OCR Text |
Show A CAUSE OF SURPRISE. At the reception given to the Utah Commission in the parlors of the Walker Opera House in Salt Lake city on the evening after their arrival, many persons, representing all classes of citizens, were present, and were introduced to the Commissioners. After the introductions were pretty well over, a gentleman, a "Mormon," who had made the acquaintance of some or all of the members of the Commission in the east, approached them and engaged in conversation. One of the Commissioners asked him, "Mr. -, are any of these gentlemen present here this evening, Mormons whom we have come to disfranchise and turn out of office?" The gentleman addressed glanced at the assembled company, and replied, "Yes, more than half of them." "Is it possible!" exclaimed the Commissioner. "They have, to all appearance, given us a genuine and hearty welcome to their Territory, and yet they cannot but know that we have come here to disfranchise them, and turn them out of office. Knowing this, it is remarkable that they should receive us with such hearty kindness and cordiality." The above, if not the exact words, is the substance of the conversation it purports to be, and it is an incident highly illustrative of the character and principles of the Latter-day Saints. The universal sentiment of that people would have condemned as wrong, any unkind or disrespectful treatment extended towards the Commission. True, they are here to execute a law that the masses of the people regard with detestation, as being utterly unjust, un-American, unconstitutional and oppressive, and subversive of those rights that lie nearest to the heart, not only of the true American citizen, but of the real lover of justice, fair play and human rights everywhere. Yet the "Mormons" who attended the reception, and those also who did not, have too much self-respect and good sense to manifest or feel a spleen towards a body of men who had come into their midst simply to perform a duty required of them by a law which they had no part in framing. However strictly the Commission may enforce the disfranchisement of voters interdicted by the Edmunds law, or however rigidly they may execute any other provisions of that odious statute, they will hear no complaints from the "Mormons," provided they do not overstep the law nor their own powers under it. The trait of character illustrated by the above incident, was manifested when Stephen A. Douglas, with with other prominent politicians of Illinois, waited upon President Brigham Young and some of his colleagues. The latter, even when the infamous requirement of a complete exodus from that state of all "Mormons," was being made of them, treated Mr. Douglass and and his companions with the respect due to ambassadors. Again, when the recruiting officers of the United States overtook the fleeing people at Council Bluffs, and made a requisition upon them for 500 picked men at a time when they could ill spare one who was able-bodied, the authority of the law was respected, and without complaint the men were furnished. Still again when General Johnson's army entered Utah for the avowed purpose of "driving out the ‘Mormons,'" they were received with a kind hospitality as surprising to the troops as it was welcome. The principle underlying this trait of character in the Latter-day Saints may be thus explained: The work in which they are engaged is opposed to existing evils rather than to individuals, it is at enmity with wrong principles, rather than with persons; it seeks the extermination of wrong-doers; it desires the repentance of its enemies rather than their misfortune; it labors for the ultimate emancipation of the human race, rather than for present political or social prestige, or party advantage, and, having a calm reliance upon the final triumph of their principles, the "Mormons" can afford to show an attitude of dignified patience and respect towards "the powers that be." Their principles require of them to treat all men with justice, honesty, liberality and respect, and to seek redress for all grievances in the manner prescribed by law. This is the course they propose to pursue in relation to the Commission and the Edmunds law, and any grievances they may suffer because of either. If deprived of their rights under that law, or by the action of the Commission, they will seek redress in the courts, and if earthly courts deny them justice, they will appeal their cause to a Court that will not. |