OCR Text |
Show WHY I AM AN AMERICAN; !i WHY YOU SHOULD BE ONE When I came lo Salt Lake City in 1900, there was no Biieh thing as an American party; there was .practically but one party, and that was the party 5t" the church; true, it sometimes was designated as the Republican party, and sometimes it went by the name of the Democratic party; but whatever it was called it made no difference; the stamp of the corrupt church leaders was all ways present just as it .brands the soon-to-be-bom " Mulcphnnt" party to be placed hi the field before its birth. Whatever the polygamous, vicious, grasping aggregation in Temple square said was the law in polities then just as it is everywhere in Utah today, with the execptio'n of Salt Lake City, and any attempt at rebellion meant political politi-cal death or great financial loss to those who had the audacity to question the authority of that bogus baud of holy ones. Being a frco-born American citizen, citi-zen, I resented this, but soon found that it was to my pecuniary advantage to keep a close mouth on such subjects sub-jects "as did not concern me," namely, the ruling and govcrning-of tho "Lund of Zion," for there were those who were "set apart" for that work. But T. mado it my business when J cast my first ballot in Utah to ascertain "who was who and what was what" before I cast my ballot, and to weed out all known churchmen and Gentile sycophants syco-phants (these latter T prefer to call "copperheads") When tho American parly was' organized or-ganized T. hailed it with joy as a harbinger har-binger of political froedom in this slate, and became a member at once. T have continued -a member of that partv lo this day, and have been made to feel the sting of the church lash as a consequence. T had a littlo business busi-ness of my own which I lost through my political affiliations, but I shall remain devoled lo the principles of freedom until the cloud of priestly tyranny tyr-anny is rolled from the fair sky of Utah's politics and the foul blot of polygamy is obliterated from her stand-, ard; till our children have the privilege privi-lege of attending schools that are not dominated by a church, so called, whose doctrines and dogmas are us loathsome to mo as those of the Turkish harem; till women in Utah shall be regarded by the majority of the volers as something born to fill a higher position-than "No. " in tho harem of a polygamous lecher; till froodom, Amcr- ican freedom, is accorded to a downtrodden down-trodden ami bonightcd people, nnd Utah's star shall shino forth upon the ensign of our great republic in all its beauty and brilliancy and the state shalli'claim her own. As long as any one of theso things is lackng, so long will I be found in the ranks of the party that stands for those principles. You should be an American. Whether Wheth-er 3'ou are a Mormon, .Tew or Gentile, it makes no difference. The American party has done moro for 'ou than any other, party; look at the vast improvements improve-ments that, havo been made with no raise in taxes; see how Salt Lake is growing! Do 3011 want to go back to the old times and have all this work stopped; do you want to drive capital out of Utah) T am sure not! If you are a nou-Mormon you should bo an American part' man on general principles; prin-ciples; if you are otherwise, you brand yourself as 0110 of those creatures which T have heretofore referred to as "copperheads." If you aro a. Mormon, Mor-mon, you must bo tired of having tho linger of scorn pointed at you as the sustaincrs of those leaders of yours who defy the laws of God nnd man and shako their fists in the face of the United States senate and ask them what thoy aro going to do about it; who have broken their solemn pledges made lo the government of tho United States; who aro robbng you and giving giv-ing 3011 no accounting of that Tob-bor3'; Tob-bor3'; who, iu civil affairs, has made slaves of 3'ou all too long. Aro 3'ou not a little bit ashamed of' them? We of the American party arc your true friends; we extend to you the glad hand of friendship; wc offer to you the key to politicnl and civic freedom; it is" 3'ours for the taking; 3'ou need not oven ask. My Mormon friends, come to tho American parly with its vast storehouse of freedom; the door is open; we havo no secret work, 110 temple, ceremonies to go through with, no tithing to pay. All wo have is liberty for you and for all in this good state of Utah1 Awake to your manhood; throw off the yoke that these bogus t3rrants have so long imposed upon j'ou; let 3'our manhood rule; come out for what 3'ou know to bo right, what 3'ou know 3'ou are entitled to; it belongs to you; fako j'our own. WI13 will vou bo slaves? A. V. THOMSON. |