Show THE UTAH PROBLEM it is the boast of every american citizen that america is the land of the free and the home of the brave that under the constitution and laws of the government all men arc are entitled to the undisputed right of worshiping in whatsoever manner may seem good bothem to them without being molested or interfered with so long aa as their mode of worship les docs not infringe OH OR the rights of t their r neighbors in their religious purs pursuit uio indeed it is manta maintained ined that one of the chief objects of the establishment of thia government was to establish also and guarantee to every citizen full religious liberty and that his religious views and practices should not be a bar to his enjoying the political privileges and villa rights common to all but whatever evertee the intentions of the fathers and founders of our independence were these boasts and pretentious prove to be a delusion a sham and a snare at least so far as the mor mons in utah are concerned in wednesdays grenald we noticed and replied to an article published in the new york independent on the fate of mormonism the writer of that article it will be remembered expressed mue much h disappointment at the result of the august election in this terr territory atory thia this disappointment ia is widespread among the anti mormon ormon element notwithstanding some of them profess to have foreseen these results and claim they knew that they were a foregone conclusion if such were iv really the facts why should they feilso feel so chagrined when their expectations are so fully realized it is because they are disappointed a at t not scein seeing 9 mormonism receive its death blow now comes the memphis tenn appeal declaring the E edmunds law entirely fails to meet the evil of I 1 polygamy which it saya says has long been declared a crime under the statutes the appeal declares that the responsibility odthe of the continuance of plural marriage in utah will rest upon the country until the practice is topped stopped but how to stop it is the question which causes the appeal much anxiety and perplexity nearly everything has been tried both force and persuasion and all have failed mormonism is a perplexing problem and very difficult of solution yet our southern contemporary thinks it can be done doue many others think so but bow the appeal does not advocate or believe in brute force or any severe measures but it believes polygamy should be abandoned our exchange asks but what measures shall be adopt v A ed d to that end anything like religious persecution the country will not endure and it would entirely fail fall to meet the case there is no want of power in the government however lio weyer without calling any individual or society to account for their religious notions The Appeal gays says it would not abridge the liberty of conscience in religious matters which is very tery good and very right and such liberality is justly appreciated here that paper gives the following definition d e f of religious liberty liberty consists in the citizen having freedom to hod hold what opinions may seem to him hint to be good and in it doing anything ho lie considers useful to tobia his own welfare BO so long aa as be does not infringe on the welfare of other citizens the liberty of each citizen ia is bounded by the liberty of each other citizen we endorse enderse the above with this amplification that the liberty of the citizen consists not only in having the freedom to hold what religious opinions may seem te b be good but also to enjoy the free exercise thereof inasmuch as it does not infringe on tho the rights of others to freely exercise their rel religion aon now no other person can possibly be injured by a mormon reducing to practice his religious faith if any one re c cives ives harm it must be himself be lidea the cormons mormons Mor mons do not attempt to force their faith on any other people it is true the elders i preach the tb doctrines beli believed eyed in by the mormon church Chur cli but no one is compelled to accept them they are left at full liberty to reject them and to believe in and practise whatever religious system they please and we believe e they have a constitutional right to do so as long as aliey do not try to force us to adopt them against our convictions or to abandon our own we further believe that their forms of worship do not legally disqualify them from exercising the elective franchise or from holding offices of honor trust or emolument what is sauce fur for the goose in is sauce for the gander and the above principles will ap apply ply to the 11 cormons mormons Mor mons as well as to the christians or to the gentiles the constitution ortho of iho united states does not prefer any ono one religion to another all arc are equal before the law A recent writer has truly said conviction gravitates to truth when then demonstrated just as water seeks its is level he and it is not in the power of the human mind to deny a truth when once ita its existence has been demonstrated the tile mormons cormons Mor mons act from honest convictions vict ions and thelah the law has no right to step in between them and their religious ioui practice 1 as they injure no one by the free exercise of them the Appeal Appe alvie while it believes that the tile government has ample means for suppressing the obnoxious system in utah suggests nothing not liing 1 deiv new to that end the tile following is is what it suggests congress can divide the territory and distribute the fragments among the other territories it can deprive it of territorial standing altogether a and d govern it as alaska is is governed or it can try meas measures u less stringent than these but more effective than illan tho the edmunds law that measure haa has been recommended before and has been refused congress knew better than adopt it some farseeing far fur seeing politicians believed that this method would only extend the hi influence fluence and power of the mormon s system they believed it would give them the balance 0 of f political power in other places besides beides utah hence they protested strongly against the proposed measure and it fell through the mor mons have since been left to build up and develop the country and by their industry and perseverance it has become more desirable as a place of residence and haa has excited the envy lind cupidity of persons who would now like to reap the fruits of the hard laboroi those who have redeemed the territory from sterility in regard to the president of the united states appointing the legislature of utah we very much question his is 1 legal c gal right to do it unless congress first repeals the or ganic ganie Act and that would be so 80 grave a matter that we believe it would hesitate very long before it made a move in that direction ta the 1 0 organic act of the territory tells of what the legislature shall consist and prescribes the mode by which it shall be elected by those who hold the elective franchise this has been done from the beginning ginn ing and thus it will continue to 6 be as long as that instrument by by which the territory was created remains in tact the people orthis nation are not yet prepared to same tion the indiscriminate disfranchisement of the citizens of a whole ter on account of their religious practices every newspaper man and every impulsive parson will have his say on the august election in utah deplore the ic xe all and then relapse into balence or apathy until congress nest neit meets when we expect to hear bear them again firing their with tho the hope or expectation of making political capital out of the utah problem |