The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-12-13
MORE TROUBLE FOR UTAH :

The Smoot organ appears to be dafy
, ON the subject of the publication in
!, Eastern magazines of sensational ar
tlclcs about Utah. It seems To us the
} most natural thing in tho world that
wide awake publishers should take no
tIcc of The abnormal conditions here,
and arrange 10 get oxposItions Of the
strange conditions for their publica
tons There have been ensatonsl
stories about Standard Oil. about cor
rupt,on IN municipal cities. and about
pretty much everything in sight. The
publishers of magazines have reached
OUT eagerly for sensations of this sort,
and nave about exhausted the list. The
wonder is not that they have finally
turned TO Utah for new sensations, but
mat they did not turn here lonr ago.
SO far as The Tribune il concerned.
~ mas mad nothing 10 do with these
matters, except AS the publishers have
Indicated their intentions TO persons
on The Tribune, and others in Salt
Lake who have nothing at all TO lo
with The Tribune. Among others, as
we have rcasna 10 know, application
mas been made 10 the Prcsidcnc, Of
lnc Mormon church, and offers made
10 them of a hearing in their own be
half. So far as melting these mat.
tors. The Tribune has had nothing
Whatever to do with it, having heard
OF them only after they we're deter
| mined on; nor has it any agencies,
| agents, or active forces i'm the East or
elsewhere, either working up these
things, fostering them. or in any way
having TO do with them. Nor hive VIC
any privilege Of publication with re-
gard TO those matters not offered any
other paper should they make appli
cation for 1t: that is to say The Trib
uno has nothing whatever to do with
the matter. has not originated any
thing with respect 10 it,, has not tsct |
anybody on. or anything OF that /
kind, The situation lay open and plain,
and the publishers Of magazines sim
ply saw an opportunity, and availod |
themselves Of it.
Tho Smoot organ yesterday morning |
bad a triple column editorial in big |
type airing ITS grievances upon this
matter It's idea was the usual one
that comes from that side of the house
Those who arc the offenders arc not
to blame. but these who complain of
The ofrcnscs. The Mormon church set
up their church temporal and autocrDtic
government. the powers of all being
united in the ccclcsiasts who control
the church. Theirs was and is a gov
crnmeut of tbeocracy. clear and un-
Incidentally it carried an
immoral aud indecent revival Of an
ancient community condition which
has given trouble everywhere it has
ever been tried, the vicious social
arrangement known as polygamy. The
whole strength Of the Mormon tom
pornl government. the whole allegiance
of the membership Of tho Mormon
church. has been arrayed in support of
this vile reversal of clean, moral com
munity conditions. Those conditions
have by no means passed away, as is
on the contrary, as Presi-
dent Joseph f. Smith disclosed in his
testimony in tho Smoot case, those con
ditions continue, and he announced that
he intended to make them continue
He would live in polyGamy, in defiance
Of all authority that might forbid,
President Lyman declared the same,
fatty saving that he lived, and intend
ed TO live, in defiance Of the law, both
of God and man; President Smith s.
, 10 lln |
Hundreds OF other polygamists in the
church arc living the same sort OF
lawless lives. Besides that, as The
Tribune has shown, hundreds of cHses
Of new polygumy exist that were en-
tered into since tho manifesto. These
defiant OF the courts. No court dare
take up any prosecution of polyga-
mists, lest the Judges and court Off
cials be branded as prosecutors and be
put upon the church S political black
list.
With these conditions prevailing,
openly and rotoriousIy, what sense is
there in pretending that everything is
well in Utah, and that the trouble is
with those who object to the prevail.
ing lawlessness and defiance Of the
courts. and the Indefinite continuation
Of the immoral practices alleged to be
introduced at Divine command? The
conditions in Utah invite exactly the
sort of magazine airing aud inquiry
That is being made and threatened 1t
is idle to pretend that some one has
stirred this up especially. for it is not 4
The case The fact is. that the situa- l
lion lies open to exposure; the obnox
ous features arc plain to be seen of
anyone vino Will look.
In its lament over what it calls
More Turmoil for Utah. the Smoot
organ exactly reyerses the true proc
pes of thoupht In ita view In Ulocs