| Show THE OKY CRY ABOUT ABOLT A HIERARCHY 19 tux issue on the mormon question except among people who liva on the past and are oblivious to present movements is shifted from the ground of an assault upon polygamy to that of an attack upon the hierarchy 11 the cry ot church and state Is ex pecked to stir the public mind ind as aa effectually as the noise about iman many y wives the latter served its purpose with the aid of exasperation exaggeration and falsehood and the former will be similarly worked for all it is w orth it is the burden of the governors report and figures in all the anti mormon I 1 ef fusions of recent date the burp purpose ose is to make it appear that political unity among the mormons cormons Mor mons is perfect and is the result of coercion by theocratic power of course this Is deceptive and the utter ignorance in toe me public mind of the true theory ana spirit jOt of mormonism la is counted on by those who use it in the first place mormon unity is not nearly so 80 perfect as it to be and in the second place atay anything thing in the shape of coercion I 1 could not possibly bring about that measure of union which exists among the mormons cormons Mor mons political union when there is a free and secret ballot must of 0 necessity be the result of similar opinions a 1 union of views it to la this sheathe thia the enemies of ahe 1 he majority of the people of utah are unable to destroy and that is the real goject at their opposition aud and their wrath whatever division may take lake place among the Mort mormon don people it Is not st at all likely that it will add to the ranks of the toe A small split occurred daran tile the recent delegate election but it did not swell the numbers of the adversary it only helped them indirectly as it lessened the number of votes som 3 what for the regular candidate i the opposition here use a great deal more coercion it if that is a proper term than is even attempted among the majority there is more whipping in threatening c cato jery entreaty and intimidation timi dation a tia usand fold to solidity solidify the liberal elements matits than Is used or thought of I 1 e peoples a party it is utterly false fals to say bay that any priestly force is exe exercised re ded over normon lormon voters the people are exhorted to union when tile the ticket is decided upon in convention they are advised to sink individual preferences and vote the straight ticket without sc scratching but this is done by the of all parties in reference to the regular nominees and any aay departure from this is denounced hy by Demea rats and republicans alike the scratching ol of cleveland for harrison by tammany voters is proclaimed as treachery the truth is the union that pre prevails as a fact face ahung the cormons mormons Mor Mpr mons Is just what other patties hold in theory and vainly try to bring into practice it has haa been copied by their local one ene who alter after matty many years oi of denunciation of 0 it have managed to establish it tor for the time being among themselves and they openly admit that while they shout tor for division among the mormons cormons Mor mons there must be nothing but bat union in their own ranks the argument that the union onion ot of the majority here is tantamount to political disfranchisement of the minority is one of the most childish ot of pleas the democrats might make the same plea in iowa or kansas it I 1 the mor mons ought to be deprived of the suffrage or hindered in the attainment of any political right because they largely vote one wi way ay then the abe republicans ot of those states which are overwhelmingly republican should also be franchised disfranchised dis for the same reason but bat it will be claimed these mor mons are directed politically by a church and that is what is objectionable this his is not true but suppose it were it there is no compulsion if ev everybody e body is free to vote as he pleases it if my there re Is a secret ballot so t to at the voter who chooses to cast a ba ballot different from others can do so undetected why should not the members of a church unite politically as well as the members member of a club or any other tte the main baldg is that people shall i be able to vote at tile the polls for the men 0 their choice it does not matter whether hether they vote for certain bandl daus because they suit individually or whether conclude to vote tor for them because wat is the best policy or whether they accept them for any other reason su long ions as they do it ik voluntarily but bat the enemies of the mormons cormons Mor mons would prevent them irom chiosi choosing n g I 1 their own advisers in politics the against an imaginary hierarchy roean ean this if you yon dont ta take e us balor or your political guides you shant bate bake any political power at all if we cad deprive you of it you shall not 8 sew for advice to men of your own faith or it you do