The Idaho scimitar. [volume] (Boise, Idaho) 1907-1908, 1908-03-14
THE IDAHO SCIMITAR.


The talk about religious persecution is buncomb,
Joseph f. Smith, the head of the Mormon church
together with the majority of his twelve chief coun
sellers, are open and avowed law-breakers living i
polygamy in defiance of statutory law setting a
naught revelation of their predecessor suspending
the doctrine of polyagmy repudiqting their owl
petition tor amnesty to the president of the United
States and further defyng the constituted AUTHORITY
OF the law-rnakng power by ignoring and defyns
the amnesty granted by Presidents Harrison an(
Cleveland If these Mormons were counterfeter
instead OF polygamsts; if they believed that the
right to issue counterfeit money was divine reve
ation to their church, and attempted to put in prac
tce, and were caught with the goods and subjected
to the penalties prescribed by law and upon their
release they persisted in manufacturing and uttering
counterfeit money, would the Jack-M ormons claim
that there religious persecution" in an organ
lied effort on the part of society at large to make
them stop their illegal and debasing practices?
If statements made by Gentiles who have lived in
the Mormon sections can be accepted, the Mornons
themselves can give enlightening lessons in the
art and science OF religious persecution. Let some
jack Mormon who wants light on this subject buy a
farm III Mormon settlement and live on it for one
year, and he will likely know more about religious
persecution" than he has read of in lifetime
The Jack Mormon sentiment, in the MAN, enlan-
ates from Democrats residing in towns in southern
Idaho like Boise City, Caldwell, Mountain Home
Nampa and other towns in the counties where there
is Mormon population enough to hold the balance of
power. The Jack-Mormon would have the partv in
the State repudate its policies for the sake of being
Their names and their purposes are we'll understood
despite their anonymous contributions to the Tribune
and other papers. They have one recourse which,
they Democrats they will put into practice et
them turn out at the primaries and elect their dele
gates to the State convention. If they can control
the convention they can write the PLATFORM nominate
their candidates and determine the policies of the
party But If they are not strong enough to control
the party organization, platform and policy then as
Democrats they are in duty bound, simply as
matter OF party ethics to conform to the desires of
the majority If they fear they cannot control them
they should not go to the primaries nor attend the
convention. They are then at liberty to vote the
ticket or to scratch it at their pleasure But having
attended a primary election they in duty bound
to vote the ticket nominated by the convention Any
other action is dishonest. And vet, as our anony-
nous correspondent admits, he and his Jack Mormon
have scratched the Democratic ticket be-
cause they did not approve of the Democratic policy
on the Mormon issue. And now with gall super1a-
tive, although the Jack-Mormon leaders have not
voted the Democratic ticket for many years, they
now ask the great majority to reverse themselves and
the action OF the party They will never be gratiied
Shortly after the State election of 1906 the lack
Mormon press pointed to the fact that Stocksager
carried Ada County, while the Republican candidates
tor the Legislature elected by about 1000 ma
ority, and they gleefully pointed to this as an in
location of the unpopu1arty of Senator Dubois in
Ada county. AS matter of fact the Democratic
candidates for the Legislature in Ada county ran
head OF the rest of the Democratic ticket thus dem
that Dubois stronger than his tick
It IN that county, although it was Senator Borah's
!ome county; comparison of the vote for
Ioodng with the vote for the county ticket
er of the revolt against the Gooding ma
hine, and bitter fight made against him
y the politicians in Ada county. The Ada county
ote shows that the the candidates for the Legis1a-
IRE received from 200 to 500 votes more than the
ther candidates the Democratic ticket which was
good showing for Dubois in Mr. Borat's home
ounty.
This matter is not important except as showing
lat the Jack-Mormon hostility to the anti Mormon
ampa1gn IS based more upon hatred of and hosti1-
y to Senator Dubois than to any other reason Nor
there any more reason WHY the Democratic nart,