OCR Text |
Show AMERICAN PARTY I MEETS AT SANDY I Many Attend and Are I Interested. I Great Speech by Senator HI Frank J. Cannon Who Re D9 citis Needs of Utah. Judge H, J. Dinniny Also Discusses MM Important Work of American ! Special to Tho Tribune. m SANDY, Utah, Oct. 21. Not ln many W I ycas have the patrldtlc people of Sandy KnM been so enthused over a political fSlI demonstration. tby werfj thi evwi- InSjl Ing. The occasion was the first rally umII of the American party of Utah in that IHII town. Schmidt's hall was filled to over- fill flowing with a large and appreciative 13,11 audlenco. The party's emblem, the un- fiill furled flag, was everywhere in evidence, Hill and this feature of the decorations was fHil indeed striking. Hill Salt Lakers Arrivo in Special. ijftl A special train over the San Pedro Pill route from Salt Lake brought a large jlfil party, including the American party illfl drum corps, the candidates, speakers, Wf singers and others. The short march mill from the Sandy depot to the meeting mm place was led by the drum corps, and (ill the throng which had assembled to wel- fill come the train Eoon made It appear that lull the entire town waa awake to the occa- fill I slon. Music by tho drum corps and fill two selections by the Utah quartette, till composed of female voices, put the if! I meeting ln expectancy of what waa to jjfjl ITyo Delivers Address. jfijl In his opening address Chairman jl George L. Nye of the county committee fj I made a distinct hit by announcing that jj jl this was the first rally of the American j jl party of Utah in Sundy, but It would U II by no means be tho last that the party jj II had come to stay until the redemption jj II of Utah from ecclesiastical domination jl II of political affairs had been accom- J II pllshed. His declaration that the j nartv's ticket seemed certain, of success till at this election in Salt Dako county Hj was greeted with marked applause. U Chairman Nye scored another point by & citing how the campaign orators of the f opposition whp first tried to belittle the ffl strength of the new party movement fi now feared the result, and debated their V efforts to defaming the American party aj This, he said, seemed to be the only S argument the opposition could advance m to win favor with the voters. f Judge DinLnny Speaks. i In his a3 dress H. J. DInlnny, nominee If for County Attorney, announced that M the principles of the American party appealed more directly to the personal I Interests of those present and ovcry one 1 In Utah than the question of who should I occupy the Presidential chair Ho was S specific ln declaring that the new 1 party Is not antagonizing the religious S sentiments of the people, but Is oppose B Ing the political activity of the Mormon jg church leaders rather than of the mem- Jf borshlp of the followers. ffl Three Propositions. O; Judge DInlnny laid down the propo- i sition that If the promises made by the 1 dominant church leaders as a condition flt precedent to securing Statehood for Si the people of Utah had been kept jtfi there is no reason for the birth and m existence of the new party, but If these Sj promises had been broken thero Is II f ample Justification for the American flj movement. He then detailed the public S', acts of the ecclesiastical power ln Utah n wherein bad faith has been shown by the dominating ones through both the ' Republican and Democratic parties, oven to tho midst of this campaign. Ho added that not until the American party 1 had been formed did the oraiors of the 3f two great National parties dare say a K word about church Interference ln po- ft lltlcal affairs. B Election of Snioot. i jliH For these conditions, resulting in the 1 1 jl foisting of Reed Smoot, clothed ln his I nljH apostolic robey, upon the country ao a yjH United Statos Senator, and elevating Ifprl him Co the poNillon of jo'll'eal dops over J f.iH the State. Judge DInlnny Bald the Mpr- 1 tjiH mon people are not wholly to blame. 1$H since not a few non-Mormons hav j gH sought ecclesiastical Influence that they j jj'H might win political preferment. Amidst J (H applause ho closed by urging the people ! tiffl of Sandy to help the new party's move- t JjJH mcnt, which will bring political content- J jjil ment and greater freedom, especially I itM to the progressive young Mormons, than j ttjH they could possibly expect otherwise. J IflH Senator Frank J. Cannon was en- fnl thuslastlcally received by tho largn IffcM audience when ho advanced to the front Qsfll to deliver his speech. Tho Senator said: Senator Cannon's Speech. -Kl In tho absonce of Judge Hilos It may be jfl deemed incumbent upon me to mako such i-'tl presentation aa I can of the strong 1!'I grounds, as ho strongly states them, why Ivtl this party la ln t-xlstenco. If the other rl parties which are waging a-political battle ftl ln Utah wero amply tiutflclent to expreaa I'UmM the need of tho peoplo then It was on oco- tiM nomlc and social crime, however mno- i' cently committed, for this party to com U Into existence It Is