| Show OUR COUNTRY ITS FUTURE our republic has developed its growth when the pulsations of humanity have been rapidly quickening when the developments of science the pread spread of liberal ples pies iee lee and the tile modification and T disintegration of religious creeds have constantly varied the phases of society the discovery of the new world made room for the expanding energies of the caucasian race the advance of revolution and progress the aggressive energies of the anglo saxon have collided with ancient oriental ism on the banks of the ganges and the ind indus whose waters have reflected the images of magnificent temples of idol worship since the time of abraham and japan with an intelligent which overthrows our preconceived notions of asiatic A immobility is rapidly accepting political commercial and social revolution in fact that part of the world which seems to have been traveling around the same beaten track down the cantu ries is waking up to take its share of histo history in tile tiie worlds regeneration scientists may yet inquire whether there is not a mysterious sympathy between the feverish impulses of nations and elementary nature for she sho is displaying unusual activity in storms floods fires earthquakes and meteoric phenomena what would have been the labor of or several lives a few generations ago g is now condensed into one cause and effect follow each other with the throbbing activity of steam and electricity instead of keeping pace as formerly with the blow elow locomotion of beasts of burden the germs of nationalities planted in the new world furnished furnis furnished ked bed an outlet for the elements of freedom which had long struggled for existence in the old these young nationalities quickly acquired a reactionary influence and the politics of europe are being revolutionized by the development of liberal principles on ou the debris of the ancient civilizations of the western hemisphere here will america continue to read lead the advance of human progress or decay develop the rapidity of growth and she retrograde into the slough of despotism or tho tile whirlpool of anarchy an object for the contemptuous sneers of crowned heads the early settlers sett lors of the north american colonies on leaving the tile venerated systems of europe i drope the grandeur of courts the trappings of feudalism and the showy pageantry of and episcopal worship sh soon claimed their titles of nobility fram frai nature and considered themselves the peers of kings self respect respect t and personal dagni dignity ty took the place of f that reverence for dignitaries which characterized the populations of europe the pioneers of a continent they trod the ati antles antics shores trusting in god and themselves they were a step in advance of their age but still the offshoots oaf off shoots of an aggressive ancestry whose into civilization had been through bloody revolutions and that civilization highly seasoned with the barbarism from which it emanated in fact they were still tinctured with the intolerance and superstitions of their ancestors the different climatic influences under which they settled produced a variety of manners and customs and the diversity of religious creeds caused a wide range of religious opinions they lacked one great clement element of national longevity the bond of a general religious faith their great diversity of social elements made religious tolerance and political freedom a mutual ne no cassity ces sity and extraneous pressure forced union for general defence in time the god of provi denees dences through the inspiration of honest hearts organized the best government this side of or a heaven revealed theocracy over ever devised for mans intellectual Intellect ilal lial and mom moral growth its perpetuity depends on its heirs inheriting heri ting the pure patriotism and honesty of purpose of its founders A century has not passed away since the magna bagna charta of american alberty became the star of hope to oppressed millions and the development of the germs of evil nall nail yi embodied in the government and inherent in the people have produced rapid changes from high toned honest hearted republicanism to the love of elf pelf eif aggrandizement diz ement and centralization of power before we can scarcely claim the status of national man hood that love iove ove of the right and that nice perception of the spirit of which characterized their founders are becoming obsolete and mens patriotism Is ing a commercial commodity and public and private virtue is acquiring cash values when in 1787 the delegates of thirteen sovereign stes met in convention to organize a permanent government they found it difficult to reconcile the natural antagonism of free institutions and involuntary servitude circumstances forced them into close proximity but affinity was impossible they never blended together in harmony liberalism is the leading absorbing idea of theace the age the institution of slavery in attempting to check its progress was crushed it proved the tile adder nourished in the bosom of the tiie republic until it threw it into convulsions and spread desolation and moui moul mourning nino ning around the hearth hearthstones stones of the mr nation time may prove that the great change made in the position of the negro has only changed the form instead of curing the evils of slavery it is possible pos that the nation has acted with more enthusiasm than reason with more impulsiveness than judgment in raising over half a million of men from servitude to the dignity of the franchise before they were capable of comprehending their position it has made a great addition to that element out of which unprincipled agitators get up riots and revolutions The revolution originating g in the institution of slavery with john C calhoun for its great reat agitator under the lead 0 of f state it rights and of which south carolina nullification was a way mark denoting progress appeared to culminate before richmond in 1865 while the advocates of state rights are forced to silence in the south if coming events cast their shadows before the agitation of the tile question in new england during the second war with great britain terminating with the hartford convention of 1815 and tile the close of the war indicates that the conservative north may yet become the strong advocate of the principle particularly if pushed to the wall by the centralizing e policy of the general Govern government men t if the principle principles ks of state rights and centralization are forced to an issue in connection with other existing elements of revolution jud judging ino inc by our antecedents the past i is s only oily a prelude to events that will shake shako our fair fabric of freedom into fragments and occupy its place with the ashes of desolation in countries where a general religious faith is the heritage ef of the people it might be expected that some intolerance would be manifested towards innovating religious sects but where the government emanates from the people and that people is made up of numerous religious sects religious freedom is necessary as t the tho b safeguard of general a and national stability if the spirits of those who fought the battles of the