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Show TO THE PEOPLE. "I will attempt to answer Junius Gentile, nnd to bo perfectly fair to him; it must be apparent that I am fighting In tho same causo which ho has espoused, and yet old sympathies may cause a tendency away from his side. , "I have some remembrance of tho old times. "I remember somo of the pioneers, and can recall tho tradition of their grievous wrongs that they had been driven beyond civilization; that they had settled these valleys, where- they thoucht no Gentiles would Intrude upon up-on them; and that they would here build a Zion to their God all for the sake of religious liberty, which had been denied to them in other States. Tho Gentlles'camo In; the thought was disturbed and the expectation wus de stroyed. "After the United States courts were established here and general proscrlp. tlons were enacted, It seemed to mo then, and yet acems, that tho treatment treat-ment of tho Mormon pcoplo was unnecessarily unne-cessarily harsh. If I were back in that old day and under the samo circumstances, circum-stances, I would slill be fighting for what I-deemed the rights of my beloved be-loved ones. "Among my companions, however, when I came to early manhood, were many Gentiles, and having profound affection for these, as they seemed- to have generous and tender feeling for me, wo were prone to wonder why a strife, unlike anything clso then existing exist-ing In the United States, should bo perpetuated per-petuated here In Utah, and why people who otherwise Inclined to fraternity, must be Kept apart by a harsh social condition for which neither -wasre'-sponsible. . . "The long, dark time of the raid passed slowly enough. There was an infinitude of suffering for the Mormon people. Women lied before a law which was administered with, more than nc cessary harshness. And men who, except ex-cept for ono infraction of the statutb, "c ihh -uuiuiiig in an i.neir lives, w;ere driven Into exilo or into prison. For a long time it seemed that w would never get relief. And then camo that benignant act of amnesty, which ceemed than, and seems yet, to me, liko an opening of tho heavens and a showing show-ing of the eternal throne, with blessings bless-ings streaming In golden light enveloping envelop-ing all humanity. "' And then so swiftly, one could hardly hard-ly note the change, camo party division, and Statehood arrived. ' "I have an Idea that those of tho Mormons who are r.ot" at all familiar with the Gentiles, or who havo not studied the history of Utah, except from one view-point (and that ono the view-point of the Mormon ward pulpit), havo little consciousness of tho profound pro-found gratitude which they owe to the Gentile contingent in Utah, for the migniy evenu wnicn orougnt our liberties liber-ties to us. But it was my fortune to become aware of nearly all tho circumstances circum-stances of significance In that time; and I cannot recall. In all tho years of a mature life, nor In all the reading of a studious life, one lnstanco of more benignant forbearance and beautiful generosity than was shown by the Gentiles Gen-tiles of Utah, when they laid down their great power which they 'held over trio" Mormons "of this State and said to them: 'We relinquish the government of territory, and wo givo to you tho government of tho Sate,-trusting oply to your honor.' "Tho point of departure of tho Mormon Mor-mon church from their own honor and the Gentile faith was when they" began to break the promises which they had mado to win this generous forbearance and to secure Statehood from the Union. I cannot feel, perhaps, tho same sentimental remembrances and the same powerful indignation that Junius Gentile expresses. But I can, at least, understand the humiliation, as he cannot, can-not, of finding that every one of the great promises made by the Mormon hierarchy, upon which their liberties were secured from tho general Government, Govern-ment, has been broken by tho church, with absolute disregard of every decency de-cency and or every right. Not only have they .broken tho pledges, but they have assailed Gentiles and Mormons alike, who demanded that the promises be fulfilled. "They have made somo of us feel that the Gentile stories of early days in Utah, might, at least, liave some shadow of truth: and that Gentile stories of the Mormon attitude In Illinois Illi-nois and elsewhere, should not bo too quickly dismissed;" because the attitude of the Mormon church In Utah, in recent re-cent years, has been as "defiant of law and as cruel toward the opponents , whom It had within Its power as "any tyranny that over disgraced tho pages of history. "Men who could bo firm and, ns Junius Gentile Intimates, tyrannous, in tho day of their great power in the early days of Utah, were as little children alone in the- years about 1S90, when they wanted favors; and then, when those favors were obtained and they had supreme su-preme power in the State, they could bo arrogant and cruel as a Nero, again. "Junius Gentile; If you will fight tho wrongs which are' being inflicted upon Utah; and seek, by every means In your power, to preserve the people, Mormon and Gentile alike, from suffering suffer-ing and from loss of fraternity; If you will labor to maintain the religious freedom free-dom of tho Mormon people as well as that of the Gentiles; and If you will attack at-tack boldly and openly, the rejuvenated tyranny of a church monarch, scores and perhaps scores of thousands will help you with what little power abides In our hands, "JUNIUS MORMON." |