The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-08

cept as truth the text of this utterance.
| When it comes to the question Of
church and state, of Interference in
civil affairs by men whose word is ac-
cepted as official utterances from the
( heads of the church, there may well be
some reservations, particularly among
/ Democrats. The declaration says:
/ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
| day Saints holds to the doctrine of the
| separation Of church and state; the non
interference of church authority IN polit-
cal matters: and the absolute freedom
| and independence Of the individual in the
/ performance Of his political duties. II,
| at any time. there has been conduct AT
| variance with this doctrine, II has been
I i'm violation Of the well settled principles
! and policy of the church.
We declare that from principle and pol
| icy. we favor:
The absolute separation Of church and
No domination Of the state by the
I church;
No church interference with the func-
| tions Of the state;
! No STATE interference with the functions
/ Of the church, or with the free exercise
| of religion;
! from the domination of ecclesiastical au-
/ thority in political affairs.
Accepting this in the same good faith
as its authors manifest, the practice Of
these professions ought to go far to-
ward eliminating the element in poll
tics which has attained political power
solely by the use of agencies which
identified it with church influence, and
| las done this openly, unrebuked and
/ effectively.
1t is easy to understand why mem
! bers of the Mormon church should
abandon party lines temporarily when
the church itself is assaiIed: but it is
| impossible 10 understand why the
church leaders have permitted their or
ganization to be placed i'm the position
of supporting individuals and parties
when no such issue was uppernost. I'M
less it was done by design and with a
clear purpose.
/ Instances Of this sort can be recalled
by any one familiar with Utah politics,
and their recurrence mas been RESPONSE
bic for much of the hostility to the
church among men who otherwise
would have been their friends and ad-
/ vocates of their rights as against out
! side Misrepresentation. To be more
| specific, the state Republican organi-
cation Of today owes its dominating
power to men who have utilized their
church connections for political pur-
poses and have achieved success by
that method.
To Democrats who believe sincerely
in their party principles and have re-
manned loyal TO them through all the
bitter controversies of the past few
years, the domination of the Republic
can machine by such means has be-
come intolerable a menace TO the wei
fare of the state and the church alike,
a constant source Of injury to all con-
Cerned. If. as this declaration an
nounces, the church intends to discred-
it men who use such methods, if poiit-
! ical and civil affairs are to be kept
really separate and apart from inter-
| ference by church officials, the dawn
of a new day is not far away.
For the future welfare of the state.
as a factor in the progress of the Nor
mon church toward the achievement Of
lofty purposes. as a step toward the
peace which this declaration invites,
and which nearly every citizen of the
state so earnestly desires, it is to be
hoped the spirit as well as the text of
the declaration may be fulfilled.