Show POLITICAL DIFFERENCE t Political difference in Utah is a greater t difference than it is elsewhere Not having learned politics the majority of the people of this Territory deem any departure de-parture from the established order oft of-t things crime against society and all nature not to be in political uniformity with the majority is to be morally deformed de-formed To this dislike of political difference dif-ference there is added the zest of religious relig-ious hatred To complain of even so common a thing as rough streets filled with rubbish and dead cats I and dogs decaying chickens and sewerage I sewer-age is to plot treason against the city and to be at once looked upon as a suspect sus-pect To say that the man who occupies oc-cupies any civil office is unfit for it is looked upon as a sure sign that he whoso who-so says is hungry for office and could he but get a few crumbs from the rich mans table all would be well Offices to the officeholders are the only things which this world can give and I they like not to leave it fearing least heaven has them not Never doing anything any-thing in office but drawing salaries and occasionally making spasmodic effort to show that the public welfare is their only aim the severity of the spasm creates cre-ates an abortion and then U they cease from their labors and their works do follow fol-low them Knowing these things many have quitted the Peoples Party for political politi-cal reasons only caring not the ashesof a rye straw for any theological doctrines and adhering to no faith To these political nonadherents no grace is given and to them is denied all right to participate in the administration of public affairs and it is not denied them because they are in a minority but on the contrary for the sole reason that there is asserted to be no such a right independent of the political faith and consent of the majority To illustrate this point Within With-in six weeks the writer in conversation I with a well known and popular gentleman gentle-man of the Peoples Party and a promi i nent city official was told it was the right of the priesthood to control the politics of Utah When asked why it was the gentleman replied You believe in the right of the majority to control do you not We replied Certainly Cer-tainly there can be no doubt of that Well then said he this being conceded con-ceded I will prove it to you Now understand un-derstand that no one man possesses the priesthood entire but only the whole body of the church when assembled together to-gether and acting in their united capacity When acting thus they are in the majority and hence have a right to control Do you see Yes that is easily seen from your stand point but how about those who have no priesthood I give it up This one incident tells a wonderful tale whose moral is no rights unless a man be a Peoples Party man Most certainly it is the right of the majority to rule but to rule because that majority is composed of citizens whose rights are defined and defended by the State and not by the Church It is likewise the right of the I minority to criticise the acts of the majority major-ity and to seek to make the views of the minority the views of the majority In Utah this right is denied and from pulpit and from press minorities are anathematized and the individuals composing them are stigmatized and I called all names that bigotry and malice can suggest Upon their head is poured boiling oil from the ecclesiastical caldron This is from the Peoples Party From the Liberal Party does one get a more delicate dish No it is the same dish filled with the same things only served by other hands To take the middle way is to be denounced by either party No service is so desirable here in Utah for the growth of freedom as the refusal to bend the knee to any party or to any opinion It may be called eccentricity ec-centricity by one party it may be called jackMormonism by the other but to both we reply with Mill In this age the mere example of nonconformity the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom is itself a service Precisely because the tyranny of opinion is such as to make eccentricity ec-centricity a reproach it is desirable in order to break through that tyranny that people should be eccentric Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character has abounded and the amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius mental vigor and moral courage which it contained That so few dare now to be eccentric marks the chief danger of the time JUi deplore The continued employment of men at a less wage creates a feeling of confidence and confidence is the one thing more than all others that is needed to retain business and loosen the purse strings of capital Two years ago the city had a plethora i of building and when new houses were all finished the demand for them had i ceased But there was more than a cessation of the unusual demand I for houses there was the demand j i for money due money whose loan was secured by mortgages on the I houses built The demand was met by many while many were unable to meet I it and were compelled to succumb to the I results of flush times We need not expect I ex-pect any building boom nor even a gold boom but if more men who are able to do so would make small and needed improvements I im-provements on their houses and grounds it would greatly aid matters j |