Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-09-21

within, lean on themselves. look about
Them, and try in a5large way to be men,.
as they We're born to be.
What is a game OF billiards, "a glass Of
beer.a cup of coffee, cigar, or OTHER
| PETTY VICES. in the spun of a strong
| human life2 Let IL new era
dawn III which men shall dare to be.
| men,.
Unfortunately this terrible doctrine of
freedom through the saloon and the
| brotne! was too we'll applied when
the government of this community was.
| by fraud wrested from the people. Then
an era OF lawlessness commenced in
earnest. The pent zip forces OF vice
| were let loose. 10 do their work of IL
| heration" What tho moral condition
WAS under the new regime may be.
| judged from the fact that the citizens
| who had Toted for the Liberal ticket
found ii necessary to protest against
| their own officials. On December q,
| 1880, circular was sent out calling
| for d mass meeting in the First Metho-
| dist church, to consider the state of
morality in this City; to protest against
| the granting OF any more licenses to
| saloons and to respectfully request and
| demand that the laws against gam
| bling houses, brothels, the selling of IL
| quor to minors. and Sunday selling be
! strictly enforced 1.-THE meeting was
held, and the speakers. though anti
| "Mormons, did not hesitate to speak
their mind freely. George F. Wan
less said that when he came to the
| City Sundays We're so quiet that
| stranger would not have supposed that
there were any saloons in the City.
Since then. he said, a great change had
come. Saloons We're multiplied all over
the City. They We're running on sun
days MS on other days in defiance OF
law. and ladies and children could not
walk the streets without their ears be-
ing shocked with obscene and p1ofane
language The result of non-enforce-
ment of the laws WAS the hocking here
of criminals from other quarters. seek
ing a field where they could commit
crime with impunlty. Hence this City
is flooded, he said. with loose and dam
gerous characters
DR.. Tliff said that never before had
there existed In this City the necessity
for a meeting OF this character. He
even moved that a certain clause in the
resolutions which stated that misrule
had existed for 80 or 40 years prior to
the Liberal rule, be stricken out. and
this was carried with only one dissent
ing vote, that of Rev. McNiece, show
ing the general sentiment in the Citya
that time.
All this is ancient history. but 1t
shows the origin of the so-called red
light district. IT shows how its estab-
5lishment was part of the general anti
"Mormon plots. 1t shows how vic..
was encouraged by the agitators who
were anti-"Mormon" for revenue. Tho
novels Of vice We're their allies. Never
was this truth more forcibly expressed
than by Hon. Fitch. who said in the
Constitutional convention, 1872:
Finding the courts and Federal Of
ficers arrayed against the Murnions,
with pleased alacrity this class Lspeak-
ing OF the lawlesss clement have placed
themselves on the side of courts and
officers. Elements ordinarily dscord
ant blend ;tpgetherEin the same seeth-
ing cauldron. Tho has,nios and #hels
shout hosannas to the courts; the all
tars Of religion are infested with the
paraphernalia and the presence of vice;
& the drunkard espouses the cause of
Temperatures; the companion OF harlots&
breaches the beauties of virtue and
confluence. All believe that license Will
/. be granted by the leaders IN ortler&to
advance their sacred cause. and the
result Is All Immense support from
those friends OF immortality and archi-
tccts of disorder who care nothing for
the cause, but everything for the tli-
scense. These constitute a nucleus of
raformers and mass OF ruffians. a
center of zealots and Il circumference
of plunderers. The dramshop interests
hopes to escape the Mormon tax Of $500
per month by sustaining a. judge who
will enioin the collection of the tax. and
the prostitutes persuade their patrons
to support judges who Will interfere by
hahsas corpus With any practical en-
forcement Of municipal ordinances.
Every interest of industry is disas
trously affected by this unholy alliance;
every right of the citizen is threatened
If not assailed by this ungodly COM
bination."
Z This. as weahave said Is ancient his
tory, but The same influences are at
work again reaching out for control of
the government of Utah, in all its
branches. The conditions prevailing
in this City now are not any better
than they were when the Christian citi-
zens were aroused by the voice of con-
science to action In 1890.