an economio orlnio 'MH for tho peoplo to have wasted time ana ijiH money upon a party that Is uaoleefl whoae 1 ;? work la already being dono by the old ffml parties: and it Is a social crlmo for po- fhl pie to break lifelong friendship and affl- j I jB llatlonn of many years In ordur to lend oft ,k1 usolcealy and mischievously, factions of iNI tho old partlos, ln order to constitute a 15 ;mM new one. Not all tho offices ln Utah or iM tho United Statos, nor all tho ambition ,j mm which men can feol to hold' those offloe. I i " '"MMJ""""1"" -lr"' can nlonu Justify the organization of thla , 4. party, nor can tlio ambition to hold those ! ofrtces or to accuro them for friends Jiis- ! tlfy any man in Utah in wlthho ding his support from this party, If thcro Is reason for Its exlntonco and operation within this State. . , , ' ', If this party have no reason for cxlst- . once let it deliberately march off the field nnd lenvo the political contentions here In I i Utah, whether thoy affect nutlonal or I State questions, to the settlement of the old parties; and let the men and women who havo Joined the American party grope their wav bnck to tho national . party which past cxporlonco has shown j to bo beat representative of tholr political "1 convictions. If this party do havo rea sons for existence. It should bo able to -; ' make them so plain that not only Its prcs- ent adherents will remain In strong sup- I port of Its purposes, but thousands and i,; tens of thousands of other citizens of , ; Utah will Join lt rank3 at an early time. ' ji Some Political History. ' jtj "Without dwelling too much upon an- ',' dent history, but in order that' we may pet a starling point, let us brlcily consld-' consld-' rr tho situation, political and social, of Utah antecedent to JS90. In the years prc-. prc-. vlous to that time a very sharp lino dl- () ! i vlded Gentiles and Mormons. That line was political, but It alRO extended Into social affairs and sometimes Into business relations. Thoso wero great heroic days, In some respects. The Gentiles were com-,, com-,, paratlvely a hnndful. and' yet behind thorn i ' stood tho power of the United States. The 'it Mormons wero locally In tho majority, but they had no external sentiment or nympathy to support them. I-ct us call '" the fight at that tlmo an oven one. lou I could not have gotten a Gentile to cross 1 tlio dividing line and Join with tho Mor- I mons politically for any price which t might have been named. Thcro was not monov enough in tho country to Induce a , Mormon to allv himself with the Gentiles, r; for ho believed that thev not only prosc- ',, cutg.d but persecuted his people. Thoro I nre In thlj assemblage scores of pcoplo I who stood with the Gentiles In that day. i and scores of pcoplo here who stood with ! tho Mormons. Of course. I was with the Mormon pcoplo. So long as tho situation J of that time should endure, I felt that I I must fight for them, no matter whether , they wero right or wrong. Disappointing ' i aa was the thought that wo were in a country and not of It. that as Mormons we , ' 1 wore a proscribed clas, every Mormon wanted to 'take his fate with Iil3 people. t 'J sharing In the proscriptions which aftect- (. ed tho lives of the leaders. Every Mor- mon was ready to protect those who were ! living in plural marriage. Ho was ready to vote tho ticket v.-hloh might bo se-i' se-i' lectcd In tho Tabernaclo or other places " of assemblage of the People's party. ! Whatever might have been his personal relations with Gentiles, ho would not yield any of his loyalty to the church leaders. II I - Manifesto Treed Mormons. ''. At last, under tho gentle hand of Wll-; Wll-; ford Woodruff, there was made-a manlfoa-j' manlfoa-j' to, which was Interpreted to, forbid V further plural marriages and unlawful co-1 co-1 r habitation, and this being closely followed i 1 by political declarations which left all the ,; Mormons free to Join national organlza-' organlza-' lions, every Mormon felt that at last the , gates had been opened and ho could bo as other American cftlzens were, having ' neither religious nor political Ilea which ' bound him In antagonism to tho genornl sentiments of tho country. If there arc , any here who did not pass through that 1 experience they will find It aknost impossible im-possible to-reallzo what a vast glory seemed to have opened unto us when wo ( could clasp hands fraternally Jew, Gcn-' Gcn-' tile, and Mormon when If we waged po-j po-j lltlcal war It was Just ns other American , ! citizens do. because of political dlffcr-! dlffcr-! snccs, national in chnracter. What a Joy I ! it waa to escape tho old divisions, which made of every Gentile an enemy of the , Mormons and every Mormon an enemy ot J tho Gentiles! Swift Evolution. ' In tho period from 1SG0 to the admission ,'j to Statehood January 4. ISM, there was a n swift evolution- Wo passed from enmity 'L to fraternity, from local strife to local j' peace, from n Territorial condition Into Statehood. That Statehood was obtained briefly i. opcaking, In the