Show OPEN LETTER TO THE STANDARD our sense of political itRI justice antl political self respect will not permit its to pass passin in silence certain utterances of ion hon moses thatcher Thatch cr in the recent territorial democratic convention in the ogden opera house herein lie would teck seek to make comparisons of tile or origin in of the republican and democratic ties which are unfair to the ohp former it if there is any thread in sir thatch ers erb add addrena ad dresa ress it is most plainly manifest in hia attempt to number ali 0 savior of mankind a as 9 i a member arid and almost it founder ot of the democratic party and ami to tive lucifer and the whig arid and republican call parties to cach other in solemn terms we wish bere arid and now to resent all such profaning of tho the name of jesus and all such unjustifiable aspersions upon the parties to which our ancestors and ourselves have niven given our devot devotion ion ind and confidence to connect our lord in a position of responsibility IN with ith tile democracy might be so construed is as to hold j alim ir accountable for innocent blood of our martyred marty red kindred and friends for it is a fact hicl which cannot be pain gain said aud that the controversies in which our relatives arid and comp compi inions niona have been murdered have bare been irr n localities democrats bield and when tile dear ones who have sealed their testimony with their blood shall baand before the judgment seat scat to accuse their slayers their lingers finger will ill lie be pointed at men 1 who I he were democrats on earth and therefore we INC do not wish to counte countenance nanco any attempt to lay upon the Rede redeemer ciner the burdens burtic nit ot of the democracy to make the whig arid and republican parties the lineal descendants arid and tile the creatures ina in a political sense of satan is to attribute to the arch eamy it a veneration for peace ind and a regard for human life for the controversies which our friends and ourselves have hal ha l with those parties have been settled without assassin violence and the members of those parties do not appear before our eyes with their hands reeking in the llie blood which was precious tous to us andas and as we ilo do not believe that satan animates his children to thus abide by law IN we c do not approve of classing him as tho the founder or progeny the founder of tire alie party of great moral ideas in our veins courses the blood of some come heroes arid and martyrs for country and for christ and not one drop of it ie in an any real or figurative cau can be traced to satanic origin in having sud said so eo much we e wish to have no misconstruction placed it upon on our words we do not claim that eitnier eithier party is the party of jesus or that either party is the party of lucifer for wo we believe that political parties are mortal in their character arid and that the they and their adherents should be judged by bir the words and deeds of this thia age ind and not 1 by tho rebellion in an and we believe that political addre addresses sees ought t to deal in political 1 11 lotical matters solely and I 1 ought to fa leave 1 ve theological matters a alone ile no true friend of ours will misunderstand this letter or the motives of self defence which prompt it nor will allfriend misconstrue our future silence if we shall liall make this document our ans answer er for all to attacks I 1 which we devin deni aa tit k aie ind unnecessary as they are an unjust with mr thatchers oration in general ge wo vr have no desire to take lake parti ban i ine bill a 3 his time although wa no believe that sc c might success successful faly y maintain such issue the full a address adres s received careful and considerate treatment dent liy by tile the editor of the ogden standard in S sunday s issue of his piper and we cordially cordi aily commend to tins tho keople of utah that they read mr thatchers oration ind and thi the criticism JOSEPH F SMITH SMITH republicans and the descendants of wit whigs i 8 silt SALT LAKE CITY may 23 1692 we ave will coil consider sider the above letter section at a time and will treat it irith all due courtesy and our sense of political justice and political self respect will not permit us to pass passin in silence certain utterance erane es of lion ion mosses thatcher in the lie recent teri ten democratic convention in tile the 0 den opera house is wherein he be would seel seek to ma nitice comparisons of tire the origin of the republican and democratic parties which are seriously unfair to tire forum 11 it should le be lome borne in mind that mr thatchers sense of political justice lias las never prompted lim him to declare lis his political preferences from the pulpit nor has liis his political self respect ever permitted lihn him to declare that men of the opposite party could pull their shirts oil over their heads without unbuttoning their collars in regard L to the taic two political parties any comi comparison arison that mi might 3 lit le be made would no doubt seem unfair to republicans because it would be manifestly if there is ia any thread in mr thatchers address addie gs it is most plainly manifest in liis his attempt to nut number titer llie flie 1 savior of mankind as a member and almost a founder of tire