that the City En-
siheef has discharged all the old en-
piuSses except one or two, and filed
their places with others. and that the
ohlV reason for such wholesale changes
Ihat can be seen on the surface. is that
me men discharged were Gentiles and
Jne men employed were members of the
church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints
The Tribune goes on to suggest that
1t would be easy for The Herald to
ascertain the real facts, much easier
than for The Tribune" That is just
like our neighbor. 1t makes specific
charges ana then wants those who
doubt or dispute them to prove a mega
tive. The only way to establish the
truth of these accuse tons is to name
the men of whom the test questions have
been asked, and who have been dis
charged or refused employment on the
grounds stated, and publish the alleged
facts in detail. That is easy for the
Tribune. If this matter has come to it
with such painful direotness." but
nor for The Herald, which has no sucn
evidence and does not believe the
charges are true.
But The Herald has taken the pains
to make inquiries in both the depart
ments named. and so far as the evil
denee obtained goes it is dead against
what the Tribune has announced. The
heads of those departments have
nothing TO say on the matter. They
do not read the Tribune and do not
care a red cent what it says or does
not say. They propose to manage
their several departments according to
the best of their ability, and will take
no dictation from the newspapers nor
will they notice anything the Tribune
may say on the subject.
But there are gentlemen employed in
those departments who have no objec-
ton to talk. They would speak as free
" to a representative of the Tribune
as 10 any one from The Herald. They
are not Mormons. They declare en-
phadcaly that there is no truth in the
statement that any applicant for work
is asked. either what are your Iolitcs
or what is your religion" And, fur
ther. that crowds of applicants have
been sent to different places to work
and nobody about the offices knew or
cared what party or creed they sup
ported.
TIE Watermaster has selected for
his chief assistants outside of the
office some men whose practical knowl-
edge of irrigation affairs he has tested
in former times. AS to the rest. there
is no ground whatever for any such
charges as have been made The En-
gineer has not personally selected the
bulk of the workmen and there is only
one man in his office who is a Mormon
The Herald would not have noticed
this matter at all but for the fact that
an attempt is being made TO revive the
old bitterness that we all deplore. We
take the ground that the questions
alleged to be put as tests to applicants
for city work are wrong. And we take
just as strong ground that the fact that
a man belongs to a given church or
party must not be. as in the past, suf-
fcient ground to bar him out
This was the position taken by our
in past years, whatever
it may assume now: Only a Liberal
could obtain city employment with its
permission, and members of a particu-
lar church were ineligible for any
place under the city government. That
this is all changed does not seem to
please certain disgrunued persons.
That does not matter. There must be
no religious or party test under the
present city administration. We do
not believe there is. And the rule
49,, ,,,,lr botb Uavs underetand