following manner Plural 1 1 1 marriage, and unlawful cohabitation were ;j i forbidden by the church; amnesty wa3 l , asked for and obtained, under a pledge of 'l honor that the practice would not bo ro-1 ro-1 ncwed; division on national party lines y was effected: specific covenant waa made , that tho authorities of the church would Jl'l not Intervene In political affairs; a State ' "'i Constitution was adopted forever Inhiblt-, Inhiblt-, 1 '!, lng plural marriage and forever Inhibiting 1 the domination of the affairs of tho State . ! by tho church. That was an Ideal sltua-1 sltua-1 lion, that was what wo had nil prayed for ' and worked for. k Pointed Question. Does any man hero Imagine that amncs-K amncs-K ty would have been granted to tho church ; leaders and Statehood would havo been t obtained for Utah if the Gentiles had op-i op-i j posed a bestowal of these great gifts7 If I l any ten, out of hundreds of strong Gen's Gen-'s i tiles In Utah, had raised tho flag of antng-T antng-T onlsin and had fought the fight determln-V determln-V edly they would' havo been backed by so j large a sentiment In this country that l President Harrison would have been de-. de-. tcrrcd from giving tho general amnesty : and Congress would havo refused to pass the enabling act. Just so surely ns the . j Mormons yielded mnny things which to I them had been dear, In accepting tho manifesto of President Woodruff and In I . ratifying the complete and permanent i , i1 withdrawal of tholr leaders from politics, ji so the Gentiles gave up much of their old 1 , I feelings when they assented to tho full l ; freedom of a formerly proscribed class, i I;' and assented to and urged and helped to ''Ji secure sovereignty for this State. ' , IJ During tho earlier time there had been ji j, much unrest Capital had been kept away from Utah. Immigration here had been ,i i slow and development of natural re-! re-! 'I sources had been retarded. With Statehood ? k It was believed that every special difficulty ' ' peculiar to Utah had banished and that 1 ' wo would have as wldo opportunities as i ' any American citizens under tho flag. In 1 tho old days I had attributed much of tho ,, j strife hero In Utah to tho Gentiles If we were back In those old tlmo days I might still be of that opinion because tho dearest i ' ties of life had been lacerated But let i that pass. Let us assume that wo are standing now at tho dnto January C. 1SD3, with Utah admitted as a State of this Union, with all the past differences forgiven for-given and for the time being forgotten. l i ' Peaco reigns In Utah. The Stato is popu-1 popu-1 1' lfir abroad. Tho favoring eyes of all tho i world aro turned toward her. The sltua-i sltua-i i Hon was Ideal. "What more could people , -i 5 ask? Was It not a cruel offense, afgainst ,,' tho whole pcoplo of Utah then living and 1 y yet to bo, to chango tho relation which ii i then existed? HL !! Who Disturbed Peace of Utah? Hj j Who disturbed tho peace of Utah? Did ! i tho Gentiles begin tho warfare upon tho 1 l Mormon pcoplo. their faith and upon tho 1 , dignity of tho State? If so. then this 1 ) American party should light Gentllclsm j in Utah Instead of fighting Smootlsm for B ' It was an awful crime to destroy the peace 'i .' or this State, to destroy the fraternity V which existed among men of nil classes. I ft to retard tho development of our natural f f resources, to prevent Immigration hero I which should enhance the power nnd u grandeur of the Stato. Let us see whore i 'the offense lies; ' i! Was there a violation of tho manifesto? i' Testimony to that effect was given by tho !i church leaders themselves In Washington, 'i Thoy broko tho pledge; they opened tho - controversy. However. I will pas3 that matter by. I am glad that the American 1 party has. left that question for the Mor- mon people to seltlo for themselves. They can nnd they will, ns wc all believe. Has thcro been a violation of the covc-L, covc-L, ! nant pertaining to tho oxerclso of political H i! power? If thero has been such a violation H j who are tho rcsponslblo partlcs7 Let ua B , ' see. In 1505, tho Democratic partv held a i i reconvened convention In Salt La'ko City, 1 n In which It declared against Interference by the church with the affairs of tho State. ' In 1S97, Moses Thatcher, -who according to Democratic Idea, hod been tho victim of 1 church Interference was a candidate for 1 tho Senate of tho United States, and for , many days was perilously near to oloctlon H j by a Democratic Legislature so strongly Democratic that In tho two bodies of tho j Assembly there was but ono Republican 1 to each twenty Democrats. Moses Thatch- cr was defeated and tho victorious candl-date candl-date was elected, becauso somo cccleslae-tlcal cccleslae-tlcal power readied over into the thin ranks of the throe Republicans In tho Joint l the Senate, but It was no use of church ln- H fluence to consont to his running. Viewed B in Ua effects, then, It is not a uso of church Influence to elect an apostle to tho Senate, but It would havo been