the democratic party and to give lucifer and the whig anil and republican parties to each cail other oilier in solemn terms we wah here arid and now nony to resent all such euch profaning of the name of jeus jesus and all such unjustifiable no as upon the parties which our ancestors anc estory and ourselves have hare given our devotion arid and confidence if there is no thread in that address certain great men have undoubtedly wasted much of their valuable time in trying to wind it i up in ili regard to assi assigning gning the savior and lucifer to their respective spec tive political parties mr thatcher Thatch cr did not do it arid and it looks strange that eliat any one would take tho the garbled report made in tile the standards synopsis of the convention proceedings proceeding rather than the speech in full as reported in the salt lake hera herald id it is not every ones of political justice or belt belf le that would permit them to do that we lve do not profess to know much about such things of course but it seems to us that when the writers of the above want to enter i a protest prote st in solemn terms against against t what they ire are pleased to call that should hardly dc pend upon it a partisan sheet for their information in ill making makin such euch a charge C large nor should they it I 1 would seem call ali the person so charged to account in that hat partisan paper palter and lievore the IN world orld the wrong done mr thatcher is all the greater because the charge made against him is not only absolutely groundless but was no doubt ina made de i in the same spirit t which prompted the edi editor tor of the sta standard edard to make a vile personal and cowardly attack upon him in ahta thatcher opera house in logan 0 a very short time ago in regard 0 to the party to which the gentlemen 0 belong all we will sa say y is ie eliat wo admire the humilia hu y shown by them towards the hand which lias has been smiting amitin 0 them for years even though the same commendable men lable spirit they show not toward oward one who lias has stood shoulder to shoulder with them in the up building 0 of the church to which they aliey belong c it may ma y be claimed that wo we are arc mistaken about the smiting 0 hand what has the republican lub lican party declared in its national platforms for over a quarter of a t century at its birth in philadelphia june 17 1856 it declared in section 3 of its national I 1 platform that it is both the right and the imperative duty ot of congress to prohibit in tile territories thoi thosa e twin relics of barbarism barba POLYGAMY AND in ili the national republican con bentio i 1 held at cincinnati on the day of june 1876 it adopted the following resolution it is the right sand duty of congress to prohibit and extirpate ic the territories that that relic of barbarism bar POLYGAMY I and u we demand derna nd such legislation I 1 as shall secure this end nd in 1880 on june 2nd and at chicago chicag go the following plank w was as put in in th the 0 national republican platform slavery having perished in inthe the states its it twin mil barbarity POLYGAMY l DIE 1 IS 1 TUB THE yet men are arc willing to defend a party which liia has been fighting for years under the above mottos and in their ardor to do so eo they impugn t the motives of one who has spent his life laboring for the people of their common chuich tho the letter continues ITO to connect our lord in ina a posit position ion of creppon il iliev with the democracy mit m ight lit bo be so construed con as to hold bold alim accountable for the innocent blood of our mart vied kindred and friends for it il is a fact naich cannot be gainsaid gain ain said that the controversies in winch which our relatives and aad companions have bave been murdered ur dered have been in localities where ayi democrats held beld say and when the dear ones n iho ho haie a sealed their hefti diony with their blood shall stand before the alie judgment seat scat to their delayers their lingers will bo be pointed at dien who nere democrats on oil earth and therefore ve me do not I 1 wish ich to countenance teri ance arty any attempt to lay upon tile Red redeemer the burdens of the democracy J in a letter from joseph S smith mith dated at commerce illinois may lath 1839 lie he states in regard 0 to the missouri misouri persecutions we 0 have not it at any ally time thought was any political party as aa such buch with the missouri baribari ties neither any religious society as such tile they wen nvere committed by b a mob composed 0 of all parties regardless of all difference of if opinion either political or religious the above seems to lie be an answer from the prophet himself concerning the persecutions of his people 1 le which while they may have arisen during durin 0 the administration of one party yet lie says no particular 1 pirty party was to blame for them lie ile possessed a spirit of fairness at least in regard to that question which does not teem to have been transmitted adoll along with his immortal name yet whatever may be the political sentiments of a I 1 locality in which a crime is committed or a persecution inflicted indicted there is no justification for blaming that party with such crime or persecution the experience of the alio mornion mormon people in the