OCR Text |
Show HE WILL NOT SERVE. A gentleman, a member of the last Utah Legis-hitme Legis-hitme from n ourhcrn county, was in the city Elk week and was led Into a conversation by a resident. resi-dent. It was something like this: Resident "Are you coming back to the Legislature Legis-lature this winter?" Visitor "No, I think not." Resident "Why not? Did you not enjoy your-solf your-solf before?" Visitor "Not especially. Rather 1 'enjoyed' some disappointment4?." Resident "Why, you astonish me. You were a leading man in the legislature and your views were much respected. What was the trouble?" Visitor "Well, to begin with, there was a Senatorial Sen-atorial election. During the campaign it was told me that several very wealthy men would be candidates can-didates and that there would be plenty of money for the taking. I would not sell my vote, of course, but I had a mortgage on my house and a payment was coming due on my stock and I knew if I could tide things over for six months I could pull through. So my thought was, before be-fore voting for senator to go to him and borrow the amount I needed. "But hardly had the Legislature convened when I received a notice that I was one of the members "set apart" to vote for Mr. Kearjis and that.it was the Lord's will that I make no mistake. You know, there was nothing to do but obey. Now you know that the amount paid and which the other candidates were willing to pay, if divided up among the different counties would have been a great help, especially in the farming regions. But It was not to be. "Then there were two or three bills introduced which, with a little good management, would have brought a few of us considerable reyenue, but when everything looked auspicious, down came another an-other message that the Lord did not look favorably favor-ably upon these measures and they must be defeated. de-feated. Then there were a couple of measures introduced which some solid men for solid reasons desired to see defeated and they were willing to Pay for the worry and trouble of defeating them, when a third message came that It was the Lord's will that they pass, and there you are. Finally, when it came time to adjourn and our salaries and mileage were figured up, there was an impressive sermon preached in the Tabernacle Taber-nacle the burden of which was in two sections. The first was, that the Lord loved a cheerful giver, and the second was, that those who did not Promptly settle their tithing would be denied all prosperity here and make but a sorry spectacle in the world to come. Of course we left 10 per cent of our salaries to go where the purchase money of the Senatorshlp went, and also the money paid to pass or defeat the bills, and If I had not been In possession of a railroad pass I should have had to walk home. The sky did not look quite so clear, the stars did not shine quite so brightly the night I left the city for home as they did on that night when I took the train with the thought that I should In a few days be a successful statesman. And the mortgage is still on my house and it took half my stock to meet the other payment. "On the farm I am making three blades of alfalfa grow where before a horned toad could not get nutriment enough off a ten-acre field to keep head and horn together. I am quite a success as an alfalfa creator, but not so, pronounced a success as a statesman, and this winter I will stay by the alfalfa." Resident "But why do you people stand that sort of work? You are under oath in the Legislature. Legisla-ture. Does the obligation of an oath count for nothing with you?" Visitor "Not as against the Lord's will."- Resident "Is there any accounting for the money mo-ney paid to the Lord?" Visitor "Of course not." Resident "But are you satisfied with an arrangement ar-rangement which seems so one-sided?" Visitor "0, yes, only sometimes we think of the converted Chinaman who had become a little weary of meeting church assessments, who cried out at last: 'What's matter, Lesus CHstle he all time bloke?' " |