Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-12-05
WHAT IS PERSECUTION 2"

AS rule % ashamed Of their occupo
don Thcy dua. not openly defend war
fuir ON their leiloNmen on account OF
difference Of opinions. as was done by
mary persecutors from the days OF
Augustine aud AN through the middle
ages The spirit OF the time IL general
iy against This evidence OF barbarism.
The prosecutors are therefore under
the necessity Of representing them
selves as champions OF law and order.
There Is, they say wide difference
between persecution and prosecution.
between prosecutors and prosecutors,
aud they claim the distinction OF being
prosecutors only.
Now this argument may appear to
some as exceedingly lucid and forci-
BILE But it is nevertheless a clumsy
effort 90 divert attention from the real
nature Of the work Of those engaged
IN bitter persecution. It is as II a
physician were to defend the wilful
killing OF an enemy under the preteXt
OF performing necessary operation
The crime would be foul murder Just
the same, no matter how elaborate the
efforts TO conceal the fact. And so,
persecution Ii persecution, whatever
may be the pretext for H. And perse-
cutors cannot successfully conceal
their bulky masses by burying their
ugly beaks In the ground
Prosecution sometimes IL nothing but
persecution In disguise, 1t is safe to
so characterize It, when the Evil one
himself aud his tools assume the role
Of prosecutors. A well known instance
IL that OF the woman IN the Gospel mar
ratiye upon whose condu. the Savior
was asked to pass judgment. by a
crowd Of hypocrtes and moral per-
verts. The Master knew them and
their secret motives. and. though they,
certainly. In their accusations hap
pened to be on the side Of the law, He
answered them as they deserved by
enunciating the principle that the one
among them without sin might cast
the first stone. They were persecu-
tors In the guise Of prosecutors. and
no nj accusers OF weak fellow being.
Hence the rebuke. so we'll merited, no
matter what was the status of their
victim. 1t Is a pity that modern Phari-
sees so often forget this fundamental
principle Of justice and undertake to
sweep the premises OF then nelghbors,
with their own soiled brooms unfit for
anything but the moral garbage pile!
Again when alleged prosecutors
show unjust discrimination they may
be branded as prosecutors.
II several persons are guilty of the
same misconduct and only one Is
called to account; II this is invaria-
bly, the rule prosecution becomes per-
secution, particularly II malice and
thirst for revenge are the sentiments
inspiring the proceedings. A man who
singles out certain class I'm q COM
and makes them the objects
Of false reports. exaggeraang their
possible human weaknesses, misinter-
preting every act and misconstruing
every word doing all in his power to
lnflame mobs and turn friendship into
hatred. and all this for personal gain
alone, he Is as surely a prosecutor as
Nero was, though he may hide himself
behind prosecutor. An instance of
the Jews In Russia. II has been album
dainty proved that the pre1udices and
OF the Russians are perl
odically and methodically made use of
by INSCRIPTIONS scoundrels. against
that unfortunate race, The mobs are
stirred up to murder and pillage to
hide the gilt of the agitators and to
help them M their pockets with plum
der But these agitators and their tools
are prosecutors. even II they can prove
that Jews are mortals. sometimes with
the weaknesses and faults Of mortals,
Their motives and their modes OF pro-
cedure brand them AZ such.
1t ls further notable fact that
persecution very often has taken the
form OF prosecution, Sometimes mobs
have risen and turned against the vic
tins Of their hatred with fire and blood,
but at other times prosecutors take the
pains OF giving their proceedings the
appearance OF legality. II no laws ex-
list that serve their purpose, they Will
have laws made, II they can; or, un-
usual constructions Of law will be tried.
Testimony, even " false and literally
maid for, viii be introduced. Such has
been the practice Of the more refined
throughout all ages. Even
the Roman emperors did not suffer per-
secution to rage except after the issu-
ance of DEGREES. the defiance OF which
made the condemnation Of the Naza-
renes TO the arena, or the cross, appear
perfectly legal, Millions Of martyrs
throughout all ages We're condemned
by legally constituted assemblies par
liaments and courts. This is a fact that
does not appear to be perfectly clear to
some who view the past only in the
light OF the present,
Most of the martyrs Of history were
the breakers" OF the age In which
they liyed, The great and divine
Founder Of the church certainly was
convicted Of "blasphemy, on His own
confession. as blasphemy was under
stood by His ecclesiastical Judges and
was therefore pronounced worthy OF
death. The wars OF extirpation that
were waged against Waldenses and Al
tigcnses, against CamIsards and others,
IN which thousands persisted by the
sword, while CHEERS we're driven into
exile. were legal in so FAR as they
were authorized by the legally consti-
tuted authorities FOR the purpose of