revolution and labored to complete the superstructure of freedom are permitted to take cognizance of human affairs they must deeply sorrow over the degenerate sons of the republic Ite public who could withhold the tho th rights of citizenship citizens citizenship hii hiS on account of religious belief an and curse the land with the marks of desolation for opinions sake that intolerance which has ever been the attendant of pagan and gromish superstitions and seems more or less inherent in mans fallen nature was developed in the people by the revelation of the principles of primitive christianity by joseph smith and the precedent for religious persecution was established by the spontaneous action of a portion of the people and the silent consent of the masses and of state and general government officials in a few decades the persecutions of the latter day saints in republican america will be looked upon as one of or those barbarous deeds which have occasionally casio nally made a dark spot in the history of f christianity and the names of the perpetrators if not already sunk in oblivion will be consigned to the records of infamy desolated rural districts and silent cities where the rank weeds and grass cover the former er playgrounds play I 1 ay grounds of happy appy groups grou a of children cr I 1 ildren lidren and push their un undisturbed is growth between the hearth stones of deserted habitations as evidences of reli rell klous kious ious fous persecutions ame are ile ele le with the spirit of the tile age and more in keeping with the dark cen when bigotry was the handmaid of ignorance when intolerance was waa the tile rule and freedom the exception when the luxury of free labor free thought and free worship was not appreciated when the people were bound up in scholastic creeds and when the feudal system goaded the toiling tolling millions to pamper the favored few the persecutions of the latter day saints originated in the lower stratum of society hounded on by the hatred of bigoted religionists and encouraged by the obsequiousness of small smail officials the flame has been fanned by the breath of popular clamor until to win favor theoff the iclal official guardians of law and order have met this tidal wave of or misguided public opinion with tho the smiles of patronage compare the tho sentiment of george washington expressed in his valedictory address to the american people it is indeed little else than a name when the government is too feeble to withstand the tile enterprises enter prizes of faction to confine each member of tile the society within tile the limits prescribed by the laws and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property with the reply of president martin van buren to a petition of the saints for the redress of their grievances your cause is just but I 1 can do bothi nothing for you I 1 and we have the tiie antipo antipodes IN I 1 s of firm honest patriot patriotism him Lim and truckling imbecility imbecility mr van burens burena reply has immortalized him and written a dark page in the history of our country it wrote mene in dark daik characters across the escutcheon of our liberties which subsequent events have only rendered more indelible the successive persecutions of the latter day saints have accumulated precedents and accustomed the minds of tile the people to acts of religious intolerance and prepared the way for an antagonism of creeds that may wreck our liberties in the mazes of anarchy or crush them under the weight of some overshadowing hierarchy our ample domain has ever been invitingly open for the occupancy of all who were seeking freedom and room for progress in obedience to that Ins of humanity to better its condition when opportunity offers the chinese nave have flocked to our shores instead 0 leaving time and circumstances to assimilate their habits to our own their closer economies of life have engendered jealousy which has led to frequent abuse and often to downright oppression this in a country being occupied by many nationalities Is i a bad example 0 01 social intolerance not likely to end with the chinese western civilization regardless re gardle gardie 8 8 0 of f the rights of nations to ma manage g their own amm aff mairs affairs and for the purpose of financial gain has for some time been forcing an issue with mongolian exclusiveness in 1638 japan in defence of her hered hereditary itari institutions and to save hersel from commercial plunder erected the barriers of intercourse non and maintained them for over SOO years in 1853 1833 a fleet of american war steamers entered the harbor of yokohama with the aggressive spirit oran of an autocrat and more in keep ing with the times when dane and saxon ravaged the coasts of brittain than with the american liberalism of the nineteenth century a demand was made that the empire of japan be opened to the commerce and aggressions of western nations regardless of the wishes and inherited rights of thirty millions of people A people who can thus see their government force without remonstrance the policy of a foreign nation and deny them the rights right they themselves hold sacred a people tle ele who can oppress foreigners who have ave sought the benefits and blessings of their country because they diner from them in the economic economies of life a people who can quietly permit the expatriation of of their fellow citizens merely for a difference of religious faith a free people whose history is thus identified with prominent acts of political and social intolerance an art with their own hands lopping off the branches of the tree of liberty which has sheltered them and are arc themselves forging the shackles for tyrants to bind them the great struggle between slavery and that leading idea of the age mens civil equality has bas given undue prominence to military power disregard of or constitutional re ions lons has too often been excused under the plea of military necessity the soldier soldiers education and habits have a tendency to unfit him for the administration of free government he Is BO so accustomed to forcing the solution of difficulties with the sword that the process of civil adjudication seems irksome and tedious after caesar had passed the rubicon the liberties of rome borne waned before the supremacy of her victorious legions it requires no lengthy detail of facts to show the undue prominence given to military authority tho rity the I 1 reconstruction acts of 1887 1867 embody about all thatis that is known of military despotism and are still fresh in the minds of the people woe be to the future of our country if we have spent such a vast amount of blood and treasure to force back to alle aile allegiance glauce ten states of the union whose population is so given to anarchy and misrule that after the war had llad ceased marthal martial law jaw was necessary to restore law and order if the necessity did not exist it makes the future but little brighter that our national legislature is BO so ready to give power to absolutism by setting in motion a system of petty tyrannizes tyrannies tyr annies to probe deeper the wounds already made and Inc roase ronse the festering elements of future revolutions JA JAMES mes AEs A luttle LITTLE itne ITLE |
