The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-08-28
THEY PLEAD GUILTY

The Times, n Mormon paper pub
lished at Sugar City, Idaho, makes this
| plea for the members of its church
Do you know, citizens OF Idaho, that we
arc represented in the Senate Of the United
States by q man who would, il he had the
| power, disfranchiso ono. third OF the citizens
| OF his State because OF their religious be.
liet1 And, yet. that man asks his fellow
citizens To return him, and tho party which
ho controls, TO power God forbid that any
man or woman who loves freedom, who hon
ors his country and its institutions, who
revcres tho Stars and Stripes that float
over free people should be so lost TO all
sense OF honor as to give man and his
dwarfed minded followers ono single vote.
No, lot them go down IN utter defeat, let
them feel that their mad policy does not
men and women who stand for right and
justice.
Commenting upon the foregoing and
similar matter contained in the article
from which we have made the above
excerpts, tho Occur d'Aleno Press says
that such Mormon utterance is proof
that Dubois is waging a war against n
great social evil in the present cam
paign, The Press takes the high and
paign is for the enforcement of the
State Constitution; no more, no less.
The fundamental law of common
wealth, when it Is in accord with the
Constitution Of the United States and
the institutions Of our civilization,
should be far above the petty assaults
of that especially privileged class
which insists that Constitution and law
must accord with their practices or be
denounced as evil. AS clearly shown
by the Occur d'Alene Press, no Nor
mon is asked to take an oath other
than that prescribed for all voters in
the State. If the religion professed by
the followers OF William Bulge in Ida
ho (said William Bulge being a repre-
sentative OF Joseph f. Smith Of Salt
Lake, who In turn claims to be the
sole representative Of tho Creator in
the hcavens) cannot assume an obliga-
tion which is prescribed by the State
Constitution for all citizens, whore does
the fault lief With all the rest of
the citizenship, or with the Mormon
himself9 1t takes pretty rood nerve
for the Mormon ecclesiast in Idaho to
say, as he does i'll effect. Idaho is
Gentle State and we arc in the minori-
ty. But we do not like your Constitu-
ton and your laws. The rest of you
are willing to take upon yourselves GER
tain covenants toward the country and
tho State which are offensive TO our
holy religion. We cannot and will not
take these oaths. Therefore-notwith-
standing the fact that we are in the
minority-you people who constitute
the majority must modify your meth
DDS, must change your law, must
amend your Constitution, SO that we
may exercise the civil franchise accord
ing to our church rules What we lack
in numbers we make up in holiness
and because we are more holy than You,
we have a right 10 insist upon this
change in our behalf
That is the situation in Idaho to an
exactitude. The Constitution Of that
State does not prescribe q religious
test-it prescribes test of citizen
ship. The Mormons pretend to be the
most loyal people in the world; they
pretend to love their country and their
State better than it is given to ordi-
nary mortals to love local and Ma
tional government And yet they are