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Show THE ELECTION OF A SENATOR. i 111111 The time is drawing very near when the Utah mIIIsBB Legislature will convene. Very soon thereafter, I! IIP P fill the election of a United States Senator will be in' 11 PljiillfW order. imwml Once more we protest against the election of ijffiinllO an apostle or any other high officer in the priest- nUlivfl hood of the Mormon church. Our objections are liisliliiH two-fold. First an apostle of the Mormon church ifflH is not a citizen of the United States. He has fore- !! IlimlBI sworn his allegiance and given it with all the sol- liJJfllfIBB emnity of the most binding oaths to another tern- .. iJfliwrilH poral government, a government the machinery of . IfHiwIfl which is in full operation. .It has a president $9BhbB who exercises dictatorial powers; it has its own iinHI courts, which frequently reverse and put to naught PiBwflH the decisions of the States courts. Up to recently, ItlffllEflB if not up to date, it maintained the nucleus of an B8flff0H army under an ancient despotic name. FgBttSl Moreover, it levies its taxes upon its subjects, Infffiiilfl distributes them without accounting, and makes fffllffiffll the payment of those taxes a test of citizenship in mBl its kingdom. When its subjects desert it pursues jWMBP them with the boycott and with ostracism. The IffllBflH existence of this kingdom is not denied. The SlilfllH claim of its chiefs is that it is the only legitimate JPipiJ government on earth. When alone by themselves iffilliil in Utah territory the nominations of men for office 1 MM all were made by the chiefs of this Government, their HKlPW names were announced from before the altars sfiB where the people met for worship, and the people SHmBH were simply instructed to vote for them. 1BBBN It will be seen at a glance that such a govern- CmBBB ment is the very antithesis of a government of the IhhHB people, by the people and for the people. It is a IfliHH direct violation of the principles on which the iflH if S Government of the United States was founded; It I jS is an introduction into this Republic of the despo- I fi tism which in the early world IceDt the nations I m slaves for centuries and which strewed the shores f I of the Old "World with the wrecks of uncounted na- i 'W tions. f 8 If it acts now under Republican forms its spirit I is not changed in the least from what it was when i its president hero before a great congregation, at i the time when our Civil war was tho sorest, in j substanco said: "Tho North prays to God for de- I !! struction upon the South, tho South prays to God HEi'i! I for destruction upon tho North, and I say amen to HH I both prayers." Bjlf I It is significant, too, that no Mormon fought on BiO I ' either side in that war. It is as plain today as it BflJI I H was tuen a11 tliat keePs Uiis kingdom from M'! ) 1 setting aside the Government of the United States H !i I is the power. P J ' I ; We hold that to give a high officer, one of the Hli i ; few who absolutely rule this kingdom, a seat in the H , H Senate of the United States is to open the citadel Hffjit'' h of our liberties to our enemies. It seems all the J $1 more unjust to us in Utah who know that the one Kt'jl i fj thing which the rulers of this kingdom most de- Hjl' g sire is political power. Hffj:h K We sai(1 aove we ad two objections to the HM m election to the United States Senate one of the K! ') fifteen chief officers of this kingdom. We have two Bllj;f 1 more. One is it is the direct breaking of the faith H4 I on which Utah was given Statehood. Statehood B k I' was granted on the express pledge of the chiefs of Rjf ii J. this kingdom, notably by him who is now Presi- Bifj I , dent of it, that henceforth the people should not be Hj .t I interfered with politically; that they should vote Hi 'H 1 t as they pleased without interference. There is not Hi If a child in Utah asmuch as fourteen years of age Hi I' ' I ! .who does not know that the coercion of the Mor- Hij f I ' mon voters tliis year by the priesthood was just as Bfp i 'M pronounced as it ever was during the forty years Bfj 2 I ' here when among all the army of Saints there were not forty scratched votes. Tho form was changed, tho substance was just the same. Finally, the election of an apostle to the Senate of the United States would be a notice served on every young man in Utah that if he would ever aspire to promotion pro-motion in any direction his only hope in Utah is through church promotions. The standing of the church official whose name is most bruited for election elec-tion Is direct proof of this. For except for his office of-fice in the church there is not a soul in Utah who would ever think of his aspiring to that exalted place. In tho East and West Legislatures have been debauched by money and led to elect unworthy men to that high station, but this is the first instance in-stance on record where a man hopes for election on the sole ground that in another kingdom hostile hos-tile in every instinct to the spirit of our free in'sti-tutions in'sti-tutions he holds a high priestly and ex-officio civil office. He may be elected, but the Senate will cast reproach upon the fathers who framed our Government, Govern-ment, upon the brave souls that have upborne fts flag for one hundred and twenty years, and will dishonor itself if it ever permits him to be seated in that exalted hall. |