| Show disfranchisement fon fon FOU ellef BELIEF reconstruction T and revolutionary bills are aro so frequently introduced in congress that their incongruous character does not appear so striking as formerly Tamil familiarity larity with their absurdities ties seems to take off the keen edge of their glaring inconsistency it Is much the same in this regard as with the most flagrant crimes in othe ahe world they are becoming so common hat their enormity Is not sensed alid and they are viewed as a matter of course for the reason that so many ridiculous measures have been presented in congress for the special injury of the 1 mormons cormons Mor Llor I mons perhaps the irrationality of the bill introduced by tive poland will not be commensurately realized this is all the more likely because it will not become law although we have no apprehension that the bill will become law the very fact that such men as mr poland whose views are arc so monstrously ciftan can be elected to represent a constituency trency in the national legislature is a serious menace to our system of free government it is deplorable and dangerous angelous ang erous also to the public weal and to popular rights that there are apparently other ot hermen men occupying similar positions I 1 whose views anz ant and inclinations have the same despotic tendency should the number of such representatives increase until they gain the ascendancy in the chief law body douy oi of the nation then good bye to popular rights and popular liberty for the tendency to centralize centra centralization liza ilza tion of power will be so great as to ultimately run into a species of autocracy in place of perpetuating a genuine republic but as with the people so with their representatives the rule laid down by a modem modern philosophical writer being that the people have just such a government as they merit mr polands rolands Po lands measure provides for political proscription on account of religious tellef belief it the measure were to pass every member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints in utah and idaho would be nned as they would be unable to take an oath to the effect that they are not members of that religious organization this bill is not aimed at any practice against whom it is intended to operate because it has been demonstrated that a comparatively small percentage of the latter day saints are living in the plural marriage system the greatly preponderating membership of the church have never been and are arc not in that relation consequently it is their belief pure and simple for which they would be punished with ith political serfdom they are tollace to have according to mr poland their political rights ruthlessly torn from them because of the existence in them of a condition of mind over which they have no control belief or mental conviction being the result of evidence unhappily mr poland is not alone in his views expressed indis in his disgraceful measure regarding the power of congress to legislate against the religious or other belief of an any y body of citizens of tills this country A measure proposed by mr willits a few years ago incorporated substantially the same idea it may be fallaciously supposed that thre there would be no harm to any other community than this in wiping out the nights rights of voice in local self seif government of lithe the mormons cormons Mor mons but the principle is the same wherever and on whomsoever applied and fraught with danger to the country no entering wedge of permitted it cona COMA not wol wa eser inserted user ted led or 01 I 1 dri driven cn into any portion of the body politic without a ghastly split being the result subject to be widened to a chasm by designing demagogues public men who have such loose loos e ideas pheas in relation to popular rights are as dangerous to the commonwealth as the unprincipled socialist the result of the operations of each if carried to a successful issue woula would be the same the disruption of the political ture probably the most absurd feature of mr polands bolands Po lands bill and nearly all the measures inimical to the latter day saints is the claim that they are intended to abolish plural marriage when it does not appear that that is the real object at all ail if the genuine aim is to disrupt abolish or destroy the church it does not seem that they would have that effect but the opposite for such buch enactments would certainly come under the head of persecution for conscience sake which has the effect of consolidating the faithful measures of that character could only put the members of the church upon their choice between political disqualification and the doctrines of thenn their faith the overwhelming bulk of selection would necessarily be on the side of the latter all ali forceful or compulsory methods of changing the religious views of any people are necessarily futile convince a man against his will 31 1 hes of the same opinion still |
