Show I lSFltNCiltSEilENT The Utah commission has been criminal enough it seems to make tho following recommendation to Congress It the commission believes suffrage is a privilege that would become so prized by those disfranchised under such a law that in time it would be s jught for by young men who either from better education or enlighiennd views or ft rom motives of worldly ambition would begin to question in their own minds whether it be profitable to adhere to superstition and false doctrines at the cost of citizenship and many after doubt and reflection would Jlrully I embrace em-brace the right to become goxl and loyal citizens citi-zens zensH If the members of the Utah commission had any conception of the worth of the right of franchise they would not make so cowardly an offer to barter it to those who would regard it profitable enough to be bought merely by renouncing their religion The proposition to make it prolitablo for young men to swcaragainsttherjligion of their parents by offering them the right to vote as a reward for such weakness or perfidy could only como from men who have no adequate conception of the worth of American citizenship Ikii embodies em-bodies the basest prostitution power that it would be possible for a government to exercise Undoubtedly some would find it profitable to accept the franchise through denying their belief just as they might find it profitable or desirable to accept life pr property on the s ime terms And why not insert the word pioptrly in place of suffrage in the proposition of the com sioners Would not the same result fol low Some would find it prolitable to swear perhaps falsely as to their belief if their homes and property should be taken from them unless they did so Why not recommend at once that all Mormons Mor-mons who will not renounce their religion aud swear that they do not believe in it shall be imprisoned until they begin to question in their minds whether it he 1roj j able to adhere to superstition and false doctrines doc-trines at tho cost of liberty J That would also accomplish as much in tho way of faith denials as the particular kind of Asiatic Asi-atic despotism that is recommended by the commissioners wou d accomplish These commissioners pr tend to be Americans Amer-icans yet they recommend disfranchise ment a humiliating and hateful punishment punish-ment because of tho superstition and I false doctrines of a people they dislike Let it be thoroughly known alsO that they recommend this punishment not for nets nor even words but for thoughts Disfranchisement is what they recommend for a man who they say is superstitious Denial of citizenship is what they prescribe for those who in their opinion believe in 1 false doctrines If the men who recommend such infamy as punishment for belief are themselves s superstitious and basely superstitious then tho measurement of present day fanatics fana-tics by the intellectual stature of oldtime religious tyrants is a lost art If these truly orthodox and loyal citizens have no false doctrines in their creed they should hasten to publish their tvuo religion for the benefit of tho warring sects whoare groping after the truth The patriotism of whoAvould men who would oppress op-press others on account of belief is likely tobjsin8har 1glt weretrue and it is L otl that tho Mormons people wpre un 1 patriotuvvvho would be to blam iVSiacej the beginning of the world says MA CAXLAY there never was any nation or j any large portion of any nation not cruelly oppressed which was wholly destitute cf patriotism To make itt therefore ground A of accusation against a class of men that 1 I they are not patriotic is the most vulgar legerdemain of sophistry It is the logic I which the wolf employs against the lamb It is to accuse the mouth of the stream of poisoning the source Rulers must not bo I permitted to absolve themselves of their solemn responsibility It does not lie in their mouths to say that a sect is not patriotic pa-triotic It is their b siness to make it patriotic j pa-triotic I j The people of Utah are patriotic and are I much imbued with the spirit of American I institutions It is true they despise the contemptible actions and recommendations of some members of the Utah commission but that is not their fault They can no 1 more prevent a feeling contemptuous indignation in-dignation fronvarislng within them at the criminal suggestions of the Utah commission commis-sion than they can prevent the sun from moving in his course Neither can they cause themselves to believe this doctrine or that tenet as the Utah commissim may dictate to them All they can do is to restrain re-strain their words and acts and this they are doing and have sworn to do But the Utah commission recommends that they be punished for their thoughts and the horrible suggestion scarcely excites ex-cites a ripple of indignation throughout the country while some papers actually ap rove it A dark day in the republic is approaching |