Show MAKING THE MATTER WORSE AN A APOLOGIST for mr dickson I 1 informs the public that in his interview reported in the san francisco he did not mean what he jw ja said to have predicted as the consequence of a liberal Liber aln victory at the polls namely the downfall ot of the mormon church in five years we do believe both that he said it md and that he meant it because he b haa made similar wore before but be that as it may his apologist says mr dickson referred to that feature of the mormon system which claims the right and up to th this Is time bw baa exercised the power of holding the elvil civil temporal government of a greet great territory in the hands bands of the priesthood 11 well if that is what he meant he referred to something that does not exl effet except in the liberal mind tor for the purpose of liberal mis nta tion the mormon system makes makee no such claim nor hb bm it exercised the power so described that system makes a well defined distinction between the it civet government and that of any organization offers no daam daim of the right to hold the tem POW government in the hands bands of he fito priesthood nor does it libold hold the government of a great territory at OIL SL AM AH the tax charges of this kind that have been repeated and published the country are wilful of the truth and not a tingle e fact diet has ever been cited by f way of proof that there is any excuse y for AM them tem in a general way some T occurrences have been J intentioned but in no instance have V been true or relevant he government of this territory jg ig imset entirely in the hands of federal appointees the local which are filled by persons elected by popular ballot are not so the priesthood the officer recently elected in this county am xe none of thera them high in the priesthood am e AW and te please to ex yaw it IL they thay and the twenty ft members of the legislature chit of way thurly six bix were elected pre Y in the same way that the illiberal liberal members were that the laws of congress aal tory if they or any of them happen to be men holding some office in the church their election did not and would not have been inconsequence in consequence of that position there is no significance to their election whatever other than that they were the choice of the people nominated by the peopled people Is delegates in convention elected by the people in absolute secret ballot at the polls anything outside of that exists only in liberal imagination or liberal invention which is as false as it is fertile the liberal position seems to bathis be this noman no man occupying a position of influence in the mormon church must be elected to any civil office or open his mouth on political questions the mormon view is that the people here have the right to elect any man they choose to a public office irrespective of his ecclesiastical position also that in being chosen to any place in the church he does not lose a right or privilege of citizenship but they do not hold that he can occupy any civil office whatever simply by virtue of his calling in the church there are no clergy in the mormon system separate and apart from and above the people the priesthood comprehends most of the male members of the church and the hierarchy so much talked of is the whole body of the church comprehending all its members galeand male and female old and young or it has no existence liberal exponents of the mormon system will not accord us the poor right to state our own belief and position but cad claim m the prerogative of stating it for us and in doing so invariably proclaim as our position something that we do not assume and in explaining what we believe usually set forth its antipodes in either case mr dickson has not fairly represented the mormon system nor figured as a prophet with any probability of success and his apologist has only made the ija matter atter worse by coming to his aid with an explanation of mormon claims that no intelligent mormon will endorse |