The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-10-23
In Thunder Tones Il Has Demanded the
Complete Separation Of Church
and State.

the secretary OF the interior for 1884,
have made many untruthful state
ments concerning the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints and the
attitude of its members in relation to
political affairs; and whereas, said re-
port is an official document and is
likely to prejudice the people of the
nation against our church and its
members and it is therefore unwise to
allow its erroneous statements to pass
unnotced;
"'Now, therefore. be it resolved. by
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
day Saints in general conference as
sembled that we deny most emphati-
cally the assertion of the commission
that the church dominates its members
in political matters and that the
church and state are united. What
ever appearance there may have been
in past times of union of church and
state. because men holding ecelesiasti-
cal authority were elected to civil office
by popular vote, there is now no foun-
dalton or excuse for the statement
that church and state are united in
political matters; that no coercion or
influence whatever of an ecclesiastical
nature has been exercised over us by
our church leaders in reference to
which political party we shall join, and
that we have been and are perfectly
free to unite with any or no political
party, as we may individually
elect: that the Peoples Party
had been entirely dissolved and that
our fealty henceforth viii be to such
political party as seems best suited to
the purposes of republican govern
ment"
No Use OF Spiritual Views.
Thus. the people of Utah and of the
United states were given to under
stand that there would be no interfer-
ence by ecclesiastical authority with
any political organiza ton, and that
the spiritual views of no man would
be used to induce him to adhere to,
espouse. or disagree with any political
party.
This position of the church has never
been receded from. AS an organiza-
ton, it stands today where it did upon
the occasion of the division upon
party lines. pledged not only to re-
fratn itself, but to prevent so far as it
can. the interference with the political
rights of the humblest individual, by
those In ecclesiastical positions
The utterances of the leaders of the
Mormon church and the action taken
by the church at its conference, were
accepted by all the people of the
Union, as having been made in entire
good faith. Amnesty was granted.
The enforcement of the laws was re-
Taxed and the way was paved for the
admission of Utah into the Union
Democratic Resolution.
On the 2Oth day of June, 1891, the
Democratic territorial central COM
mittee that had been appointed by the
Democratic territorial convention Of
1888, composed of twenty members, all
non-Mormons. met, and after a discus
sion adopted by vote of fourteen to
five, the following resolution:
Resolved: First-That it is the
sense of this committee that the Demo-
cratic party of Utah accept the act
of the dissolution of the Peoples
party in all sincerity and good faith.
and viii give to its former members
who may unite with it, a cordial well
come.
'tSecond-That it rejoices in the be-
lief that we are now entering upon an
era of good win. wherein the animosi-
ties engendered by past local conten-
tions will be healed, and that the peo-
pie of the territory while contending
for the supremacy of the national
party of their choice, will unitedly
work in peace without bitterness or
strife for the prosperity and happiness
of the territory
The Home Rule Memorial.
In January. 1892, the legislative as
sembly Of the territory of Utah, COM
posed of Mormons and GentiIes adj
dressed a memorial to the Congress OF
the United States, containing these
words: On the midst of wonderful
material progress her Otah's) people
have recently turned their attention to
the study of questions of government
and legitimate politics, and are espous-
ing the cause of one or the other of
the national parties.
These new conditions have come
naturally, honestly, and for the future
are absolutely secure. patriotic peo-
pie are pledged to their preservation.
Retrogression involving as it would
dishonor and dire misfortune, is i'm
possible.
Utah. in the feelings of her people,
has been lifted from her humiliation
and disgrace. Today she is is imbued
with the hope and determination to be
free-free in the full sense of Ameri-
can constitutional freedom: which
means something more than liberty
permitted; which consists in civil and
political rights absolutely guaranteed,
assured, and guarded in ones liberties
as man and citizen--his