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Show . . CONTRADICTING THE RECORD. At no time did any church official offer any advice whatever that would in any way encroach upon the liberty o any church member to select his or her, political po-litical affiliations, and vote according: to conviction. There Is absolutely no ground for the charge of church interference, and those who make It must know that "It is false. Deserct Nows editorial, November No-vember 7, 1006. Just now there is a tendency nmong sonio of the thouphtlesa youry? men to sympathize with the UkIu against the church authorities. " At the present time we are about to make choice of .SQine political leaders. It is scarcely necessary to say that a man who has tho Interests of himself and his people at hart will ehooso his friends. Who arc our friends'.' Men who .have kept Informed In-formed mi the trend of affairs In tho Nation Na-tion In the past two years or moro may easily surmise. To voto any other way would be ungracious, against our best interests, in-terests, and would show a spirit of ungraciousness un-graciousness such as this podplo do not naturally possess. Wherefore by their fruits yo shall know them. Signed article ar-ticle by Joseph F. Smith In improvement Era for November. 1908, and Issued In the preceding October. Tho -election of tho Individual referred to Honorable Moses Tlwitcher would not be otherwise recorded than as an attack upon and an affront to the body of worshipers wor-shipers most numerous In the Stalo. Those who sought to promote his boom ought to know that they were deliberately deliber-ately attempting to undermine a vital feature of the organic law of a church. T--oret News editorial, November IS, 1S?G. As will be observed, the protest of the Deserct News against the charge of church interference iu politics was printed in the oditorial columns of that paper afyar the issue of tho number of the Improvement Era, containing tho positive instruction of Joseph F. Smiilh to tho 3'oung men of the church that they wore not lb voto for candidates of the part" that had opposed tho scaling of Apostle Reed. Smoot. in the United States Senate". In all likelihood, -a copy of the Era. was ' on" the News editor's desk at the timo he dictated the falsehood false-hood that was to appear in his particular partic-ular columns. Tn any event, there is no possible room for doubt that the editor edi-tor of tho church organ hild read tho Era and knew of this certain portion of its contents; for tho editor, liko ali othcr sycophants, peruses tho outgivings of his-prophet before all els,c; and this was a personally signed article. At this same liinc. too, tho editor of the church organ was aware of the fact that ono A. Milton Musscr, assistant historian of the Mormon church, had promulgated an-"inspired " communication communica-tion through Apostlo Smoot's "Mouth," declaring that ho . had abandoned the Democratic party, and had takeu up tho cause of Elder Smoot. and his political coadjutors with all tho fervor of his enthusiastic soul. Tho Deserct News knows that this lotf.er was tho result of an express order from tho president's office, and that its publication would never have boon dared" over Elder Musscr Mus-scr 's signature in tho absone'e of- consultation con-sultation with tho chief lawbreaker of Mormoudoni. In President Smith "s signod article, interfering with tho political rights of the young meii of the. Mormon church, is a most 'signifioanl 'sentence. Tt is at the conclusion of the impudent screed,; .thus: "Wherefore by their fruits yo shall know them." This was intended to act as an infallible guide to tho young men in their selection of candidates candi-dates for their support.. It was as much as to say . to thorn that they were .to cast their votes for only such men as had supported Apostle Reed-Smoot, and therefore tho dominating and interfering interfer-ing policies of Joseph P. Smith. 1 The last quotation which we produce ' 'from the Deserct News gives the io'to ' its other uttei'auce, quoted at 'the head of this orticlo. In it tho further monstrosity mon-strosity is brought forth that support of a candidate who . had become such without tho permission of tho hicrarchs was a direct nttack upon tho "organic-law" "organic-law" of tho church! |