OCR Text |
Show THE MEAT OF THE MATTER. "We have all got to bo Americans first, and Mormons or Methodists, or anything else afterwards," is the way an old friend of Tho Tribune and the American cause in Utah puts it. And that meaty little remark is respectfully re-spectfully brought to the attention of Apostlo liecd Smoot, who holds a United Slates Senatorship and protends pro-tends to pay to his country in that posiiion his highest fealty and patriotic patri-otic devotion. Hut Mr. Smoot 's own outgivings havo placed him in a bad light, before the Nation on this, subject. sub-ject. When he was testifying in his own case at Washington, he told tho Senate committee that if God gave him a commandment to do a certain thing, and ho could not obey that commandment com-mandment iiiy this country without running run-ning afoul of tho law, ho would move to some other land but what he would obey. Now, any supposed commandment command-ment that Smoot could possibly receive re-ceive from God would necessarily come through the head of the Mormon church, provided ho is not a religious as well as a political hypocrite. Either that, or he would supposedly receive that command personally through pretended pre-tended revelation by reason of his ecclesiastical position as a "prophet, seer, and revclator. " So that, according accord-ing to his own definition of his position posi-tion he is not first nn American citizen. He is first and foremost a bigoted religionist, re-ligionist, holding himself alwn3'S in readiness to obey the behests of his ecclesiastical superior as against the; call of his country. Reed Smoot, therefore, is not a loyal citizon of the United States; and what business has a disloyal person to hold a position among tho land's chief lawmakers? |