The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-12-09


EEIGEN,u I EUIcs tonished at a prop
osition in Professor
co.s.p.rr Paurs letter pub
No'-''a'''A lished in Fridays
Herald, would be
stating the case mildly. I fell to Won
dering whether 1 was living in the SIX
tenth century or in the last hours of
the nineteenth. I refer to the propo-
sitiOn that the school board shall keen
a register of the religious belief of ali
teachers employed. The first question
that strikes a casual observer would
be; How could the facts be obtained?
Suppose any teacher or applicant
should Yefuse 20 furnish them would
That be ground for refusing positions
Thomas Jefferson, the father of con-
stltut1Onal provisions in the United
States for absolute religious freedom,
said that no one had any right TO in
qulre what has religious opinions were
for any purpose, that they were mat
ter between himself and his conscience
alone The constitution of Utah de-
clares that the rights of conscience
shall never be lnfringed." That no re-
Hg1Ous tests sinai! be required as a
qualification for any office of public
trust
But granting, for the sake of argu-
ment, the right of the board of edu-
1-AAAtAA ~ NNuittlliT ktfttnETS III SuCn
matters, how far wiz the teachers be
required TO go? VIII it suffice for him
70 state that he is a Mormon, an Athe-
lst, TheOsOphist Baptist a Budd-
Fist or COnfucian? Or must he set
forth fully his belief and the grounds
ShefeoI IN clear, concise and succinet
language Should the board in such
case have power to examine into his
orthodoxy in that belief. or would a
certificate of baptism or OF confirma-
ton or standing be sufficient? The
second question would be: What use
could be made of such register? I'm
ger our constitution our schools must
be free from sectaTian control. Could
such register be used for any good
pUrpOse2
Could it be used except for an un-
lawful purpose? Could il not be read
lily used for sinister and base purposes.
and TO further ends strictly forbidden
~ or constitution? It is the right of
every school teacher to remain silent
IN regard TO his religious ideas IN
deed, can hardly conceive of condi-
tons where, if he regard the highest
good Of his school, il might be his duty
TO do So Would Professor Paul have
the board use this list to apportfon the
teachers among the various religious
Sects IN the city and those of no re-
Lglon? How could he do this without
a religious census Of the city? How
~ctAL LAlE OOd4u olneEWlSE say now
many teachers the Latter-day Saints
should have, how many the Reorgan-
lied, how many the COnfucians, how
many the Atheists, how many the
Methodists- how many the Agnostics?
suppose any denomination should fail
TO supply its quota of qualified teach
erS. Should unqualified teachers he
accepted. or should they be taken from
some other sect. and what sect?
would not such register be an APT
instrument in the hands of an unscru-
puious bigot to. enable him to defeat
our constitution and defeat the OBJ
Jects of our system of free schools9
/ should dislike to believe that Pro
fessCr Paul devised this scheme for
such unholy ends, but must say it is
admiramly adapted for such purposes
L shai rather assume that it is the
product of an unsophisticated mind IN
accustomed to calculate the ultimate
results of its schemes. and a habit.
perhaps an unconscious one, of asso-
eating church and state in all urat-
teFS- with church first and state after
ward, instead of considering as every
true American must ultimately that in
matters Of action and conduct the
state Is supreme and the church and all
other institutions subordinate. ANY
other doctrine is anarchy. pure and
SIMPLE 1t IS an Otl saying that ''eteF-
nal Vigilan- is the price of liberty
and Il our newly-eleCted mem bers Of
the board were chosen with the view
of irquiripg into the religious opinions
OF any teacher or prospective teacher
IN our schools. or to the registra ton
or any teachers religious opinion. the
whole force of the constitution and
laws of the state viii be invoked to re-
slst any such highhanded attempt to.
II any member of the board shall de-
sire such knowledge in order to en-
able him to properly discharge his du-
Iles in selecting teachers, he must OBJ
tain II in some other way 7 think
those OF your own readers who have
read Professor PauTs letter will be-
lieve that the board made no mistake
IN selecting superintendent Of schools
i do not discuss the proposition for
a property qualification for teachers
OF our public schools. It certainly has
the merit Of originality. if il is
merit. do not believe any one could
resist a claim for patent upon il upon
the ground that it was not novel
EUGENE LEWIS.
Dec. 8. 1900.