| Show isCHi CHURCH AND STATE AGAIN SOME very laughable attempts to make it appear that there is a union of church and state in utah are made by the two discordant local papers which support and urge on the crusade against ahe cormons mormons Mor mons ll 11 the larger stronger sad and less scrupulous advocate of oppression alter after groaning and sweating under the baldeu of its task and calling foul names which is its stronghold in argument charges that on the very organization of tile the two houses of the legislature members take their places not according to experience peri ence and fitness but according to their rank in the church I 1 all the evidence it can offer to support this palpable falsehood is id the election without a dissenting vote four years ago of josepn joseph V F smith to the presidency ul of the council hadit and it adds it was wad fur for no possible earthly reason except that he was one of the first presidency it is not poss possible iole tuat there was any other reason for the tribune says so that settle it of course in its own dogmatic mind but it is id barely pos sible that there might be some other I 1 earthly ar rahly reason I 1 I 1 those r oft who elected him would tell an 0 objector object oi that the gentleman wits was an experienced p peti perien paced ced member of the Legisla legislature tur and of other secular deliberative b bodies that he well understood the aties of the office that he was a man of vigor and decision pt ot character charae ter and thoroughly posted in zhe the require ments meats of the lie times it the tribune does not view ithe the gentleman in that thai light it is very sad ot course but tue toe members who elected him aid sae sac it that way and so BO did abe ih community perhaps the reason offered by the tribune was why james sharp who held no off official loial position in the cauich was mado made speaker of tile the house two years ago when there was an apostle several presidents of and some bishops serving as members and why clias A aman who holds no church position is president of tile the council when there is an apostle some presidents of stakes and other church officers in the same cn cri amber and way iby W W biter similarly situated fa ro mr smith its is made speaker of the house under similar circumstances acea theoule the rule given by the tribune is bisone isone one of its own manufacture and to we use its own style of language it is Is a flat lie iio for the reverse cau can lie be shown in county courts city councils and bodies as yell veil as the legislature if there was a union of cu urell and state in utah the leading officers of the church would be the leading off officers iders of tile the state lay virtue of their ecclesias ecclesiastical tidal position and would need no vote or election to place them there but as we have stated tue the chorea churca and the state are separate and distinct in utah the machinery of the two are as lofti apart in nature and workings as it weaving loom and a grist mill the trouble with uie me tribune and other papers that talk talethe the same kind of rubbish on chuich and state is this they do not noc want a mormon holding any churco churca position pu to occupy any political POSIt position LOU they want him to be simply tl a preacher ier to tell people about another world but have nathl nothing n to do with this its a pity they be accommodated but it is impossible for mormonism is a practical religion that has to do with man as he is 18 and with people as folks of flesh and blood as well as mind and spirit and their leaders are not simply professional preachers aney are farmers mechanics millers merchants stock raisers ft and they are also citizens of the valie united d states and of utah and have a right to a voice la in the affairs of tast government which seeks to regulate them in the capacity of citizens they have j just list us as right to aruba dwir views and use age thir enoe ence in political affairs as any editor politician office seeker officeholder office holder or would be dictator bithe or the popular vote oppressive laws may take from some of them the right of franchise but no enactment or misrepresentation can ru iacoi f me lae influence they carry with their advice to those who confide in their wisdom and experience epee the counsel of an apostle or a president or a bishop to people who are willing to listen to him Is just as awful just as proper just as le lefiti iti mate in every way as the of a trusted leaner leader la in public affairs and at any rate of a professional fess ional political wire worker the democrat quotes the words of governor murray when he stated to the legislature that he had bad in his bis possession s J a circular from the Preal presidency dency of the church suggesting ing that certain funds be handed to the territorial central committee of the peoples party and exclaims in triumph that single fact proves conclusively conclusively that there nere is a union of church an and state in utah territory etc what transparent nonsense sef the funds were not tot the state they were not for any governmental purpose they were not for the affairs of the tory they were freewill free will offerings tor for a definite object with which the state had bad nothing to do the circular was to church members not to any one else and was strictly in the alln line of church antho authority tho rity it if the central committee of the peoples party consented to receive those f funds for the purpose designed they had bad a perfect right to do so and the people h bad a perfect right to donate if they pleased and it was nob odys business hut but theirs it was just as legitimate a piece of business as to have designated some banking institution or well knows known firm or corporation po ration to receive the f funds governor murray exposed the weakness of his bis cause sad and the smaIl Dess of his soul in parading that circular before the assembly who had no more to do with it than with a liberal subscription to send some sorehead to washington to drink whisky for the winter and logroll log roll against the 11 mor r mons 11 and the democrat ex exhibits ib its ignorance of the meaning of the t e phrase it has borrowed from the silly chrese brawders brawlers braw lers against the mormon church and a sad want oi of argument to back up the hackneyed cry c za if eoll editors tors in writing on this question mean the influence of of church leaders in politics why dont they say so their pretended union of church and state in utah Is amyth impossibility in the united states the term applied here Is a misnomer they are hurling epithets at vacancy they say one thing and mean another but the cry suits their purpose because it is a catch cry it strikes well on the antl anti lM mornion ormen ear it helps to swell the sound of the helpers who want to stir andla crease the prejudices of a thoughtless multitude it is 19 a disreputable mode of warfare but it is a fitting method for those whose creed is everything Is fair in politics it is a patent blatant and unmitigated humbug |
