The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-01-22
NeDEN
" DEpFR THEN 7
ECCLESIASTICAL INFLUENCE.
Ogden. Jan %.

-
Rev. DR.. Tiff has many friends in
Ogden and many of them think he
made a great mistake when he took
a hand in the recent Republican
scrap"
The reverend gentleman apparently
puts his objections upon moral grounds
and uses the cloak of morality as pro
lection against the clubs and brlck-
bats of the politicians.
When he voted for the Republican
members of the legislature, he voted
for Cannon and Brown. Of course. all
the Republican candidates were pigs IN
q poke, each one having an equal show
with his fellows to get out first, at the
supreme moment. If the wrong ones
came out first. Mr.. Tiff has no more
right to kick than any other Repubu-
can. If he had been a member OF the
legislature, and had gone into caucus
with his Republican brethren. knowing
the qualifica tons and all the weak
nesses of each candidate. and had
agreed to be bound by the choice OF
the majority, then when the vote was
taken and two men chosen. his honest
duty would have been to stand by the
result. unless it should have developed
between the time of the caucus and its
confirmation in the legislature that one
or both of the candidates had done
something, or some hidden page of
their lives had come to light, which alb
solutely disqualified them for the place
There is nothing in the lives of either
of the two gentlemen elected which
was not as we'll known before they
were nominated as since; in fact. it is
scarcely probable that anything is
known now about the inner lives of
any Republican who was ever remote
possibility before the election that was
not known then: and. as has been said,
when a vote was cast for the Republi-
can legislative candidates, it was a
vote for the two senators that would
be chosen no matter who they might
be-
But this is a depression from what
was intended when this article was
begun. Speaking of ecclesiastical in
! fluence, had any man IN authority in
the dominant church issued a similar
! card and for similar-or the same rea-
| sons tor that matter-there would have
| been a mighty roar sent up from all
over the state, and the loudest noise
| of all would have emanated from the
! Tribune.
There would have been just grounds
| for it, too
What would have been considered an
| uncalled for interference in the one
case is certainly an uncalled for inter-
| ference in the other.
Men in authority in any church in
Utah must not attempt in any way to
dictate in political affairs. All men.
whether priest or layman, have the
Godgiven right to protest against a
wrong; but there is a time and a place
| for everything.
While Mr. Tiff may never have con-
sidered the fact that he was a high
churchman when he issued his mani
festo and assumed that he had the
right of an ordinary citizen to protest
it must be remembered that the cir
cumstances surrounding this particu-
lar case were such that it would have
Oeen wrong for any one to counsel OF
! disregard the caucus obligation; and
again it is impossible for him, church
official, to divorce himself in the eyes
of the world of his ecclesiastical au-
thority. and when he speaks in the
manner that he did, no matter what
may have been his purpose, his decla-
ration carries with it some if not al
of the power and influence of his &C.
clesiastiCal position.