The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-02-05
President Rooseveit's inconsistency.

louisville Courier-JournaI)
Shortly before the election of Mr..
Reed Smoot to the United States senate
by the Utah legislature, it will be re-
membered that President Roosevelt
made an authorized statement, through
! Senator kearnS of that state, in which
| he declared that the election of a Nor
mon apostle would work great harm
to Utah; that it would be unwise,
and that lit would certainly lead to
contentious and strife and bitterness.
This declaration was given out for
the manifest purpose of influencing the
legislature of a state in the selection
of its representative in the senate. 1t
was not, nor has it been, charged that
Mr.. Smoot practices polygamy. which
, is against the law It has not been in
( timated that he is corrupt man; that
he has been indicted in any criminal
court; but only that he entertains a
certain religious belief, which, accord
I ing to the Scriptures, was not only
shared, but put in practice by the
patriarchs under the direct sanction of
/ God. As a result, however, of the evo-
luton in religious beliefs, both the doc
( tT1ne and the practice of p0iygamy
have been prescribed and placed under
. the ban of Christian and Jew. But so
! have atheism and infdelity; yet no
chief executive of this country has ever
protest against the election of anyone
because of unbelief in the Bible and
its divine inspiration.
We are not discussing the wisdom or
the right of the government in prohib-
iting polygamy. On the contrary. we
believe the interests of society, which
our government was established to
promote. required it, At all events. it
seems that Mr.. Smoot has respected
and obeyed this prohibition.
Now it must be conceded that one of
the fundamental features of our free
government consists in the principle
that there shall be no religious test
for the qualification of a legislator or
for any other civil Office. 1t must also
be conceded that the federal constitu-
ton makes each house of congress the
sole judge of the qualification of its
members. Then why should the presi-
dent transgress the limitations Of his
own office, written or unwritten, to in
ffuence the choice of a constituency in
selecting a representative, 70 either
body? Why should he seek to set UP a
religious test against the spirit of our
fundamental laws and in violation of
mans natural right TO free thought and
free belief, so long as neither the
thought nor belief is put in practice
against the mandate of any constitu-
ton or statute?
He has no word to say against the
election of Addicks, the most notorious
cOrruptiOnist in the state of Delaware
He had nothing to say against the re-
turn of Quay TO the senate, despite the
ch o-ges on which he was arraigned and
which he evaded only by a bubble He
had no word to say against mfIIionaires
who VIGOROUSLY buy their seats in the
senate, and who are rapidly converting
hot l. L
eminent legislative body in the world
into a moneyed oligarchy. He has no
word TO protest when corporations send
their agents TO be seated in the lower
house
If Mr.. SmOOt should be excluded from
the senate because his election was IN
wise and calculated to excite "cOnten-
tons and strife and bitterness. why
does Mr. Roosevelt appoint negro of
fice-holders in the south when such ap-
pointments are not only calculated to
do the same thing. but to lead to riots
and bloodshed? While he truckles to a
religious prejudice on the one hand he
braves the passions Of a provoked peo-
pie on the other.
Mr.. Smoot cannot further his belief in
the senate. He cannot make converts
even to his religious opinions. He is
powerless to do harm. The president
NeAAA w anu ubeS 10 much udTQQ DIV 3D-
pointing negroes to office in the south
He excites divisions where he found
unity He imbitters and arouses the
most dangerous passions of a people
when those passions had been aIlayed
and would never have been again in
famed. but for new and needless provo
cations. He substitutes the spirit of
sectiOnalism for the spirit of peace and
union and good Will.
He should have care He NAV vet
realize that he is making a mistake
which viii embitter his life. Success
full ambition should not betray Excess
slve zeal. 1t Will overreach itself. This
selhsh zeal has destroyed the hopes and
happiness of many an ADLER and orea TER
man than the president. Strenuous
ness Tor the public welfare is a virtue.
strenuousness for selfish ends is of
quite d different quality, and the public
IS not usually slow in DISTINGUISHING
between the patriotic and the personal
article.