| Show AMERICANS NOT foreigners y a anniversary of the birth of american cari eari independence will be celebrated in various vailous ways in different parts of the union appreciation of the blessings of liberty can cari be manifested by other methods than the stereotyped celebrations brat hrat orations ions ioni 3 11 spread eagle oratory and boastful egotism are not the mot most exalted expressions of true patriotic feeling july the fourth is rightly made a national holiday and every dahlz enof of this great country whether native born naturalized or a temporary sojourner ought to rejoice and be thankful thank lul for the principles of free government and the establishment of this great and flourishing republic 0 on n occasions of this kind we frequently hear the term free born americans used in distasteful contrast to naturalized citizens this we consider unwise unkind and discordant with the harm harmonies onles of jubilation it is as its much the object of the system which we esteem as the grandest of human effort sto secure political liberty to naturalized aliens as to native born citizens and they are equally identified as parts of the body politic the only differ dif din ferenee ferenec eu c between them la Is in ell eil eligibility cli to the offices ot president and ano vice president of the united states A person of foreign forein birth who voluntarily renounces allegiance to other governments overn ments and tags takes upon himself I 1 under the laws the duties and responsibilities and status of citizenship in this nation exhibits at least as much devotion to the institutions of this country as one who comes into it and is made ma de a citizen involuntarily or by what shat chat people call the accident of birth the attempt Js is made very often to draw this invidious distinction between 1131 mormon ormon I 1 citizens and others A professed preacher of christianity in this city who has recently assal assailed leu led the mormon people in a vile and cowardly manner voices this untruthful sentiment by using the term americans to designate anti antl mor mons mona as though tile the 11 mormons cormons Mor mons were none of them americans he has char charged ed that the leaders of the mormon church are arc foreigners of course it does docs not matter much what loev rev it G says on this or any other question but in this case he repeats what others say and the in is sought to be made on oil the public mind that the mormons cormons Mor mons and their leaders are aliens and foreigners while their opponents only are arc americans this implication is like most of the thin thins things s advanced in opposition to 11 mormonism cism entirely false and uns unsupported ported by any facts that would make mk pit ft plausible plau piau sible siDle the founders of the mormon system under divine providence were born americans and ot of new england stock they were descendants of the pilgrim fathers they inherited a love of freedom and had the greatest veneration for the principles of constitutional liberty the tile leading minds in this great work have b been eeli nearly I 1 all of american birth and chiefly of new england genealogy at the present time of tile the F first presidency twelve apostles and their counselors first presidents of seventies patriarch and presiding bishopric forming tile the general church authorities numbering twenty eight all but four were born in the united states and one of the four was born bom in canada and came calne into the united states with his parents when five years old eighteen of them are arc of new england birth or descent only three are of english E birth and one of bf the thre three has been in the united states for fifty years one forty and the other thirty three years jears they are all and have long lon ion been american citizens of the presidents identa of the twilit twenty seven stakes of zion which are arc the grand divisions of the church in this region twenty are of american birth and a large jarge majority of new england parentage one is a canadian two are scotch two english and two scandinavian t we do not give these figures to disparage any nationality or to claim any special excellence excel lence leuce for one one particular lineage n e b but u t s simply 1 m y to show the fallacy of eibe the claim ty that t the leading men luen among the mormons cormons Mor mons are foreigners the census shows too that the proportion of native born people in the population of utah is largely in excess of that thai tha in many other parts of the union it is the policy of the A mormon lormon people I 1 a and system to identify its forean forel rn EO born rn members remembers with american institutions as quickly as possible As a rule they avail themselves of tile the provisions of the naturalization laws as soon scoon as the law permits they become familiar with the principles that underlie the government of the united states and ente its Constitution through frequent instruction and constant reference in the schools the tile lecture room and the place of public worship goz got their religion teaches them that god ed the founders lounders of this free iree government and that submission is required to every constitutional law of the theland tholand land they thus be become commie coffie americanized in thought feeling politics and material interest and impregnated with the genius of republicanism one of the tile fundamental Knila mental requirements of the tile church is that all things in it shall be done by common consent and the voice of the people is necessary to the acceptance and confirmation of any appointment or measure even if coming from ane voice of sod god god jod its birthplace I 1 the nativity of its founders the sphere of its principal operations the lacall locality ty of its gathering place its connection with political interests its democratic cemo cratic tendencies its liberal spirit its aim alm expectations and grand object its zion is to be in america its cent central ral rai its is to radiate to all the world is to be in tile the heart of this northern continent its claim of religious liberty its doctrine of complete religious iole lole toleration ration its battle for freedom of action as well as belief are american if the constitution itself is american ne rican and its future glory is identified with this magnificent land as the home of liberty and the seat of a government in which the principles embodied in the national charter of freedom and the declaration of american independence I 1 shall find perfect development and universal application the idea of a person with the cognomen of blowing his ian tin trumpet and posing as the american I 1 opponent of foreigners whose an bestry were american when his forefathers were tramping on an irish bog or rubbing against a scotch post is truly ludicrous behold the one great american of the west hear rear his thin squeak about foreigners then look athis at his name and mee cee trace in athis it his origin now let there be no misunderstanding about this we are not laud ing or disparaging any man because of his birthplace or progenitors eili tors wede we despise those national distinctions which small minds seek to throw up between men and women who have met in a common country who is responsible for his nationality and who but a bigot and a mud brain would attempt to cast odium upon ills lils fellow citizens because they were not born in a given state or country and what sort of a christian is that professed religious minister who seeks to pander to the lowest passions of mankind and stir up enmity against I 1 kindhearted kind hearted lion ilon honest and hospi hospitable rabie eabie people by ills his own showing on tile the ground that thac by birth they are foreigners we have people here of various nationalities who are worthy ot of honor anc respect for their ability integrity humanity and faith falth mormon or non mormon they are what they are and entitled to that which they merit irrespective of the spot where first they breathed the breath of life if they are Ameri amerl american cari cali citizens they are now not foreigners in any invidious sense even if their speech be somewhat broken or their dialect be provincial they have the right to life liberty property and the pursuit of hap happiness and so long iong a as s they do not seek to infringe u upon ont out the he rights of others they have a claim 1 up upon on the protection of this government and the enjoyment of those principles and that liberty celebrated on the fourth of july and palsied be the hand and paralyzed the tongue of him who strives to deprive them 0 their sacred and inalienable rights and privileges |
