Show y BIS ANNUAL REPORT HE ARRAIGNS THE MORMON AS A DESPOTISM and says it will never do to admit utah as a state the following excerpt from governor west s annual message to can gross is another striking illustration as to how the old old story can be rehashed I 1 am most firmly convinced that there is an irreconcilable political dif i ference fundamental in character between the mormon system and the I 1 government established by the united states and that of necessity an irrepressible conflict will wage until it is sett I 1 believe it wise too and for the best interests of the community that that difference should never be lost sight of or concealed from public notice and that of all suitable times and upon every pro per occasion efforts should be made to its rightful adjustment wisdom however dictates that while this con is in progress both sides to the controversy should engage in a generous rivalry for the material development of the territory the mormon people are united in pressing for the admission of utah as a state in the union urging that as to wealth material development and every essential this community is well qualified for statehood that having ostensibly by oath and public profession renounced polygamy that no reasonable objection can now be made against admission the non cormons mormons ami republicans are united in opposing the admission of the territory while conceding that d to numbers our population is sufficient and our resources would justify our assuming the responsibilities of a state government yet in essentials far more important we are lacking that the majority of this people have been educated to adhere to a power foreign to the spirit and genius of our ansti tut ions to this despotism they ren der allegiance and yield obedience when it commands though contrary to the law of the land they obey as witness the establishment and practice of polygamy that to admit utah into the union of states is to enthrone with sovereignty this power behind the barrir 3 of statehood that the avowal of a renunciation of polygamy was for the purpose of continuing and permanently establishing the political control of this power that to admit utah is to determine that the principles of our republican government shall not apply to all our people and the whole of our territory but that the best interests tant destinies of at least one of our states is to to those who claim to rule not only by right but by power divine in considering this matter of vital interest to this territory and the whole country prejudice and passion should have no voice in the discussion the examination should bo calm dis passionate and fair but carefully confined to the subject the discussion of the utah problem has evolved much unprofitable religious disputation which has clouded and obscured the real issue of great importance the mormon people have vehemently protested that a crusade has been and is being made against their religion that a war has been and is being made upon their people that the minority has endeavored and is endeavoring to establish its rule and obtain control by appealing to bigotry prejudice and hate irom the very nature of the controversy the difference being fundamental in its character and not susceptible of compromise the element of religious faith injected into it the long time and the zeal and earnestness with which the contest has been waged precludes the idea that it could have been conducted through the years without unfairness and misrepresentation upon both sides As to the justice of the claims made by the mormon people as above set forth as to their treatment by tha government its officers and the people of the united states including their fellow citizens in the minority resident in this territory I 1 may be allowed to repe t what I 1 have before had occasion to say why of all in our land of nearly every nationality of no religions and all religions with beliefs and creeds as various and numerous almost as the different natures of man should this people stand singular and alone in its woeful history can anyone doubt who approaches with unprejudiced mind a consideration of the question that the cause is found in the theocracy established and maintained here in the aduca tion of the people to believe that god has chosen this people to take possession of the earth and to dominate and control all other people that through H s strood god governs them immediately not alone in faith and morals but in all the affairs and relations cf life and that the counsel of the priesthood is the supreme voice of god and must be obeyed without question it necessarily follows that perfect and complete unity has and does exist among the mormon people an absolute oneness without division or dissent the unity in the state which comes from free and fair discussion of public quest ons securing by merit conviction of the mind and triumph of tho right is desirable and commendable the unity which is obtained by recognizing the supremacy of one maa or set of men by attributing to him or them a knowledge and not granted to others derived from superhuman and supreme source and therefore not tc be questioned but must bo obeyed is the establishment of complete absolutism in thosa holding and alie mot abject and servile slavery in those submitting pro vents progress is death to prosperity unites all aco pie not connected with it in antagonism to it intelligent freemen will not object but cheerfully submit though their ideas may not prevail in communities of which they are members so long as they know that they have had an equal chance with their neighbors in assorting them solves but when this is denied them aid they are conscious regardless of the merits and worth of their views that they have tia boico but are buried beneath a power aligato ali eato and unrecognized by under which they live it is not c that they aebel agamet the tyranny which paralyzes manhood and destroys freedom the contest which the minority have waged and now urge has not been upon the principle that minorities should control but that freedom should be established and prevail here as elsewhere in our land that no manor set of men asserting and claiming absolute power as of divine right shall regulate and control the state and all the affairs of the