The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-11-21
ITS VAIL OF DISTRESS.

ut revived It's old fakcry about re-
; pressing the opposition to the Mormon
leaders control through n public meet
ing whereby the Saints were TO be OK.
altcI and the outsiders suppressed
nothing here but peace. and that Nor.
mon peace. Tho attractivcncss Of such
Il programme as that is very much
diminished by reason Of the fact that
VIC have had precisely that sort of
thing heretofore. We know exactly
what ii means. We know il means The
cxaltation of polygamists, the suppress
sion Of individual opinion and express
sion. stagnation in business. the stop
page Of public Improvements. and the
decay Of the town. To such shock
ing extent had The latter progressed
in 1905, under the control OF the
church manipulators through the "'solid
eight" in the City Council and other
WISE that the city was actually going
backwards. People wcrc leaving town,
houses wero vacant and there was tho
mold Of decay everywhere beginning
to be seen,
And now we are invited by the
church organ to take steps to get back
to that condition which it seemed so
much to relish. Tho peace that it
Graves is the sort Of peace that
Frcigned in Warsaw whero all diff
ference Of opinion was suppressed and
where government was transferred TO
despotic and alien power The in.
vitation to return to those conditions
and to allow undisputcd hicrarchic
tyranny is not an alluring one. There
might be some consideration Of it, how
| il We did not know precisely what IT
leads TO. and what we would be bound
to get in case we agreed 10 it. The
return to such depIorabe conditions as
tho American party rescued tho city
from can surely not he attractive to
any wellwisher Of Salt Lake.
And to whom is the control by the
American party objectionable Sim.
ply to the bafficd hierarchy, which is
not able to display the power and cx-
ercisc the arbitrary rule that it has
heretofore been accustomed TO do, and
the deprivation Of which it considers
hardship But the people arc tired
of that rule, and have no disposition
whatever to reinstate it, Another
faction. that known as the Federal
bunch" finds American control obJec-
tionable because that control is not
amenable to the .'Federal bunch" boss
ism. But the "Federal bunch is in
such dsrepute, not only here bat
throughout the State, that its obiec
tons will have very little weight with
anybody.
Inasmuch, therefore, as there is no
reasonable objection to American con
troll, inasmuch as what the church or
gan terms "strife that strife being
merely resistance to ecclesiastical tyr.
anny-and since the objection of the
"Federal bunch" doesn t count for
much, what is the sense in raising
cIamor about Objectionable condi-
tions.' which in fact are not obJec-
tionable at all? American control
brought a prosperity to the city never
before known TO it. 1t has placed
Salt Lake City in the lead of all Amer
lean cities in Improvements, in build
ing. and in general financial strength.
These conditions are applauded by ev-
ery one except the reactionaries, who
see through them all prospect of their
regaining control Of the city vanish as
a vain dream The one who wishes 20
change conditions in Salt Lake City TO
the old death-in-life condition under
church control, though he pose as q
friend to the city, is in reality its
deadliest foe.
Continuing its parable the church or
gan lies about conditions here being
merely "for Offices and control OF pub
lie funds" Even if this were true,
however. it would be Just as fair to
charge that same purpose upon the hier-
archie politicians as upon the American
party. That sort Of charge cuts both
ways, and the church party is even
more amenable TO it than is the Amer
ican party.
Further on the organ saws:
But we want to say that the church
claims, and has a right to claim, fun
freedom of belief and worship, the same
as every other denomination, We claim
equal political rights for church mem
bers, with every other American citizen;
no more and no less. We further claim
that the church has the right To protec-
tion from the venomous attacks OF the
so-called American" party organ. Just
as every other church has n right TO cX-
list. ip this country OF equal rights. with
out bens daily insulted and DETAINED by
a political sheet We claim that the lead
ers OF the so-called american" party
are culpable before the bar OF moral SEN
timcnt OF the American people, for sup
porting n paper in It's vlle and lying at
tacks upon q church. that has the right
of protection under the American flag.
They are particularly culpable. after the
falsehoods Of the "organ" have been ex-
posed and rcfuted In the United States
Senate, and for upholding It in its con-
temptlble course.
Since no one has in the least de-
gree cndeavored to interfere with "fuI
freedom Of belief and worship" the
whine in that respect can be dismissed
as an idle attempt TO awaken public