Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-10-31
cHURcH RULE NOT a QUESTION.

/ gentleman has sent an Identical
note to the daily papers of this city.
l criticisng in a sarcastic manner an edi-
torial in morning contemporaries. He
signs his effort your sincere friend
| for honest church rule
! This is. Of course. meant TO be a
] clincher, but It is not IT Is rather an
opening through which utter Ignorance
OF the real situation In Utah Is re-
yealed. If the question We're of the
! political supremacy Of q church In the
state. the News" would be the first TO
oppose any such claim or prctension.
even on the part of the Church it has
the honor of representing. No8one de-.
mands Church rule. No one expects
| special privileges for any church. or
| church members. The Latter-day Saints
do not ask for any favor for their
Church. They only ask for equal OPP
portunities for all citizens. without ia
vor or discrimination on account OF
church affiliation.
The opposition has succeeded in be-
fuddllng the minds of It's followers to
this fact, and made them believe they
arc resisting church encroachment up
on the domain Of the state. In this Ec-.
lief they are as honest as was the poor
woman who laborlously dragged her
faggots to the burning pile upon which
Huss was sacrificed. in the belief that
she was serving God In the war upon
the heretics But they are just as mis-
taken as that old woman was. They
are aiding the Tribune gang In pervert-
ing politics into an engine OF persecu-
tlon.
The Tribune aim is to disfranchisc
every member Of the Church. This Is
proved by the plan of attack upon Sem
ator Snioot. That plan comprised
charges so broad that II they had been
entertained, his expulsion could have
been followed up by n similar attack
upon Congressman Howell And II the
House had taken the action hoped for
by nnti-.Mormons,' no Church member
would have had the slightest chance OF
representing Utah in Congress. Judge
King. or Hon. James H. Moyle,
or Hon. l.. r. Martineau would
be barred. Just AZ well as the
Senator upon which the first as
sault was made. Church members could
have been excluded from every office In
tho state, and from every privilege of
American citizenship. as the Tribune
has advocated many a time.
That general disfranchisement was
the aim of the crusade is proved by the
fact that Dubois followers attempted
to Dust Judge Bulge from office, be-
proved by the demand of the Tribune
that all Church members be dismissed
from he police force, as spies 1t Is
proved by the brutal dictum of '.Ameri-
can" contractors who fntten on public
taxes, that no ----------ss = NJ ernon' need
apply for work. It Is proved by boycott
and acts of petty tyranny by City
councllmen. and by the public declara-
ton enthusiastically applauded by an
american" convention, that az soon us
the party has the power to do 50. 1t
will send the authorities Of the Church.
guilty or not guilty, to prison or into
exile
That Is the real contention in Utah.
Shall the people rule? Shall there DO
equality for all, or, shall a disgruntled
politician rob the people Of their Con-
stitutional privileges, in order that he
may have the control of the offices and
the taxes of the people? That Is the
question. Do not be deceived. Do not
drag your faggots to the pile saturated
by the oil OF persecution, in the belief
| that you are serving the cause OF free
dom. when, by so doing, you arc only
serving interruptions consplrators. The
| people will not rule. IL those conspira-
tors triumph. Persecution does not
] pay. Those who klndle the fire and
fan the flames are the enemies of the
state.