| Show FACT OR FICTION Last Sunday morning the Tribune said The Illustrated American of New York city is publishing a series of articles on Mormonism Mor-monism Tho articles in the main are fair From some authority the Illustrated American Ameri-can ha3 received its information and naturally natur-ally it reaches the conclusion that the Saints have not in any honest ense abandoned aban-doned polygamy The articles in the journal the local shoot refers to discussed the theme Will the Mormons Mor-mons fight and had only an incidental reference to polygamy The inference and conclusion of each article was to the effect that the Mormons would fight and actually intended to do so And with the articles which declared the Mormons would fight before his eyes the Tribune scribe said gleefully Tho articles in the main are I fair It is not to be wondered at that the issue of the same sheet two days later contained tho following Who dampens and chills the atmosphere alPatmospheres the religious reli-gious the social the political the business = atmosphere It is your man of facts and truth There is nothing so benumbing The man who having lived hero for years could deliberately perjure his soul by saying of the fiendish productions re referred to that the articles the main are fair might well console himself with an apostrophe to falsehood and deduce mans belief in immortality from his natural I nat-ural propensity to lie as the BashiBazouk did in the issue of the 27th l t The Liberal city council of Salt Lake at its latest session on Tuesday evening unanimously adopted tho following resolutions resolu-tions Whereas the Impression obtained by reading read-ing tho articles bearing upon the Mormon question ques-tion published in tho Illustrated American is such as to unsettle the eastern public confidence in the soundness of the commercial Interests of this city be it Resolved That a committee of this council be appointed to officially refute by telegram or otherwise the statements contained in the December De-cember 27th issue of the Illustrated American to the effect that Utah Is about to make war upon the United States and be it further Resoled That tho committee be requested to obtain the cooperation of tho territorial officers and the Salt Lake chamber of commerce com-merce in this refutation and that the same be caused to be published in the Illusraled American Ameri-can The mayor named Pembroke Hall and Kar rick as the committee to refute the publications named Now it is certain that the council is mistaken mis-taken or else the Tribune lied when it pronounced pro-nounced the articles fair That what it publishes is false howaver makes no difference dif-ference to that sheet it believes in falsehood false-hood and says facts and truths dampen chill and benumb the atmosphere it likes to revel in A great many editors would like to be free to let their imagination run in the same way for it is much harder to writo when ono has to be governed by facts but it is only in this community that an editor can give free reign to his imagination imagina-tion with the moral certainty that nine out of every ten of his readers will never care whether the imaginary vaporings they read have any solid foundation or not II is a great crime these Tribune readers are committing com-mitting against themselves f when they have read for the twentieth time somo statement that they know to be false they will be unconsciously influenced by it as though it contained more or less truth and when they read as they do from day today to-day falsehood after falsehood which they have no means of probing they will become wholly imbued with the false sentiments and will act accordingly The wellworn words of POPE find ready application hero Vice is monster of so frightful mien As to be bated needs but to be seen Yet seen too oft familiar with her face We first endure then pity then embrace And it is precisely the same in reading the unrestrained imaginings of a writer who is not obliged tokeep within the boundaries of truth rbtit prefers rather to let imagination imagina-tion take the placepf sober fact and dull veracity I m |
