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Show THE CITIZEN 4 'means that they must not run for office and that, if they do run for By the defeat of the bond issue the people of Salt Lake arc office, they will not have the sanction of President Grant or of the free to plan wisely for an adequate water supply and water system. church. They should consider the advisability of bringing before the next d We believe that all people will join The Citizen in legislature a bill which will provide for a water commission to take, commending the L. D. S. authorities for a policy which can result up the whole problem and find the solution. Whether such a boardw only in good. Henceforth churchmen holding high authority in the is desirable The Citizen is unable to pronounce with any degree of L. D. S. organization will be debarred from seeking political office. positiveness at this time, but it is a question which should be We trust that we have correctly interpreted the position of the debated. The obvious merits of the plan are that it will L. D. S. authorities. If we have we believe we are safe in saying that remove the water problem from the hurly-burl- y of politics and will the political atmosphere will be cleared of a good deal of poison gas commit to able and impartial citizens the task of investigating all which has been accumulating lately. worthy suggestions, of inquiring into all possible sources of supply, It is a reform which should take all churchmen out of politics and of reaching a decision unimpeded by other official duties and and which should keep politics free from ecclesiastical influence. It obligations. The bond issue, despite the fact that it had the support of the ought to be of inestimable help in the chief work of the church which should be the saving of souls. If it becomes a settled policy it is civic organizations, and despite the fact that none of the newspapers certain that the minds and hearts of those called to ecclesiastical duopposed it, was defeated by a decisive vote. The Citizen is delighted v ties will be wrapped up in the work of the church and that a limitless that it was able to serve the cause of the taxpayers in this battle field for doing good will open out before them. There will be a golden a'gainst a colossal waste. era of good will that can redound only to the spiritual and moral The civic bodies supported the bonds on the theory that the city benefit of our commonwealth. was so badly in need of water that it was imperative to provide a But if the church authorities are to display that wisdom of the new supply immediately, even though the taxpayers should be fleeced serpent and that innocence of the dove which we find so highly comby high costs and even though the new supply system might prove mended in the scriptures they will quickly effect another reform. inadequate within a few years. That was all very well for those The participation of churchmen as directors of large business who could afford to be fleeced, but it did not show much consideration corporations is becoming a scandal. The ways of high finance have for the owners of small homes who were in danger of losing their all nothing in common with the work of the church. The corporations as a result of already exorbitant taxes. have no souls to save and sometimes they are so conducted that they If the civic organizations are to have any influence in public menace the souls of churchmen who do not hesitate to chaffer their affairs they must show a genuine regard for the interests of the wares within the shadows of the temple. public. The Rotary club, the Commercial club and the Kiwanis It would subserve the best interests of the church if its officials club should be leaders of opinion but that they have failed to live up should withdraw from the directorates of the big corporations. From to their high obligation is attested by the fact their recommendations time to time the names of church officials are linked with the devious had little or no influence on the voters. devices of corporations which gain noxious notoriety because of deals To the taxpayer it seemed absurd to build great reservoirs if exposed by litigation or a public investigation. The effect upon the there was not enough water in the mountains to fill them and if, as church is necessarily injurious. To have the ecclesiastical office held a consequence, it would be necessary, a few years hence, to abandon up to scorn, derision and condemnation in the market place brings the system and build another system at a cost of additional millions religion into contempt and the church which encourages or condones of dollars. frenzied finance on the part of its officials suffers not only in presNor did the people generally look with confidence upon the tige but in its power to do good. project. The Citizen was able to disclose the fact that financial While fully recognizing, therefore, the great good that has been interests, to whom municipal contractors owed money, were back done by the church authorities in banning the participation of high of the scheme in order to provide a means by which the contractors church officials in politics we suggest, with due deference, that it could pay their obligations. would be equally beneficial to the church if it took such action as The records of the United States Weather Bureau, which the would cause the withdrawal of church officials from the directocitys experts neglected, clearly demonstrated that the entire supply rates of corporations. contracted for by the city would be insufficient in a dry season to supply 250,000 inhabitants. Perhaps the chief objection to the proposition was that the conBOND GRAB FOILED struction work it called for would have to be done during a period when prices would be higher than at any time in the history of the no have shown of have Salt Lake that they The taxpayers state and constantly going higher. confidence in the city commission which was elected only a few If the plan had possessed any real value it would not have been of face in bond vote the The months ago. issue, $3,300,000 against to pay political workers to go out and beg votes for it. the fact that the proposition was supported by the city hall machine necessary and by the Rotary, Commercial Jnd Kiwanis clubs, was a vote of IS IT A CORPSE? lack of confidence. In European parliaments a vote of that kind implies the resignation of the cabinet in control of the government. n President Wilson, in a recent note, insists on his It is unfortunate that the rule does not apply in Salt Lake City at this time. Legally, Mayor Bock is still holding office, but morally view that the honor of the United States requires us to join the his resignation is in. League of Nations. To abandon the league now, he thinks, would be Commissioner Neslen has surrounded himself with weak men a breach of faith and of honor. child of his brain he neglects In his enthusiasm for the The figures and in the entire proceedings he has been and estimates on which the city relied were easily proved to be to observe that it has lost caste among our allies and that they are fallacious. partitioning the world without regard to the covenant. The President must not forget that the honor also of our allies The public looks upon the city administration as a farce played by school boys. It is a moving picture show for juveniles. The was at stake. Surely we cannot be bound to accept any treaty which does not accord with our principles and ideals. No consideration of city engineer joined in the show with a blackboard filled with nonsense figures and he set himself seriously to the task of proving his honor or good faith can compel us to accept dishonor. When the President Went to Paris the allies drew for him a absurd conclusions for the benefit of Mr. Neslen and the other interests back of the bond issue. It is said that Mr. Cannon has resplendent picture of a new world. This, they said in substance, is the remade world which the United States is to join with us in been entertaining the idea- - of resigning and The Citizen does not wish to discourage the good thought. defending. right-minde- thor-ouhg- ly well-know- ill-advis- mis-shap- ed. en |