The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-26
DISCUSSING THE BLAME.

! IT is very hard to get exact testimony
in these cases. and then the usual teen
ncal interruptions allowed by law con-
sumo time and bafflc speed in handling
the prosecutions. To the general dIill-
Guilty Of prosecuting these eases Is added
the further hiudrauces put into the way,
by the organ Of the rrd-hGbt dis
trict - which assalS all of he attorneys
who have anything TO do with the pub
lie side of tho eases, and which back
cans and handicaps every effort of the
prosecution.
The allegations that tho cred light
district was established by The Amcr-
can party have become stale. and were
always well known TO be false and mali
cous. And yet, the Smoot Mouth, -
the organ Of the cred light gang,
had the gall again yesterday morning
TO reiteratc the stale falsohood that
"of course, the bosses Of the American
party are responsible for the stockade.
The bosses Of tho American party. ac-
cording TO the Mouth are not the
city officials, but somebody else; and,
of course. in this form, the lie is Just
as plain and absolute as in any other
form in which it has been put.
On tho other hand, tho Dcseret News.
the church organ, squarcly admits that
the American party is moi responsible
for the cred light district this ad-
mission coming in It's leading editorial
of Monday evening, the opening para
graph of which is as follows.
We agree with The Tribune that the
American party is not responsible for
the ''rcd-light' district. And as n iS
not very often we have an opportunity OF
acknowledging agreement with that pa
per In anything: We hasten 10 make
note of this extremely rare exception.
The party as such Is not responsible for
the district" 1t is not in any sense
party institution. Having made this aC
acknowledgement, VIC expect The Tribune TO
admit some time. that neither is the
church responsible for acts and opinions
OF individuals.
1t is quite true that the evil con
nectcd with the "rcd-light district" is
in no sense party institution. II APP
pearcd to be necessary however, TO cite
the case of Ogden TO bring this we'll
known fact home TO the News. The
truth is that the evil of the demi-mondc
under world is one which grows in
cities from small beginnings until it be-
comes a nuisance and pest, and this
without regard TO partisan, scctarian. or
party administration. The evil under
the old Peoples party control was even
more conspicuous and scandalous than
it has ever been since. 1t existed right
along under the old Liberal party ad-
ministration without any particular
change. When the party division came.
first one party and then the other has
controlled the city, and the same old
evil continued without any material
change. Commercial street and Vic
tcria alley were known as the sinks OF
this vile traffic, and repeated efforts
10 get rid of the abomination failed.
The same in general is true of the city
of Ogden There the evil survives, no
matter what party IS in power or what
effort is made to get rid Of it, This
is not, Of course. any reason why we
should not try 10 stamp out this evil,
for we should. and in every possible
way this vicc and noxious evil should
be cradicated.
With regard to the final sentence
from the quotation from the News. we
would state that on the proposition that
the church is not responsible for "acts
and opinions Of Individuals - it is
bound TO be responsible for those "acts
and opinions if those "acts and
opinions are held to be the persecu-
tions Of The church. as is so much the
fashion in church poemics. If the per
secutions of individuals for acts against
the law is to be considered persecution
of the church, then, naturally. il fol.
lows that for acts and opinions of in.
dividuals the church must be held re-
sponsible, especially if those individ-
uals are sustained by the church as
leaders, inspired men of God, who speak
the words that God puts into their
mouths. We do not see. under the
latter supposition, how it is possible
for the church TO cvade responsibility
for the uttcrances of its eXponents who
are sustained by the church as a whole
If tho church writer's and speakers
would cease their cry that the church
is prosecuted when certain offenders
against the law were held to answer
for their crimes. then it would be in
position TO say that the church was not
responsible for tho Facts and opinions
of individuals. - But as il is, il would
hardly do to plead the church in one
| case in the matter of prosecutions and
exoneratc the church III the other with
respect TO the acts and opinions Of
its trusted and official representa-
tives.
Pursuing further the citation Of the
! Ogden case. the News, in reply to our
| counterstatcment that if the American
party is responsible for the cred light
/ district here, RS it then claimed. then
one or both Of the church parties must
be responsible for the establishment Of
such a district in Ogden. To this the