The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-10-24
THE FACTS IN COMPARISON

z SoMEAhlt5ON
We notice that the Dcscrct News !,
TRYING TO gather little campaign tbnr
der for itself out of the doings =
President Brigham Young. though Tho
lost the Provo election
while appealing to his infallibility. 7,
makes the claim, in effect, that. Utah
grew and prospcred under and bv rca.
SON Of Mr.. Young IS guidance and dom.
ination faster than under Amcricanism
Now. that is altogether so foolish
that ii is scarcely worth while talin,
any notice of it. But it serves TO re.
mind us Of what was the political pro.
cess in the early ninctics, when the old
People party was dissolved aud il
mcmbcrship-whic was entirely Nor.
mor-adviscd 10 divide up on National
party lines. There was the same anxietv
then on the part of church partisan,
TO gain advantage TO the particular
cause Of their pretended espousal. Sono
Of the wiser heads, especially of the
apostolatc. went through tho Territory
advising the saints to "divide up ab2u,
evenly. - as between the Republican and
Democratic parties, so that neither or.
gauization could make tho charge tina,
favor was being shown to the other
The real object, of course, was to have
n sufficiently even division TO enable the
ecclesiastical chiefs 10 swing an elee
tion by the removal of very few of their
controlled votes from one side TO tho
other But there were some among the
politicians who were ambitious to serve
their parties with little extra zeal.
and this brought about a peculiar state
of affairs. There would, be one elder
for instance, down at Provo arguing
that Joseph Smith was in favor of Dem
ocracy. Then there was another at
Logan who shouted that Joseph had
declared that the Democracy was eter
nally and uncompromisingly damned in
the Mormon eve. because it was under
the administration of that party tha.
the saints had endured their creates.
q persecution. - And so they banded
the thing about from pillar to post, anu
! from pulpit to country newspaper Of
fee. until it became so disgusting thai
the higher officials were finally obliged
TO call n halt
Perhaps if will be Just as well for
/ the News to realize and remember tba.
most people hcrcabouts may conclude
that Joseph and Brigham were all right
in their own times and places, but that
these times and places are not now nor
in this political fight.
i ought to be held in mind by the
| News. also. that there are certain causes
which 90 10 affect the tide of immigra-
| tiom to this State. The missionaries Of
| the Mormon church do not make near
as many converts now as they used TO.
Besides. ms Joseph i. Smith and Other
authorities have said, the church no
IIongcr advises converts TO "gathcr TO
Zion, rs they did in the old days.
| These two causes have tended 20 very
greatly reduce the volume of Mormon
immigration TO Utah; and these iWo
conditions are directly due 80 the as
| ton Of the Mormon church, and no,
to the American party. The organic
ton has been brought into such disrr
pu,c by its leaders that IL is vastly
more difficult now than formerly 70
make converts to the faith; and of the:e
fewer converts the church advises still
fewer TO come to Utah. On the othcF
hand, The American party has more thar
made up for this lack by inducing pro
grcssjvc addition TO the State IS popu.
| lation OF course, this addition is chief
~ to Salt Lake City, where AmerIcar
ism is triumphant. But this is distiuctlF
| favorable to the claims of Amcricanism'
especially when we consider that ihe
infinitely slower growth is in Localities
where the Mormon hicrarchs control
1t is m admitted fact, and tine New
win rot deny it, that Utah is growing
principally in Salt Lake, and thai
Utah 5 progress is slow outside of Sal
Lake. Here Amcricansm controls, and
outside the church controls. Can The
News find any political capital in thn
condition?