Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-05-07
a FULL AND FRANK srAr1rEn,IEl:5N,,rl'


a FULL AND FRANK STATEMENT To % 7 J,
we ttre pleased To make a note OF
the fact that the5T Tribune In continuing 1Nll
on Thursday the discus lon8ot the cues l'';
ton of so-called American influence
upon the progress Of this CITY, a' an,
dons its previous rnffianisnl and uses
calm and civilized langlag Sc cofn ~ ara
lively speaking. Perhaps It has, hna az;
y w become clear to our contemporary
that an argument does not defiNs
strength from the use of language that
would not be tolerated among gcna '1 :.
men but would be quickly resentea'
( We note this change In tactics ana sll.-
cerely hope, for the reputation of this
community, that it may be pe peri 1sl'
nent.
. ant the Tribune still inslnuates that
= tho IN ews,, only mentioned the hearns
building once, and that our notice was
premature and inaccurate. The notice
I in the News on March q. was Just
\ as correct as the later. announcement
In the Tribune, though not SO lengthy
and not detailed The notice In the
News on April 2S, gave briefly the
details, as printed the same day IN the
Tribune. Those are the facts, and that
our contemporary should have under.
taken to dispute statement SO easily
verified, is one Of the mysteries or
4 Tribune polemics.
But there Is another point IN the edl-
toriai referred to. which should be con-
T tradicted, in the interest Of truth. The
Tribune says;
During all the years that the city
has been in church control, it was held
: back by reason of the non-progrcs-
&siVe ideas of those III charge. Every
& proposed Improvement was resisted and
condemned. Sewers We're objected to
as useless, an expense without benefits;
street paving WAS opposed. and side
81 walks were denounced. Every step In
Improvement has teen fought by the
church parties
A double instrumentation is embod-
led in these sentences. The first is that
the city was at some time controlled
by the Church and second, that the
Church members We're opposed to inn
proye,nents. Both insinuations are
without any foundation in truth.
AsA 1t Is true that when the Latter-day
Saints first settled In this valley. their
Organization naturally was ecclesias-
teal. but as early as 1S49, civil gov
ernment was formed anda state consti-
tuition adopted, and in 1851 Great Salt
Lake city was Incorporated by legis-
alative enactment. And from that tinlo
till now the City has never been ralder
{ the control Of the Church, The Lat
ter-day Saints have always believed
that the church aud state are separate;
that the mission of each is different
from that or the other, though both
have divine sanction; and That both
are best served when each is indepen-
dent in its own sphere. This is u
fundamental principle of American gov
eminent. which the Saints believe to be,
OF divine origin. TO them it is, there
fore, n religious duty to uphold that
principle, and they have done so, and
are doing so now, Notwithstanding all
assertions to the contrary by taoae
Who are NOT their friends. 1t is not
true that the City has been unler
Church control, or that there Was any
necessity for rescuing it from such con-
troll. 1t has been controlled by the
PEOPLES party, hy tie f,tGeral party.
< by tie peinocrsyt &c, tins Y. abl;ean, and
the American parts! lat. ne et oy Tie
Church.
We do not deny that influential
Church members hive al times exer-
cized influence upon the affairs Of the
City. So have other church members,
and even preachers: but that Is not
Church influence. Let us get away
+ from the confusion OF terms, and it will
be easy to understand each other. Most
of the misunderstanding in Utah is due
to the use Of ambiguous and mlslead-
ing language.
As to the second lnsinuatIen thai
Church members have always opposed
improvements. we need only point to