OCR Text |
Show ill Ng A Men Are MonKeys. Y t bbbT IS set IP "All men are monkeys," said a well-known at- m torney recently. Any fool might have made the m same remark, parrot-like. But this was uttered by a man of intellect, profoundly read, deeply s thoughtful, and with a power of assimilation un- H surpassed by any person in this State. If anything if were needed to confirm the utterance to a mind B searching for truth, he need seek little further R than the autobiography of Apostle Smoot, pub- B lished in a late number of a local evening news- m paper. As a specimen of unrelieved conceit, it is I a gem that stands unrivaled. As affording an in- 8 sight into the views and character of the man who has promised himself, as well as the people of this S State, that he will succeed Joseph L. Rawlins as if United States Senator from this State it is all that s could be asked for. He professes no sentiment. m He denies the possession by himself of any exalt- H ing ideals. Religion seems hardly of any moment in his consideration. Neither poet nor statesman S, is his ideal. He names not an inventor nor refers to to anything that saves human labor as interesting W him. On the pinnacle reared by him to deeds that K win his praise rests no soul whose mission has been to comfort the weary and sore of heart or to H ft assauge human suffering. His voice is not raised H j t ft to rivit attention to the message of one who bears H ' ,1 "glad tidings of great joy" to all the world! No; I ' j I his ideal type of man is one who has never claimed H s H to have done a thing to reduce the labor involved 111. in the production of any article is a man who has H ' j I amassed countless millions from the toil of his H ' fellowmen without giving anything whatever in I I return Andrew Carnegie, a conspicuous collector j j I of the wealth created by others. This Smoot is an i ; I apostle in the Mormon church. It is his pride that 'J he is a banker and that on his own confession his 9 charity is confined to educating young men to be s able either to reproduce wealth for others or to ! If show a mastery over their fellows that will enable : 1 them to grow fat on the toil of their fellowmen ,J 3 even as the apostle is proud to boast he does, and : jffij M as his great example, Andrew Carnegie, has done. H M M If a life spent among the teachings of Mormorism H V 5 produces a man controlled by such ideas, then the H ft j religion has little to commend it that is not to be H j' jB found in the custom of every man or corporation I if 111 that grinds the face of the poor and drives the H ' L great masses of mankind to a condition where they look heavenward and ask in the depths And agon? ; of their hearts, if there b a Godl This apostle seems to typify the class to which ' he belongs in the church. Not all Alto so bratalty frank and so beautifully (because so unconsciously) conceited. Apostle H. J. Grant is a jewel of the same kind, but Apostle Smoot soars above and beyond be-yond him. Think of one whose calling is to preach the doctrines and follow in the footsteps of the lowly Nazarene, announcing; that there is nothing in his life that he fears to have known! That hie life is without flaw is what this declaration means, if it is not bragadacio. At the same time he gives as his ideal, a man of wealth beyond, the average conception, a man who, in his past, has the mem- a ory of the Homestead strikes and the shooting down by his hired outsiders of men whoee toll had contributed to his present wealth and to the money he paid the Hessians that shot down, these same toilers! Such an ideal has the man who is to represent rep-resent the Mormon people, the State of Utah and its Republican party in the United States Senate! Indeed, it is all enough to make one proud! Yet, it was not to discuss this gentleman that I 1 am writing; but after quoting my. friend, the attorney, at-torney, to the effect that "all men are monkeys," it was natural to drop into reflection on Apostle Smoot and the declaration by himself of his aims, aspirations, conquests, family (names and ages Included), In-cluded), his work and his victuals. Few can conceive con-ceive the joy with which these details will be treasured by the great men of the national capital, while to his own people the recital of the apostls will come as an inspiration. The Mormon church has over 300,000 members. As far as they have the intelligence to understand what he says of himself, all will be saisfied with Apostle Smoot and praise him. Now these people are deficient neither in reasoning power, in education, educa-tion, nor in morals. They average up with the rest of mankind. I think they average much higher. And if this tommy-rot of Apostle Smoot appeals to them and satisfies them why shall we not concede that men are monkeys? It