The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-03-05
PRIESTS AND PIONEERS.

low ch hsrch organ is always eager Il
seizo upon any expression which 1t caI
6nd from any part of the country IL
honor OF the pioneers of that region
and to parade the claim of the churcl
leaders as the pioneers of Utah. and Sc
entitled 10 equal honor, And so they
would be If they were TO be considered
simply as pioneers. But they are no
50 limited They arc pushed forward
as "propheis, seers, and revelatorS
as men far above other men hyrcasor
of their so-called divine mission ant
reverence is claimed for them, not 81
much as pioneers. as men with direct
authority from God. inspired by Him
and as ''living oracles' of the divine
will, No other pioneers make any sucf
claim, nor is the like claimed for them
so there is not any reluctance TO dc
them honor simply as pioneers
But here, as soon as any proposition
is made to do the first settlers honor
as pioneers, the demand is made that
they must be honored also as special
men of God. and their self-assumed
religious authority conceded, And be
cause non Mormons refuse to do this
they arc denounced by the church or
gan as "fools and knaves.' as in its
editorial on this subject on Thursday
evening.
The question was sprung by the or
gan in taking note of some dcnuncia-
;ions made by one who had assaiIed
the personal characters and alleged
shameful acts of Samuel Adams, John
Hancock, John Adams. and Benjamin
Franklin. To these might be added
those of Jefferson, Patrick Henry. and
even of Washington himself, all Of
whom have been equally assailed, But
did any of those ilnstrious men pose
as prophets, scers, and revelators; nor
is any one required to accept them as
such, They wero men Of human ten
denotes, passions, and temptations,
which they did not always successfully
resist. The American public would
gladly forget whatever frailties they
possessed and remember them only. for
the splendid and triumphant work they
did in creating d new nation, not new
religion, Nor is il necessary in re-
membering them, and holding them in
glorious honor, to consider any religious
question at all,
1t is different in Utah. Hero the
first, The imperative, demand is that
the pioneers of This valley shall be
in their religious capacity
and their claims of divine approval con.
ceded. And that is where the refusal
comes. There is the reason why the Utah
pioneers cannot be treated on the same
plane as pioneers elsewhere, they put
themselves on an entirely different
plane, and insist upon everybody recog-
nizing them in their pretensions.
The organ sneers that it was the
pioneers aforesaid ''who made IL pos
sible FOR them the "fools and knaves"
who refuse TO accept the divine mis-
sion of the priesthood to live in Utah
N comfort A statement which those
only who know the facts can fairly
The fact is that those pio-'
neers could not themselves live here
in comfort. il was only the coming
through here of the early and immense
California transcontincntal rush for
gold that enabled the pioneers to live
here at all. Those "men of 49, and
years left with the Saints,
or involuntarily, great and
needed supplies of horses, cattle, wag-
)ns and food. The Mountain Meadow
massacre furnished the settlers Of south
,rn Utah with abundance in cattle,
wagons, ploughs, chains and other ma
erial much needed and sadly lacking
until that atrocious event. The open
ng of gold mines in Idaho and Mon
ana gave the "Sants' markets for
heir products, at fabulous prices. And
when the troops, first under Gen. John
,ton and then under Gen. Connor,
,ame, a great and profitable market was
furnished right at homo, which, with
The opening of the mines following
lirectly after, made the Saints" rich.
SO that IT was IN fact the non-Mor
mons that made it possible for the
Normons TO live in Utah in comfort,
he church organ having, as usual, di-
'ectly reversed conditions and results,
md falsifcd the facts as to the mutual
relations Of the two classes of the
population. 1t is not the MormoDs that
lavc made this region habitable in COM
lone this for the "Saints -