Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-10-19
TREASON!


sonabIe organization. Ordinarily the
proof ought to have been at hand iirse'
and the accusation formulated accord
ingly. But this rational procedure Is
contrary to Tribune methods That or
gan of moral purity and angelic inno-
cence always accuses first and looks
round for proofs afterwards. And SO ~
happens that the alleged proof of trea-
son is late in appearing But here 1t
IS, and we may well exclaim with tho
& Seer OF old, Hear. Heavens, ana
give ear. o Earth:"
.srhe Lord God Almighty has set up q
Kingdom that Will sway the scepter OF
power and authority over al the klng-
doms of the world. and will never pc
destroyed, 1t Is the kingdom that Dan
iel saw and wrote of. II may be con-
X sidered treason to say that the KING
dom which that prophet foretold Is
actually set up; that VIC cannot help,
f but we know it is our testimony. Ser
mon OF President Brigham Young at
Salt Lake Tabernacle, April y, 1907;
Journal OF Discourses. volume l, pages
2D2 and 203.
This the Tribune quotes as proof that
President Young was O traitor TO
E proclaim the supreme power OF the Al
mighty over all the Kingdoms OF the
world, Is treason! To believe that the
Church is the "kingdom" Of which Dan
iel wrote, IS treason! We are under OBJ
LEGATION to our adversary for admitting
a that the only foundation on which Its
charge OF treason rests Is the belief OF
= the Latter-day Saints In the prophecies
OF Daniel. We are, furthermore, under
obligation, because the Tribune charge
1 shows that the crusade against the
Church leaders is but continuation Of
3 the warfare against our Lord and the
first martyrs. He was slain accused OF
being an asplrant to political power,
though Flo explained that His Kingdom
7 was not of the world. His followers
& were slain by the thousands on the pre-
text that their doctrines were a mem
nee to the state, though the Caesars
had no truer subjects than the Chris
tians, Tho crusade of tho Tribune 10
but continuation of that warfare.
& But treason Is a well defined crime in
/. this country. 1t consists in levying war
against the United States. or In adj,
herring to the enemies, giving them aid
and comfort. 1t is not treason to boz.
licve and preach that the Lord has set
up the Kingdom which Daniel saw In
3 his visions.
IL 1t is not true that the Lord has
already established that kingdom, It
will be established at somee future,
time. Everyone who believes In the
Bible believes in the prophetic declarn-
4 ton Of Daniel. He believes either that
the Kingdom has been established, or
that 1T will be. Every believer in the
Bible Is, therefore, by the Tribune rea-
soning, a traitor.
We submit to any reasonable being
tho proposition that the only true test
or the loyalty of any people is FUR
llished by their acts. And by this test
the Latter-day Saints are perfectly
willing to be Judged. During the early
prosecutions and ever since they have
proved themselves loyal and law-abid-
ing, true Americans by instinct and
Christians In practice. They We're hat
4 ed because they believed in maintaining
4 the law. and because they were reforms
crs. One OF tho chief excuses for tho
assaults by the Missouri mobs was
their belief In spiritual manifestations
and in tho power of God to heal. This
was incredible to the rufiians who as
sailed them in Missouri; and yet that
/. doctrine Is now almost common. The
Saints have been driven, outraged,
murdered, but they never thought Of
any hostility to the United States, the
government or the Constitution. They
were loyal to the flag. They protested
against the excuses that had been
committed under 1t, and sometimes
L criticized officials whom they thought
guilty of neglect, but they carried with
them into the wilderness profound
reverence for the institutions Of this
Republic. They looked forward to the
time when 1t would be their mission to
uphold and maintain the integrity of
these institutions. The Mormon bat
talon gladly marched under the STAR
epangled banner to aid in the extern
sion of the borders of the Republic. and
those who did not go with the battalion
carried the flag with them to these
mountain valleys. And this attitude
the Saints have ever maintained. Their
struggles In the courts have been TO.
the maintenance, as they saw it, OF
Constitutional rights. 1t remained for
the anti-Mormons to propose in the
United States Senate, that the Consti-
tuition pc SGT aside for an alleged high
er lasv. That may, perhaps, be branded
(. as treason.
The Prophet Joseph in his very last
public discourse said, in part:
1--WE are American citizens. We live
upon a soil for the liberty of which
our fathers perilled their lives and
split their blood upon the battlefield.
Those rights so dearly purchased shall
not be disgr;tcefully trodden under
foot by lawless marauders without al
least Il noble effort on OUR part to sus-
tain our liberties.
Twill you all stand by me TO the
death, and sustain, at the peril of your
lives, the laws of our country, and the
liberties and privileges which our ia
s theirs have transmitted unto us, sealed
Z with their sacred blood? ~
A mighty shout answered the appeal,
I in the a ttirnlatise The IS the spirit;
sssa of 'Mornlonisn.'' And 1t will be as
4 long as the memory of the rnartyred
Prophet is revered.
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