is man's boast that reason is his guide. But it is a boast only. History repeats with unerring and hopeless and wearying persistency that all men are the prey of a few men. Either as king, or conqueror, or priest the mass of men have always yielded to a superior and this superior has worked upon them PfjlM 8tron wit) iMKKSKSKBHSKx1 re8t, agai OtftltilfejflHH poltti- to 1 J MsSIM&WmS $ At one wbc jfflHgBBaPiM were ceo. g0D( tt''WfflHWPS 4wMW altered be- of h eauae TmWm-hOXtA more easily and made bet to endwrs'lfcaw wrongs where the temporal Lni. he quitles wWnpheld by spirltnal parasites. Hence, utte ren on this flay of alleged enlightenment wf find dlff( the priest taring well because men fear eternal pun- to t ishment, and their followers tolerate excessive tug taxation fer all the product! of man because the ask chareh stlR stand shoulder to shoulder with every ffhy doctrine tint makes for the submission of the ; iniliii to the Influential, the rich and the Dower- bow ful. There is no church in all Christendom that a M not the friend of parties or persons In power, and - which does not find In holy writ the fullest justifl- !j' cation and sanction for the extortions of capital. he i Now, why does man endure all this? He can baa change It He has changed it before. He will d change it again, and the only result will be some slight difference in the way In which his intelll- for) gence wOl be appealed to for the benefit of the pol- tm itSelan and his labor made serviceable to the re- hea( ajtirscftsnts of the capitalist If he knew better he hag would change it for all time and for the advantage reas of all. But he does not know better. That's why alw, he's a monkey. He's a monkey because he per- ud' slsts in imitating the manners and customs and policies of his ancestors for countless generations, and which these same ancestors despised them- " selves for tolerating. a Man's a monkey because he persists in main- I po taining systems that, as far back as history re- I cords, have brought about conditions which he I could not endure, from which he has revolted, and I. His a which he has died to overturn; and yet he hu pinned his faith to the same system again only to I see the same result follow with as much certainty I as that daylight will be followed by darkness, and that darkness will succeed daylight That's why I he's a monkey. "" Man's a monkey because unceasingly he h I HpgliiMF to discover means to lessen the ? mount Wpa5tmfcn labor Involved in the production ol any BHnpi thing; and yet he hedges himself about with HHp, regulations and customs that eat up all the Hp ba can hope to accomplish, and ho leaves HBjgpklnd at large as poor as before the labor-sav-VwHtevte was brought into existence. Do you BKfiper then at a real man calling all men mon-BBaWt? mon-BBaWt? H Allan's a monkey because, while claiming to be 119 of divine origin, made in the image of God, gifted pHjrith reason, he has struggled and contended y gpinst the dogmas and superstitions of the church fe.fl(0 the point of personal torture and death, and jtlwBen be has achieved a measure of freedom has gone back to his superstitions and permitted one ft of his own kind, made of the same clay, to stand Ae I between him and his creator, and terrorize him till nl I he becomes a coward and a serf by accepting the ob, I utterances of a piece of clay like himself, but which ad differs because it claims to be nearer to God and to be invested with divine powers by God claim-tr claim-tr log advantages which the other is too modest to the gk for or to believe he can himself possess. That's ry whr man's a monkey. And so he gives of his substance to man; he "" bows the knee to man; he accepts his politics from " man; he gets his alleged "reasons" from man; he " permits man to come between him and his God; " he consents to man's demanding part of that which he has -earned by the sweat of his brow; and the ' balance he hands over to other men the capitalist N- and the politician who divide it between them, DM save enough to keep him alive and in fit condition " for more work, and when he is permitted to use the remnant he swells up with pride, lifts his empty head lige a limb from which nearly all the fruit has been stripped, struts around and boasts of his reason and his liberty! And that is what man has J always done; and that is what man will always do; and that is why "man's a monkey." nd In addition to all these reasons, and despite his autobiography, a very large proportion of the pop- BUI" illation of this State sincerely share the views of BApostle Smoot in believing he has the necessary qualifications for a United States Senator. All of which puts the issue irrefragably beyond the point , Bof dispute and determines for all time that "man lis a monkey." THE PESSIMIST. |