a use of church Influence to say that he could not be n candidate for the Senate Just Absolute Pact. Not a bill has passed through tho State Legislature that Is opposed by the church leaders. Not a bill falls of passago that they want passed. Not an act has been signed by the Governor that was strongly opposed by the chief men In the church. Not an act has been votoed that the leaders lead-ers did not want vetoed Has there been a breaking of the pledge7 Does the church dominate the affairs of the State, and do prominent ecclesiastics dlctato in political affairs? I pause for a reply. Have I proved tho case? If not, go back and vote tho Republican or Democratic ticket, or part of each, as you may be told by the ecclesiastical authority of your ward, your stako and tho church. If I have proved the case, come over and Join tho American party. Maintain the Constitutional Con-stitutional provision that the church shall not dominate the affairs of the State. Heli the church leaders , to keep tho pledge which was given and the pledge which every' citizen of Utah ratified when the State Constitution was adopted. Where Line Should Be Drawn. Havo I anywhere Intimated that it was tho desire of the American party that any man should be deprived of his political rights? It has not so been Intended; nor do I blame Mormons alone for tho violation viola-tion or the political manifesto. Sycophantic Sycophan-tic Gentiles have been quite as much responsible re-sponsible as have the leaders of the church., and much more responsible than any of the church followers. One of tHc able men of the Mormon church and of this State asked mo today where I would draw the line between those who havo a right to enter tho field of political activity and those who have not, Tne answer then and now Is; Just where the church lenders lend-ers drew tho line In the political manifesto. manifes-to. That document stated that certain officials could 'not enter politics without consent. The highest present authority of tho church Interpreted that manifesto not to mean any one who stood In authority author-ity below the lino which the manifesto drew. Must Havo Consent. According, then, to tho manifesto Itself, Its official Interpretation and experience, tho first presidency, tho apostles, the pro-siding pro-siding patriarch, tho seven presldcnte of tho seventies and the presiding blshopilc, are Inhibited from aspiring to public office. of-fice. If there arc others proscribed by that manifesto, It Is by tho interpretation of tho leaders themselves and not by tho desire de-sire of the American party to exclude any ' one who stands below that lino from exercising exer-cising his full freedom In political life. Do not misunderstand me. Tho manifesto docs not say that theso men shall not enter en-ter Into political activities, but that they shall not enter without consent. Experience Experi-ence proves that If any man of this class does not get the consent, ho drags In nnritli InfllinnXA nr-nlnnf titrr n rwl 1 1 1. does got consent he drags In church In-fluonco In-fluonco for him. And as church Influence Is denied and Inhibited In politics, tho only logical construction is to say that the church itself has excluded from political polit-ical nctlvlty all those who aro designated by that manifesto as being required to ask permission. Must "Work Out Her Own Destiny, Utah must work out her own dcstlnv. In the first daya of Statehood It waa the prayer and hope of every citizen that Utah would tako her place, among tho proudest of the commonwealths; that never would oppression stain tho pages of her history: that forever and forcvor Scr men and women breathing this won-rous won-rous air would work for the highest dignity dig-nity of the Stato and tho Nation for peaco with her sister States, nnd for individual in-dividual liberty at homo. Wo learned to love freedom In tho long dark night which preceded the glorious dawn of our Statehood State-hood rights- How proud wb were in that hour! How glad we wero to pledge our-tdlvcs our-tdlvcs to support tho Stato to Its highest dcstlnyl Let Us Settle Question Wow. Are wc achieving that destiny? In the name ot the generations gone which worked and fought, suffered and died, that wo might have the rights of citizenship citizen-ship and enjoy here In tho valleys of this Stato the comforts of this life; in tho name of the generations coming after uo which will enjoy or suffer tho conditions wo leave for them, I beseech you to settle set-tle this question In the present decade If the church Is right In its attempted domination dom-ination of political affairs, then let every man ask tho church for a manifesto on even' election morning and lot him voto its will. If tho American party Is right let every man, Republican and Democrat, Demo-crat, Jew, Gentllo and Mormon, who lovca liberty, Join Its ranks and swell tht mighty volume of power growing now and soon to bo Irresistible by which Utah shall bo restored to the proud position Which sho enjoyed on the day of her ad- mission to tho Union. |