Show SECRETARY NOBLE ON MORMON AFFAIRS SECRETARY NOBLE touches on the mormon 11 1 question in much the same manner as the president does still he avoids the rock of religious belief ou on which the president runs headlong he deals with practices and while he does not sanction the measures proposed for further assaults upon the mor mons il he favors the retention of the present laws so as to give time to see whether the professions in regard to those practices were made in good faith there is little to object to in these remarks taking the Secret secretary aryls position into consideration but he mentions the fact that the revelation containing polygamy remains unchanged as though this was a matter with which the government had anything to do it has been alleged against the mormon church that it seeks to control the state passing by the untruthfulness of the charge is it any more proper for the state to seek to control the church revelation Ke doctrine principle creed are the peculiar province of the church the state has no po powers in relation to them the constitution forbids congress to interfere with the free exercise P of religion the legislators and j jurists jurists who have given the widest scope to the powers of congress in relation to religious practices have conceded that in matters of faith and worship congress is entirely powerless 0 revelation JRe may be believed in ad bottum while it does not affect the believer to the extent of infraction of the secular law if god gives a revelation god alone can change or revoke it if people believe god has given a revelation they must believe he has revoked it before it will be changed in their understand unde i estand ing if they determine to comply with the laws of the land and do so in good faith their convictions af the rightfulness of their faith or of the wrongfulness of the law cannot be lawfully called in question that the people of utah have determined ter mined to comply with the laws forbidding polygamy we think I 1 is beyond reasonable question if their course is not yet sufficient to convince the skeptical we think it will do so in time and that even secretary noble will he compelled to say it is ia 0 enough but lie he has flag some personal notions respecting the purpose of the adap tion of the declaration forbidding polygamy he says what is expected because of these theme proceedings is no doubt a removal ol of the utah commission coin mission the preservation of the elective franchise to the members of the church in all the states and territories where they may be and a test oath ma may b be e required or ol them a restoration 07 of the property of the church and possibly the admission of utah to statehood with or without a test oath against polygamy if these expectations entered into the preparation and adoption of the manifesto they are not known to the people who participated in the work it is all news to us we believe it is so to our friends in this territory it is always unsafe to hazard opinions about motives the secretary of the interior has in this departed from the rightful domain of fact and law and wandered into the doubtful field of mental speculation the cormons mormons Mor mons I have simply ceased the practice of plural marriage and made a public publican an no of the fact as a submission to laws which have been declared constitutional by the court of r last resort they have done so without any defined expectation of results if after all this the disfranchisement which has been threatened against law obeying 11 cormons mormons Mor mons shall be effected it will be proof beyond question to the cormons mormons Mor mons P 0 that all the outcry against polygamy has been insincere i ansi and made to cover a deeper design which to is political in its character aud and wicked in its purpose we certainly hope that this will not be accomplished and we believe that hope is shared by the mormon people generally |