citizen moral religious social political commercial and financial that each citizens weight in public affairs and private enterprise shall alono depend upon his business capacity to the government of god through his priesthood and tl e unity it enforces brought this people to accept sustain and uphold polygamy whether practicing it or not regardless gard less of the sentiments of the christian world and in defiance of the law of the land the revelation enforced upon the people as law by the priesthood and accepted of necessity without question by them attracted the attention of the whole country its practice received uni venal condemnation provoking the enactment of federal laws against it and their enforcement by officials of federal appointment no church organization can obtain and hold political power in this country it is contrary to the spirit and genius of our free government in the mormon polity established and governing the people of this territory since its settlement tho unity of th e church and state has been perfect and indissoluble it is based upon the complete and absolute control of a priesthood wielding a supreme exercised and yielded to as emanating immediately from god in all things secular as well as the word of the priesthood is to the mormon people the command of god nofa only in matters of faith and morals but in all civil political and commercial affairs this priesthood not only rules the church but governs the state A complete aal comprehensive system of laws rules and regulations with all needed agents and officers is provided to direct and prescribe not alone the spiritual life and moral actions of the mormon people but to control them in all their various avocations cat ions public and private it is passing strange yet true that in this land of liberty and free government tor forty years a power more absolute and despotic than any other known to civilization has held sway and dominion over a people whose birth right is freedom that here we have had as it is nowhere else in our land a union of church and state the subordinate to the former this power has demanded and received tribute from high and low rich and poor every trade business industrial pursuit and profession has and must contribute to it it has exacted from the mormon people by way of tithing millions of money its tithing yards and houses are great marts of trade where the church B an organization esthe bead I 1 and proprietor and where its faithful servants in charge find place employment and emolument it has engaged in many if not all secular employments aud business constructed and operated gasworks si eat railroads telegraph lines built and con ducted a as a public place for profit engaged in merchandising owned farming lands and coal mines horses cattle and conducted oa an extensive scale farming and block raising where it does not engage immediately in business and trade it lends its power and influence to its leaders and faithful followers in operative cooperative co institutions which it promotes by way of illustration the giors cc mercantile institution is a mammoth manufacturing and mercantile corporation with its principal houses located at the capital ana branch houses scattered throughout the territory its head is the president or presiding officer of the church its articles of incorporation provides as a condition to become a stockholder membership in the church of jesus christ of latter day saints its business houses decorated with an all seeing eye and inscribed with the motto holiness to the lord it is generally true and if any exist tho exceptions are very rare that only the faithful to the church or those of the faith who are willing to serve the interests of the church are given place and employment in all the various enterprises and business of the community conducted and controlled by the cormons mormons Mor mons no matter what the capability and merit of a non mor mon who will not serve the church interest no door of employment or advancement is opened to him by the to an extent truly surprising their dealing in business affairs is with and among themselves emphasizing forcibly the truth of the designation that they have applied to those net of the faith that they are outsiders the political power which is common to the territories and which by reason of their numerical strength is held by the mormon people has been a powerful agent in the up building and solidifying of the dominant church power the faithful to the church have alamp been the favored of the state and as in private business affairs the way of advancement and preferment haa been closed to all not of the faith and unwilling to serve the church the contest for supremacy among freemen for administering the government and forming its policies prevailing over alie rest of the country has not obtained here to any great degree because of the submission without question of a large majority of the people to the counsel and voice of the ruling church authorities the church power has determined tho policy of the civil government and adamis bared the affairs of the territory through its faithful servants whom it has selected and designated as territorial rit orial county and municipal officers the civil interests being always subordinate to those of the church the and absolute dominion of this the individual and the community and thac in which ii affects every individual private aid public mast be lived and f it to be fully appreciated I 1 am not that the defenders of tho mormon system will take isue with me and deny the correctness ness of the that I 1 have advanced as to their astern ana will claim for it the merit or being the most liberal and perfect of free governments ern ments existing on earth a theo democracy as they name it resting upon the will or gad and ape volun tary consent of the that is to secular as coiras religious th e people obey the people are by the church authorities that it is their duty to obey will of god a failure to do joae paty ani find 5 they are taught that ahe church leaders are charged with conveying to them this will of god by direct revelation the people believe and voluntarily obey let it be understood always that I 1 address myself alone to the civil and make no question whatsoever as to the religious polity |