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Show THE FUTILE SMOOT DEFENSE. The storm of criticism raised by Apostle Smoot'a disingenuous and dishonest dis-honest article in the North American Review calls forth a defense of him in his "Mouth" of this city. That de- fense consists in the schoolboy taunt, t "you're another." It says that the American party nominated a polyga mist 'on its ticket a time or two, referring re-ferring to the case of a man who, many years before had been in pu'gnuvy, but who for many' years had rejected aud abandoned the doctrine and practice; prac-tice; a ca6C out of line with the claim. It says, further, that Mr. Kcarns, as delegate in the constitutional convention, voted for .Tolrti Ifcnry Smith, a polygarnist. as president of thqt convention; this nt a time when all Republican delegates did the aame thing, aud when it was thoroughly understood un-derstood that polygamous practices should cease, the Mormon leaders having hav-ing pledged thoir ftiith and honor to that purport; and in pursuance of which pledge of honor the first State Legislature passed a law legitimizing polygamous children np to a given date, ' which enactment was very propcrb construed to moan a pledge of the abandonment of polygamy' and that no more children should be born in that relation. Otherwise it would bo impossible to either excuse or explain that sUtutc. It is perfectly plain to any one of a discerning mind that the condition then, whon the plodge'of abandoning polygamy was supposed to be sincere and whs absolutely to bo fairhfulh' fulfilled, and wan accepted by tho com munity as something that genuinely was to bo done, was quite a different situation from what is presentod now. 'Then every one supposed that polygamy poly-gamy was to bo abandoned, polygamous living included. We now soo that the pledgo to that effect, and the. understanding under-standing of tho effect of tho legislation legisla-tion growing out of that understanding, understand-ing, havo not in the least been mot. Wo seo that uofc only docts polygamous living continue, openly, defiantly, and lawlessly, but that new polygamous marriages have boon and aro being performed; per-formed; and that there appears to be no intention whatever to conform to the pledgo of coming within tho Jaw, either as to the matter of forbidding new polygamous marriages or of abandoning aban-doning tho marital relations under tho old polygamous ties. It is idlo to undertake un-dertake to apply things said and acts done' at a time when cvory one supposed sup-posed that the law was to be supromo, that the church, was to meet its pledges in all respects, to conditions now, when we boo those pledges broken, tho law defied, and a polygamous hiorarcby declaring that it will do as it pleases regardless of law, pledge, decency, or honor. It is precisely tho same thing as if one should insist that a man having a trusted friend or employee must trust that friend or employee after ho finds out that ho is unfaithful unfaith-ful as a fri.oiid and dishonest as an eraployoe'. To those who cannot understand the difference of aititudc natural Lo honest hon-est men under- those changod conditions, condi-tions, it would bo impossiblo to cuter, cu-ter, upon aujr attempt lo explain that difference. The man who cannot discern dis-cern the differenco between honesty and dishonesty, truth and falsehood, faithfulness and deception, is beyond the reach of reason, and it is idlo to undertake to set him right. Tho conditions con-ditions havo entirely changed from what they wore in the former times. Thero must necessarily be a difference in dealing with those conditions. And that is precisely the American party's position, .and the. changed conditions were precisely the reasons why the American party was formed, and -win the people of this community recognized recog-nized tho formation of that parly as a uceesauo move in tho interests of moralit.3 of decency, oT law, niid of community loyalty and freedom. |
