The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-11-22
POLITICAL CHURCH JoBBERY,

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POLITICAL CHURCH JoBBERY.
| IL appears from the story received
by The Tribune that the liquor plank
III the Republican State platform was
fixed m at q conference at church
Headquarters between tho church lead
ors and the Federal bunch The church
leaders abandoned whatever principle
they may have held in favor of prohi-
bltion, and the Federal bunch agreed
to let the people decide in the different
localities whether they wanted liquor
TO be sold or not. tho parties To the
compact rcserving, however. the State
at large outside Of the cities for the
prohibition cause. The church gained
the rural districts for prohibition, and
the Federal bunch gained the cities for
The liquor interests, the principle Of
prohibition being surrendered. And
that was the division agreed upon by
the church authorities and by the Fed.
eral bunchl An unboly compact in poll
ties. sinking the moral issue involved
upon which so much. stress has been
laid, to carry out the "dcal' between
the liquor interests and the "Fodcra!
bunch. -
ln this We sec concrete instance of
The evil of church control in politics.
The church was willing to sacrifice
the moral issue to political cxpcdicncy,
and allow the liquor interests to prevail
over the church sentiment in all the
centers of population.
In this mixing of the church IN State
affairs, therefore, the evil primarily is
the mixing itself, and next in the re-
suits that come from that mixing. The
church has no business IN politics. 1t
has no business debating political plat
forms. IL has no business compromis-
iog what it holds TO be moral j ie
for the sake of vile political profit and
power. Yet this is precisely what the
Mormon church has done, even on its
own showing, in this unholy combine
with the Federal bunch and the huIor
interests. This unhoIv combiua ton.
however, got the votes, and that is
doubtless all that the Federal bunch
cared for. That, however. is simply
from ward heeIer S standpoint; and
Tor church to come down 10 that
standpoint in politics is surely tri
umph of evil that can hardly be viewed
otherwise than with horror by every
conscientious member of the Mormon
church, or of any church
The Mormon church is not only in
politics, as is evident from its oblitera-
lion of the Democratic vote in this
State, but it is in politics on very
low plane, as is evident from its com
promise in tho conference the church
leaders. had with the members of the
Federal bunch. Whatever moral STAN
ina may have been supposed to rest in
the Mormon church leaders on the
liquor question was absolutely sur
rendered to the Federal bunch in This
conference
Let this shocking political iobbery
and church jockeying be fully under
stood by the people of this State, and
not forgotten by any voter. Let the
people fully understand and remember
that the surrender of the church on the
prohibition question was for political
chicane. and was dictated by the I'M
principled Federal bunch which bad
blackmailed the liquor interests out of
money and had compelled the liquor
vote TO come to it's standard. This is
the sort Of thing that the church con-
sents TO aid and further when it goes
into politics, and the platform built
on liquor selling for its corner stone"
is approved by the church in its politi.
cal programme. before being submitted
TO the convention, and when so sub
mitted is crammed down the throats Of
reluctant delegates as from the church
and by church "coupscI.'
This whole transaction in its shame
fubenormity and conscienccless surrou-
der to vice, is the price the church has to
paw for getting into politics and 'sus-
tanning Smoot as its political Leader
and mouthpiecc.