The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-08-30
SETTING UP THE PINS.

A special from Manti printed in The
Tribune on Sunday morning shows how
the bosses ''set up the pins'' politi-
cally in Utah. That dispatch stated
that Governor Spry, Senator Suther-
land, and E. D. r. Thompson were in
Manti OH last Friday, coming in from
The south where they had evidently
been on a like mission with that pur.
sued in Manti. On coming into Manti
the party. as the account said, "met
with a few of the prominent members
of the local Republican organization at
the Commercial club rooms with a view
to ascertaining the trend of things po
litical here and the attitude of the peo
pie on the liquor traffic and other
questions, The real purpose Of the
visit, however, appears further on to
be not to find out what the people there
thought about the liquor question and
other subjects but to impress upon
the people the views Of the mission
ized to speak a word Of "counsel' to
the saints. For, the account proceeds,
''It was conceded by those present that
Statewide prohibition would likely be
impossible TO obtain Mt present. but
that county local option law was
among the possibilities. - That is, the
missionaries from Salt Lake were able
to impress their views upon the Manti
politicians, with the understanding that
anti-Stato prohibition legislators must
be sent up from Sanpete.
Further on, it is stated that "insur-
gency and stand patism was not men
tioned,' Certainly not. The church
Republican bosses here assume that
there is no sentiment in this State op-
posed to their stand pat ideas, and since
the delegation in Congress from Utah
IN both houses was absolutely at the
control of Aldrich and Speaker Cannon,
they did not consider that there was
any occasion to discuss anything Of that
kind This tremendously vital issue in
the Republican party is absolutely ig,
nored in Utah, because the church is
at the back of the Congressional delcga.
tion In standing pat with the unfaith.
ful party leaders who are commonly
repudiated by the party throughout the
Nation. The Republican bosses in
Utah ignore progressive Republicanism
because they are opposed TO it, are able
to crush 1T, and do not concedc for
moment that any of their followers have
either the right or the spirit to assert
themselves as against the stand pat
bossism that curses the State.
1t will be interesting, however, to
have these political missionaries show
why it is better to have county prohibi.
ton than State prohibition. Take Salt
Lake county for instance, assume that
the city is against prohibition, and take
view of the practical effect of county
option. Suppose prohibition to be i'm
posed upon Salt Lake City by the votes
of Mill Creek. Big Cottonwood, Tay-
lorsville, Union Fort, Hunter, Granger,
and other rural settlements How much
better would 1T be that way than to
have State prohibition9 In either case
1t would be outside communities impos.
ing local police regulations upon Salt
Lake City that Salt Lake would not
approve. and which a large number of
good citizens would feel themselves at
liberty to disregard. The only true rule
for the liquor question is to have local
option in the different communities, so
that each can pass upon it for itself
There is no reason why Mill Creek, Big
Cottonwood, and other rural settlements
outside should have liquor selling in
their settlements unless they want it.
1t is perfectly proper for them to vote
1T out from among them if they are so
inclined; but that by no means implies
the right on their part to vote it out
of Salt Lake City or out of Bingham.
Each community should be allowed to
settle that question for itself The prin-
ciple that these political missionaries
are advocating in county option does
not in the least differ from State wide
prohibition, In each case the question
involves the settlement of community
condition by those who are not of that
community, and in so far as it does
this it is un-American, unrepublican,
and ineffective.
AS pointed out hitherto, there is no
political movement on the tapis in this
State thus far. This is because the
bosses have not chosen to act They are
busy in 'setting up the pins' through
out the State, so that when they do get
ready to allow the people to know their
desires, the people will be ready to re-
spond to them by their votes, and carry
out the will of the bosses at the polls
1t is a fine situation, truly, in an
American State. but as Utah is priest
ridden, is absolutely held in leash by
the theocratic dominance, it is con-
dition that we are accustomed to; and |
yet we enter our protest against it Just |
as often as it shows its misbegotten and |
ugly front,
And it may be that the church Fed |