and follow it we will endeavor to disfranchise you altogether to ether anere Is no one in utah who is under any compulsion to vote as a church dictates there is no church here so 0 far as ai we know that assumes to lu dictate in voting boere to is no terrorism exercised here by a church charch such as is prevails among those people falsely called liberals 1 and among aman them there here is the only political in intimidation the rhe peoples party have ha e chosen their own political managers and advisers they have not asked cacir ene everole role permission to do so or abat class chales of men they shall be they do not intend to to do so they are free in that respect and mean to be free and if they are wise they will continue to be nutte dand and will be more so than ever and learning learia ins by experience that division is folly and splitting suicidal it only serves to give aid aua and comfort to vic the enemy the whole attempt to rai raise ae a aery cry about voting under the influence of a hierarchy bier archy is nothing but ludge inde 1 no 1 one knows that better than those who I 1 make it papers that thai echo it bir simply expose their own ignorance statesmen statesman that talk of it it in congress or committee betray their lack of knowledge and their readiness to jump st at the slenderest slen slon derest threads of anti imor mormon information any earnest indu inquiry edw its ita true inwardness will disclose discalo e its 10 hollowness iD substantiality a and d gaeir absurdity and the intentional deception ec eption of its supporters an article appeared a short time ago la in the new york R livening post from t tw the facile peu pen of J and we clip from it the following paragraphs as p pertinent fluent to tha subject as viewed through thi the eyes of an observing uon mormon the antl anti mormon imagines that the eyes of the whole world are fixed upon utah and idaho ills his grievance heretofore has been that the mormons cormons were polygamists and although they did no not select their wives from in members embers of his family his virtue was shocked by the contamination of their neighborhood bo it was a pet grievance in which he could enlist the sympathy of the community and lie be regrets as in much tich as we ue genuine rejoices that the mormons cormons have discontinued 1 the reprehensible practice ue ile is now dow attacking the hierarchy of the church to be sure the hierarchy does not interfere with him it what he asserts I 1 is true mud and I 1 think it is that the rank and file of the mormons cormons vote according to the dictation of their leaders lie he does not stop to consider that the people at lar large e himself among the rest are led politically or religiously by the nose and that if a man chooses to b be eso ao led it to is nob odys business but his own sectarians Sect arians of all kinds and republicans republicans democrats prohibition is ests follow their leaders and the only politicians that I 1 know against who whom in this charge may not be laid are the nicknamed the independents men who will vote tor for a president not because be is a democrat but bat because he be is an honest man and who will not vote for a governor whatever his politics may be if he is a rogue L I 1 nave have heard beard a great deal about this mormon hierarchy but in all my experience per peri lence ence in these regions I 1 T have never seen any of its base effects truth to say the mormons cormons are as 98 clannish as tue the ancient israelites who like them followed the lead of their prop prophets liets The they have about the same ideas of gentiles although they do not go for them with fire and sword as berba perba perhaps rt 8 they or any other sect of religionists ligion ism might coif do if civil civilization iza tion and the law did not re n them possibly they were tha 4 my inclined in the early days of theia be settlement tt lement in utah as the puritans of new N ew england were somewhat of that mind when their power was supreme but if I 1 were asked what of the mormons cormons of today I 1 should say that the they are eminently a people who mind their own busi business neiss and who do not interfere with that of others the heinous beinous sin of the hierarchy in gentile eyes Is that it reprobates recourse to law advising its followers to settle their disputes by referring them to juries mutually selected aud and presided over by a bishop this inexpensive method generally proves satisfactory to them as it Is unsatisfactory to the lawyers who as in the da days ys of old lade men with burdens burdena grievous to be borne which the mormons cormons preter prefer not to te carry on the other hand the lawyers who 1 as elsewhere are apt to be ringleader ringleaders ring leaders leade ro in politics poll tica touch not bot the burdens with one of 0 their fingers kers 11 their real oblation to the heir archy Is that it interferes inter leres with their |
