Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-02-12
TURN FROM PAST TO PRESENT.

The daily apologist for law-brcaking.
when confronted with the fact that
there never was n time In the history
of the City when the laws were more
f1agrantly deflcd than now. tres to
avoid the issue by shouting, "polygamy
and Danitcsi" But that dodge Is too
Transparent to be OF any service The
question Is nothcr polygamy nor Da-
mites. but tho white slave traffic that
has been givcn headquarters on ono OF
tho main thoroughfares of tho City,
under the present regime.
Polygalny .s an Issue OF the past, 1t
has been settled and Is of no moro I'M
mediate interest than tho question OF
slave holding. for instance. No plural
marriages are entered into. and no such
marriages have been contracted with
the sanction of the Church. since the
Manifesto. And with regard to tho
Danites. that was an aIbortivc, anti
Mormon" organization. that was as
short-lived as other anti-"Mormon" ag-
gregations have been. Whatever there
was to that belongs to the dead past.
The sheet Is trying to conJure up ghosts
to frighten It's dupcs, but to no pur-
pose.
At present the people of Salt Lake
are confronted with tho fact that tho
party dlctators who pretended to cham
pion loyalty or morality and on that
pretense, loudly and widely advertised.
succeeded in obtaining control OF Of
fees, are now permitting the City to
be overrIn with law-breaking. The fact
remains that the paper that for years
has croakcd like a bird of Ill omen
about polygamy is now Indifferent to,
or even a defender OF, vice In its most
depraving form. The fact remains that
an administration whose officers have
sworn to maintain the laws and or.
dinances are doing absolutely nothing
TO keep that oath, as far as the laws
against Sunday desecration and houses
of Ill repute are concerned. Tho con-
sequences OF this indifference to
the laws are visible on every
hand 1t would be moro hon
IL
demand the enforcement of the laws
against vice, at the hand of its own
party officials. 1t should be easier to
remove the beam out of Its own eye,
first. After having done that 1t would
have acquired right-which 1t has not
now-to look after the mote in the eye
of someone else.
The matter Is of considerable i'm
portance. The prevalence of the social
evil under official protection ls a men
ace to the home. 1t Will mean an i'm
crease In the number of divorces 1t
is a menace to the boys and girls OF
the community. Somehow they will
come in contact with the polluted at
mosphcre. since II cannot be confined
to one spot anymore than the black.
poisonous smoke that some chimneys
belch forth and all must inhale. II is
loss TO the business men whose leg
itlmate trade will be cut down to the
extont that money is being spent on
harlots. II is an enemy of the church.
es. For the frequenters of dens of In
lquity are not filling the houses of wor-
ship. 1t Is. finally, n detriment to our
educational institutions. and every edu-
Gator ought TO be up in arms against
the officials who are responsible fer it.
Parents are not going to send their
young boys and girls to be educated
in a city where the pitfalls are main
tained by official sanction, In every
way 1t is loss, and a curse, and the
fact that the consciences of some are
so dead that they even do not sense
the danger. is the most dangerous
feature OF all.