past where in they have been blamed for things done in their territory and of which they wore were innocent should serve to answer an argument like that urged by our distinguished friends the the letter continues ITO to make the lie whig and republican parties the linoal lineal deri descendants end ants and the creatures in a political sense 0 of I 1 satan is to attribute to the archenemy arch enemy a veneration for pence and a regard foi human life for the controversies which our friends arid and ourselves have had those parties lave have ben been iNith without out socratic bo cratic violence mid tile the no members bera ot of those parties do not appear before our eyes IN with ith their hands reeking ing g in the mood blood which was wag precious to us and ns as we donot dodot do not dot believe that hint satan animates liia his children to thus thua abide by bylaw law we do not approve of class ing iii liim him its ia the founder or progenitor of 0 tile iho founder of the party or of great moral ideas ive ve desire to treat the letter with all respect but cin call find nothing in the above paragraph 0 deserving of a reply fin ili our veins courses tho the blood of some heroes and martyrs for country and for C christ bristand hris tand and not dot one drop of it in in any ri rial al or fig figurative sense can be traced to satanic origin vo lve will ask from the gentlemen no further evidence upon that point alln in having h mait said so much we vc wish ish to hava no DO misconstruction placed upon our words we do not claim that either party is the party of jesus or that either party ar t y is is tho the party of lucifer for we believe behave behove that political puli partied are mortal i in n their character arid and that they and their adherents hould be judged by the words and deeds of age and not noc by the rebellion in heaven arid and we believe that political addresses ought to deal in political lotical matters solely and ought to fea icae e theolo theological ical matters alone I 1 that is very good doctrine and while probably the rebellion spoken of occurred long 0 before the organization 11 of the two political parties under tinder discussion there is no doubt that the principle of centralized potter was there first agitated 0 in re regard ard to making scriptural re references ferene es in political spec speeches clies we simply cito tho the gentlemen ent lemen to the 9 great reat speeches of webster clay lincoln and others which abound in biblical quotations and allusions N 2 no 0 pro protest test to that was ever heard before but all americans do protest a against adust the introduction of politics into a religious discussion the reason is this politics are not so pure as is religion it may bo be proper to instill all the purity possible into that which is not pure but we ab sd V not inject the impure into th thih kiich ich i is s pure however let us see bee who it is that is is trying to point out a mote in the e eye e of mr thatcher the first ogner bigner of the above letter josoph joseph F smith delivered a sermon in the logan c tabernacle at the cache stake conference on sunday november 1891 at it 0 3 3 in the afternoon which sermon as reported in shorthand contained among other political utterances the following we inherit it our politics to some nome extent front from our ancestors I 1 su suppose os we do we see today to day benjamin PF harrison arison is is a He republican publican as well as his grandfather was a and the latter day saints in the days of nauvoo of joseph the prophet arid and others of the leading authorities of the church as tile the history in informs fornis us all voted fur for mr harrison IIa irison a whig in those days well now if we ive should all combine to vote tor for a ie he publican iuan president we would not lie be very far wrong tint that is from my standpoint the letter says further by way of apology zy alno no true friend of ours will misunderstand this letter or the motives of self defence which prompt it nor will ill any friend misconstrue our future silence if e shall make inake this document our answer once for all to 10 attacks IN which N we e deem as unwise and unnecessary as they are no one can misunderstand the letter it seems to be the fulfill mont of a long sought 0 opportunity to try dictation upon a man who has always practiced individual freedom and advocated that of the people the so called motives of self defense which prompted it are we must confess confers a little obscure As the word smith was not mentioned nor any reference made whatever to any one of that name we fail to see where the plea of self defense can bo sustained but the spirit in which tile the letter is written is to be deplored inasmuch as president nt woodruff Wool ruff lias has requested the people not to quarrel it is to say the least a bail bad example when men writs write letters which appeal to passion rather than to reason and personally arraign a man of their own ecclesiastical ius rank for making a speech cell free from pers personalities onali ties in a I 1 political convention at the call of liis his political friends I 1 the provision in the fore foregoing cling letter for future silence is one of the wisest that the letter cont contains a ins in conclusion the writers say wither with mr Th |