The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-08-14
"GET 1T THROUGH THE NEWS. ,

| SbI LII If1hOOGH II1E NEWS,
The Church organ occasionally gets
off bit of unconscious humor that
would mark it as bright if it were not
so unintentional For instance, on
Thursday evening it had this editorial
paragraph:
Whenever there is any authentic news
OF public Importance regarding the
Church, or prominent members OF the
Church the readers of the Descret News
VIII get II through this paper But the
Descret News cannot give surmtses and
rumors as news"
To be sure; to bo sure. And that
same evening it printed the report of
the apostolic commission finding Elder
Parkinson, president of the Oneida
stake of Zion, guilty OF formidable
hist of charges including fraud, embez-
element, perjury, and various things
like that And yet on juno 21st, 1910,
1t editorially endorsed Parkinson in
these words;
AS for President George c. Parkin-
son. he is honored by all who know him
as n good. honest. energetic citizen. true
seiiishiy labori1s for the interests with
which he is identified. He has not
deemed IL necessary TO take notice of
the stories printed, we'll knowing that the
attacks, as far as The Tribune was con-
cerned, were intended against the church
not against him.
The apostolic commission, however,
did not seem to agree with the inspired
News, either that Parkinson was ga
good, honest, energetic citizen, true to
every trust etc, or that it was an
attack on the church - On the con.
trary, quito the reverse; for it found
him guilty on every count charged, Of
abuse of trust, of taking what did not
belong to him, and Of scandalous be-
trayal of the interests in his charge
1t found also that the brethren who
complained of Parkinson were fully
justified In their complaints against
him, and that they did right in asking
the investigation. Neither the church
commission nor the betrayed brethren
considered that bringing Parkinson to
.iusoice was attacking the church.
And that is the way that the church
organ gives "any authentic news of
public Importance regarding the Church
Church,
For very shame, we should think that
the Dcseret News would want TO duck
its head under any convenient sand bar,
no matter what other portion Of its
anatomy might be exposed.
Other matters have been similarly
disastrous to the News IS claim of print
ing the facts about elders in the church
and their doings. In the several cases
where new polygamy could not very
we'll be denied the News has brazenly
asserted that it was the fault of some
vile woman who had betrayed the ell
dors into false position; and thds
atrocious calumny on the women in
volved in the cases it has never re-
tracted, although 1t ought to have done
so with burning checks.
1t will be remembered, for it rs not
so very long ago, that the church organ
assumed to quote Judge LeGrand Young
of this city In manner denunciatory
of the city council of Salt Lake. The
next evening it had to print full re-
traction ana CONCESSION JndJ III ndu
not had any interview or talk of any
kind with Mr.. Young, and that there
was no foundation whatever for its
statement that he had said the things
1t quoted him as saying. Probably the
most abiect, humiliating and thorough
going confession of absolute, malicious
living ever made by any newspaper.
And yet it has the extreme impu-
dence and gall to come forward after
a long series of disastrous episodes like
this, and claim to be the paper that
prints "any authentic news of public
importance regarding the Church and
prominent members of the Church. y
When it is remembered that in this
very Parkinson case the church organ
undertook to deny and cover up and
to give Parkinson a complete bill OF
moral health and good works, the
abounding hypocrisy of its claim can
not fail to be evident to an intelligent
public.