The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-04-01

dence, the Magma Charta of our nation
atty, shall have full expression anc
full Interpretation in the organic law
which we are now delegated TO franz
for the coming commonwealth of Utah
1t means that the narrowness, the sell
fishness, the passion and the prejudice
of the long, dark past shall no longer
dominate our civilization. 1t means
that men and women, equal members
of society, equally answerable to law
equally responsible in taxes for the
support Of the state, equally creators
and consumers of wealth, shall no lon
ger find themselves subjected to dis
eliminating legislation degrading to
one-haf the population and dishonor-
ing 10 the other half, while the foun-
dation of all legislation, the source and
ground of all obligation and all right
IS the same in both classes, all being
created equal, all being endowed with
the same inalienable rights of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The Argument From Principles and
Ideals.
Principles come before precedents,
although it is by means of precedents
that we sift our principles. To act from
principles is to make truth incarnate,
to give it body and form in the world of
act and history. Life is a syllogism,
with intelligence as the major premise
and historic realities as the conclusion.
Our free institutions are great facts;
they are conclusions in the world of
real life from the intellectual data
eternally Subsistent in the world of
/ Intelligence. We have our social frame
! work, our actual social life under
! the shadow of certain forms of law
! our statutes and our constitutions. All
these are conclusions wrought from
/ larger principles of intelligence. In so
far as we differ from the nations of the
/ east that are warning today, that diff
ference is largely due to certain broad
principles of liberty that have entered
into our national life, and from which
we are constantly making history as
conclusions. The principles that I al
Jude to are those that are formulated
in the Declaration Of Independence.
They were the full and free expression
( of the spirit of liberty that moved the
hearts Of the American people, They
were the utterance of the divine life
for that grand stage of human develop
ment. They were the major premise
of the civil and political history of the
American people. AS the words of
Christ cover all ages of the church, and
as those words are increasingly full
filled as the ages progress in knowledge
e-IlO t4SllIcUuSHtSSs So the words OF the
Declaration are for all advances in gov
eminent, and they will be fulfilled in
proportion as government is perfected.
can here only occupy your time long
enough to turn the light upon a few
of the inscriptions upon the temple of
liberty, that you may read them as
they stand emblazoned there, and ap-
ply their meanings TO the subject we
have in hand.
When fha fathers stood
that revolutionary council, they stood
free and independent of every nation
on earth. The only sovereign to whom
they sought to declare allegiance was
the God of heaven, the creator of all.
When they said that 'tAll men are ere
ated equal" they meant to recognize
the handiwork and institution of the
Almighty. When they spoke of the in
alienable rights, they spoke of them as
being made ''inalienable" only by
their creator" When they spoke of
human governments, they spoke of
them as being inferior to the constitu-
ton implanted in human nature by
God himself. They said that govern
ments were made to secure these
rights" and that when they failed to
DO So. they should be altered and
abolished" and others framed that
would more fully carry out the pur-
pose of God They said that the only
condition on which government should
operate and control the lives of men
was the consent of the governed"
These are some of the divinely illu-
mined principles that bear upon the
subject in hand. The Fathers meant by
saying that "all men are created
equal" just what is expressed in the |
first section that we have in hand: |
that men and women shall equally |
enjoy all civil, political and religious |
rights and privileges" These princi- |
pies are seif-evident in their verify. I |
do not need to argue or explain them |
We can read them as we run; "the |
man though a fool" need |
not misunderstood them. Men and |
women in the Declaration of Indepen-
dence stand on an equality, just as |
they did in the mind of the Creator |
when he said, Gen. l; 26, 20, And God |
said, let us make man in our own |
image, after our likeness, and let them |
have dominion" Here we have the
same divine image for both; they have |
the same blood, the same nature, the /
same intelligence, the same moral law,
the same responsibility, me same des-
tiny. The conscript fathers recognized
this sameness of essential qualities and
and on these grounds they
said that "All men are created equal"
Their declaration was expressive of
the purpose and counsels of the great
Creator, and this first section expressly
declares the purpose and intent of the
ieclarati ton of the fathers.
Moreover, when government steps in
to perform its office in the world, it
must be in subordination to these prin-
ciples; that is, to secure these rights"
And the condition precedent on which
alone government can exert it's author
ty over men is the consent of the
governed" On any other terms gov
eminent is usurpation and tyranny.
the right may be, whether
# life, liberty or property, government
must first obtain jurisdiction through
he consent of the governed" by
means of normal and equal representa-
ion. There are thousands of women
taxpayers in Utah; more in proportion
o population than in any other state:
10 long as they acquiesce in being
epresented by the other half of society.
We may conclude that no open violence
S done them in respect TO their civil
nd political rights. But whenever
UGH women disclaim such representa-
ion, whenever they claim their right |
o be governed only as they yield their
consent" according to the Declara-
ion, we are guilty of usurpation and
tyranny whenever we resolve to make
hem amenable to our government.
Without first providing for obtaining
heir consent through the ordinary
hannels of representation. We know
hat the entire American revolution
Britain to accord representation as a
of taxation land is it possible
han in this dawning of the twentieth
entury any member of this conven- !
ion would seek TO perpetrate the same
ljustice in the institutions that we are