| Show WHO ARE ABE THE ake independent it is a very common thing foursome for some some deop people lo 10 when referring 4 X ef erring to the latter day saints to dw dwell ili bil on what they call cail 0 our ur lack of independence they talk of a condition of serfdom existing here heie which they pretend to lament and with various maudlin attempts at philanthropy express their desires to see sea us f freed re ed from a supposed condit condition fod iod of or bondage which we certainly have never felt nor dreamed of its existing here if by independence they mean to trample upon the rights of others do wrong act like fools or madmen simply that everybody may know we can do as we please whether we please to do right or wrong and violate every principle of righteousness nass and wisdom merely to show that we are not and cannot be controlled I 1 then we admit we have no dedire desire to be independent in such a fashion butia bub but if by independence is meant the right to act as becomes a man exercising every inalienable right bestowed upon us by our creator and extending to all others the same rits rights h feard fearing I 1 ng to do evil because if it is an infringement upon the bounds prescribed by the almighty beyond which man cannot pass and be justified ju stilled then theil we are the freest of free men on the earth and the most in independent de dei i the liberty that some would claim is unbridled license the privilege io to insult outrage and tread under foot every man and every thing that stood in the way of their ungoverned passions desires or appetites they would blaspheme god to prove that no being or power can dictate or control them they would show their independence of the laws which govern health happiness and good tood order by the grossest intemperance they would enter into the domestic circle and denile defile its ith sanctity that they might gratify a vile libidinous spirit and prove that they are free men with the power ta to act ever so wickedly they would waste destroy and squander that all men might know they were independent of the wisdom which teaches to save preserve and gather together everything that is of worth they are not independent nor free men they are the slaves of tho the vilest and the tho worst of passions they are not brave either for they laek lack tile the moral courage to do right when wan they know they are doing wrong they play the braggadocio bragg adocia and bluster about their freedom while they are aro areu aroW afraid raid to even express themselves in favor of that which is right when it is opposed to the custom or fashion of a generation rapidly degenerating and sinking in degradation we have cultivated these valleys and have wrung prosperity from an soil by agricultural and kindred labors the fashion has been and i is s in this western country to io hunt through tile the mountains and gorges for tile the precious metals as if nothing else were worth the seeking after atter and because we have listened to the voice of reason and havo avoided pursuits that have ever failed to bring permanent prosperity to any community we are reald eaid to be ignorant in bondage controlled by one will in a manner that fetters enterprise and chains down ability and energy yet in no part of this great nation has there been manifested more energy enterprise enter prize and ability in developing ve territorial resources than in this territory of utah this is cofeld conceded by all even by those who with customary inconsistency talk loudest and silliest of our bondage and lack of enterprise we follow agricultural pursuits in preference to hunting for gold and silv silver sliver er because it pays better and wa we reco recognize 13 nize the wisdom of those who recommend such a line of policy we prefer being united to bent benn torn by discussions and conflicting parties in this ve we show a liberality of thought and beelin feeling 0 as opposite ite to that evinced by those who boast of their independence asit is superior to their contracted notions for we do not seek to force our individual ih views upon others nor abuse them for honestly differing from us and believe that all men have an equal right to exercise exer eise else their intelligence and thought responsible to the almighty 1 tor the use they make of 0 the powers of mind with which they are endowed we have also that true independence of mind that enables us to receive the truth love it and practice it though all the rest of mankind should be opposed to it and to us for so doing if they who talk so much about our mental bondage and enslaved condi condl condition conditio tio n would free their minds from the ther trammels of prejudice and emerge from the servitude tude e of passion and would learn our true condition before pronouncing judgment upon it they would pour out less leas philanthropic gush ings upon us and moreon themselves and would learn that they only are free who are free in the thu truth |
