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Show Tin:r Hour i. miahon'. In 1SS9, ai will be remembered, our city wu visited by members of the Urand Array of tho Ilepubllo and tho occasion Was taken advantage of by certain antl.Mormons to have a demonilratlon with a series oi mora or less eloquent denunciations of the people peo-ple lo thli Territory. In the audlsnce one evening wai a ilrauger who, after having listened for a white, turned to a llaptltt clergyman, a friend ol bis, well acquainted with the conditions In Utah, and asked him what tho true cauiewas of the warfare agnlntt the Mormons. "Well," the minister aalil, "to be frank, I hardly know. Aa for the Christian churohet, they desire tbatMormonlitn ahall be put down, becauie It la n wrong religion, re-ligion, and thote whoioonly ambition it political dlilltictlon and remunerative remunera-tive olllcesjoln ua, because they know that tbey can depend on our votes." "Hut why do you not then meet the Mormons on a Ilibllcal ground an! show them that their religion Is wrong, Intttadef threatening them with the aword aa some of thrau speakera have done? It Is tnsklng martyrs of them." "That la it," the minister suid; "but wo cannot reason with them. We have tried In vain. The only point, seem liifly, on which Mormonlim can be asialled Is Its peoullar doctrine on marriage, and we are going to work that for all It li worth." The mlnliter slated no doubt the position of many of tha antlMormons at the tlmo correctly. It wai not any particular love for morality that prompted their aotloni.but It wai their deilre for plunder on the one hand and for the establishment of sectarian churches on the other. The calculation calcula-tion at that time was that the Mor-monsshould Mor-monsshould be led on to defy the laws and the government of the country, until In tha conflict they should be broken to pieces, when tha agitators would be ready to seise the spoils In the rulm they had wrought. Hut this calculation waa sadly upset. The Mor mons,lnttead of defying thegovernment or eluding the laws, loyally accepted the decision of the Bupreme Oourl, an evidence of the sincerity of their faith In the supremacy of the lawfully con atltuted authorities of tho country. When thla became known to the whole world through the aotlon of the Church authorities suttalned by the unanltuoui vote of thu people, It waa aa II an earthquake had shaken the ground on which the antl-Mormoni were waging the battle. Many of them, who were houeit, left tho rauki, while others, perhnpi the majority, were in tho position ol an army luddenly cut oil from Its bate of operations. For a time they hesitated. Hut at lait ' they rallied again. They could no longer pltad polygamy us a cauio for continuing the lioitllltlci. They had to shllt their ground, aud thealmost forgotten ohargti of "Church rule" was again raked up. Formerly It was always said that If polygamy wore Riven up, the Mormons would bu all right. Hut when that was accotu. pllshed tbo organ of hatred and vilification vilifi-cation battened to Inform Its decreasing decreas-ing circle of readers that polygamy had never been the wont feature uf Mormoulam; It was "Church rule" that wai the real alu of the system, and as long as that existed tho war had to be kept up. It la the history of the wolf and the lamb over again. In a controversy of that Mud, nrgtiments have no power. Kveu Innocence is defensors. defenso-rs. It is simply is question of war und vandalism with ur without n cmuibeUi. Thu latitt allegation on thu part uf our belllgtrent inorulug oonteutporary Is thnt Joseph iiuiltli eitibllshed a Thtocracy, from whloh it conclude! that the Mormon l'rluithood ruin the people politically. Now, thla atalouieiit It ui wrong ua everything else on thu Himu lllbject by thut paper. Joseph Bmltlt did uot establish a Thi ucracy In that teiisu of thu word. He did uot establish a aisle governed by the Almighty. He did not even endeavor to do that. Ills million wit to found u church the Chinch of Joiui Christ and thla mission lie faithfully fj . tilled. lu this Church dod li iho Uuprume Hulur, Jiittai utlmr churoitu-. churoitu-. I'tofrs-, with this dlflennu-, tnu while other clmrchei lay they are ruled by (Jod only through the word written In the Bll'le centurlei ago, this Church recogulr.es the Illvlno word In sll ugei.lncludlng our own. That tbu establishment es-tablishment of thli Church was and still Is held to be one cf the preparalory stepi to the eitaHlihmonl on catth of a Theocracy during a coming millennium may l-o irue; but tbat doca not prove that the leaden of the Church claim dictation In polltloal matters. The belief of the Mormona as plain ly expressed Id Ihe Doctrine and Cov enanu it that III' not "lust to mingle religious iLfluence with civil govern ment," and lbs conduct of the members mem-bers Is In accorJsuce with this belief, No amount of unsupported statement! can be taken as froof of Ihe contrary. |
