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Show Deseret News and Church Influence !T.ho Deseret News took great of;-fense of;-fense at an article which appeared, in the issue of Truth of Nov. 11. Last Monday the News, devoted considerable consider-able space to calling: Truth a liar and in attempting to explain away, the al- ! legations of Truth that tho News favored fa-vored the Democratic party in tho recent re-cent olootion, usoil "church Influence" In behalf of that party, thereby causing caus-ing the defeat of the Republicans and tho election of tho "American" ticket The News denies that it favored the Democrats in tho campaign and says that Truth did not prove Its charges and did not quote from the News in support "of it's assertions. Wo did not make quotations from the News because it was entirely unnecessary, un-necessary, and to do so would consume con-sume much more space than we have at our command, at least 75 per cent of tho political matter which appeared In the Nows during tho campaign being be-ing either directly or indirectly "boosts" for tho Democrats. It was recognized and known by everybody at all interested during the six weeks preceding tho election that the News f was in truth and in fact a Democratic organ. It was discussed in Republican Republi-can meetings that tho Republicans had tho Nows against them -and Democrats Demo-crats openly boasted that tho church organ wa"s with them. In tho body of articles the News even went so far as to print in capital letters salient . points urged by the Democrats. Edl-torials; Edl-torials; although written guardedly, unfailingly carried tho impression that tho Interests of tho city demand-I demand-I ed tho election of tho Democratic " ( ticket.1 These aro matters of. common jf knowledge. Of course no passage ap peared in tho News in which It was ! baldly statod that tho peoplo should ;i vote tho Democratic ticket. But tho Nows constantly "lauded" tho Democratic Demo-cratic administration, openly denounced; de-nounced; tho "Americans" and by An direction and innuendo let" no oppor-q oppor-q tuhlty pass to strike the Republicans. Truth" several "times during th"o cam- ': p'aig'n called attention to tho fact that iqburchi organ was favoring the - .?"&'"' r and- .suggested to those . who control the paper, or are goner- ally understood to control it, that the favoritism should he stopped. The News, in its editorial of Nov. 13, denouncing Truth, admits that the News was in politics. Here Is what it says: "The News is ready at any time to meet the charge of Democratic leanings or Republican proclivities and Is able to defend Itself on either ground as an Independent paper, but not as a neutral." An independent papor is one free to support any party. A neutral is quite another thing. The News emphatically emphatical-ly says It is not neutral. It certainly was not in the recent campaign. The president of the church has again and again stated that the church was not in politics In any shape, manner or form whatsoever. That surely means that tho official organ of tho church is not in politics. The editor of the Nows, however, says tho Nows is independent, in-dependent, not a neutral, and in doing so tho News, in effect, says that President Pres-ident Smith does not speak the truth. Tho statements of the Nows and the president of tho church are diametrically diametri-cally opposed to each other and no amount of sophistry can reconcile them. Moreover the News being tho official organ of the church and entering enter-ing into politics and taking sides as it has done has violated tho constitution constitu-tion of tho state which provides that tho church and state shall bo separate and distinct and, that the church shall not Interfere with tho functions of the state. In tho campaign tho News on more than one occasion hammered tho Republicans Re-publicans by taking for its text falso statements of tho Tribune to tho effect ef-fect that Iho Republicans were unsuccessfully unsuc-cessfully so.metlmcs and other times successfully seeking tho Influence of tho church, but the' Nows had neither time' nor inclination to deny tho Hor-aldfs Hor-aldfs false statement that "Republican whisperers" wero officially reprimanded,! reprimand-ed,! that tho Deseret Nows in an editorial edi-torial sanctlbned by tho flrst presidency presi-dency rebuked tho "Smoot machine." Tho News didn't want this contradicted, contra-dicted, although tho Nows know it was falso. It played In wIth",tho Herald, tho! Democratic organ, in order that the) impression, the Nows had createa HHHHHVHHHH that tho church favored tho Domocrats should be given as milch publicity as possible. Tho Nows had no word of consuro for Democratic Chairman Martincau, who through tho wholo campaign worked tho church influenco racket and did his Utmost to drag tho church into politics and on tho day before tho election and on election day used tho Nows Itself as a campaign document. docu-ment. Early in tho afternoon of the day of election Mr. Martlneau got out a circular letter or dodger as tho Nows very appropriately calls It, falsely false-ly stating that Senator Smoot had conceded that tho Republican ticket was beaten. This dodger, which tho News admits was printed in tho Nows Job office was widely circulated by Deseret Nows carriers at tho polling places and through the city generally and several of tho ardent Domocrats of tho Nows industriously occupied themselves In spreading that falso ro-port ro-port gotten out by tho Democratic city commltee and signed by its chairman. Truth makes specific charges against tho News. 1st. That it during the campaign strongly advocated tho election or tho Democratic ticket, openly and decisively de-cisively opposed tho "American" ticket tick-et and opposed tho Republican ticket covertly and by inuendo and Anally dealt it a death blow. Tho Nows Itself It-self during and before tho campaign is amplo proof of those assertions. 2nd. Tho two paragraphs which appeared prominently on tho llrst page of tho News on tho evonlng of tho day boforo tho election taken In connection connec-tion with what had appeared in tho News boforo was a clear direction to voters to voto tho Democratic ticket. It was so considered by tho. public generally, Gentilo and Mormon allko; so considered by tho Democratic campaign cam-paign commlttco which purchased several thousand copies of tho Nows contaiulg those paragraphs and circulated cir-culated them as n campaign document. docu-ment. Tho article complained of was also printed with othor mattor in tho form of a circular and sent broadcast, through Deseret Nows carriers, over the city. Tho same typo was used in tho printing of tho circulars as was used in tho Nows, tho typo being lifted lift-ed from ono form to tho other. The latter proceeding Councilman Fern-strqm Fern-strqm could explain. Ho was probably prob-ably the originator of the scheme, if not tho originator ho was in on If J with tho Democratic city committee, and tho Nows editors and manager', : and know tho valtio of tho Nows ns a ; campaign documont to assist in tho ; j! election of tho ticket on whicti'ho was a candidate. ' ' .. n ; jl lid. Tho Nows by Its actions has subjected tho church of which it is- tho official organ to desorvod consuro ; and put tho heads of tho qhurcir'ln, tho light of breaking their pledges' ' and made them appear as inslnccro In ! their declaration that tho church' ' takes no hand in politics. "' Those aro cold facts ' which" ' no, ! amount of explanations and no contor-; ,j tlon of language or sophistry can x-' plain away. Tho Nows has brought ; upon Itself tho bitter condemnation, of 1 tho Gentile Republicans and equally " as bitter consuro by a. groat many. Mormons, who want this church infnP once consigned to a bottomless' pit. nU Truth is thoroughly convinced that H President Joseph F. Smith and tho H others of tho first presidency did not 'H excrclso any church influence" in tho I campaign. Tho Nows, however, on its H own responsibility and directly con; H trary to tho wishes of tho church load" H ers, mado It appear that tho "chuj-gij H wanted tho Democratic ticket elected.' H To cloar their own skirts tho church. H leaders should in somo decisive way H show their disapproval of tho cours'o H of tho Nows. H |