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Show Oivce in a While.D If ono could be startled out of the fatal weariness weari-ness with which pessimism imbues those succumbing succumb-ing to the hopeless tenets, I can conceive nothing more effective than the announcement that L. W. Shurtliff, president of the Weber County stake of the Mormon church, had avowed himself a Republican. Repub-lican. The publication of this determination by the spineless man from Weber is also hilarious. He undertakes to explain why he could no longer affiliate with Democrats. He declares he had always al-ways been a protectionist and that he favors expansion; ex-pansion; hence he feels it incumbent upon himself to declare his adherence to Republican as against Democratic principles. This worthy man may succeed suc-ceed in fooling himself and perhaps a few others, but every Democrat has long ceased to look upon the individual in question as a follower of Jefferson Jeffer-son and Jackson, to say nothing of W. J. Bryan. Shurtliff believed in protection because the "brethren" "breth-ren" were interested in the "Utah sugar traffic, and the "brethren" were not only for a tariff, but by the same token and for the same reason, they wanted a bounty also, and he believes in. expansion expan-sion because the church organ wants expansion. That dainty bit of Dresden china which edits the Deseret News, and is known as C. W. Penrose, has never overcome the English habit of wanting colonies and he favors expansion also. And he likewise is a Democrat. Were it not a matter of history and susceptible of indisputable proof, I should not dare assert that the Democratic party carried this State in 1896 by nearly 50,000 majority. At that time this man Shurtliff was elected a State Senator from Weber county by the Democrats. Soon as the result re-sult of the election was known he formed ono of a corps of ecclesiastical laborers to visit the members-elect of the Legislature of the same religious re-ligious persuasion as himself and sought to get them to consent to vote for Republican George Q. Cannon for United States Senator from Utah. Two years later he voted for F. J. Cannon for United States Senator abandoning the party that elected him, and with some others who had, perhaps, per-haps, stronger commercial instincts, prevented the election of a Democratic Senator from this State, and so made it possible for "me frind" Kearns ("the man wid sinse enough to shtand tied" when hitched), to become the whole political and terrestrial terres-trial globe in Utah. In an election in Ogden when John Boyle, Democrat, ran for Mayor against William Wil-liam Driver, Republican, this boneless Shurtliff did all he could for the Republican and all he could against Boyle. This is what has abandoned the Democracy. If the Republican party gain many such converts it would be in the same wretched predicament as the man in the poker game who won a jackpot on a show down, and all the chips were put in the "Kitty' because of the many pairs shown up. He looked at his cardB, then at the pot whence all the chips had fled, and sighingly said: "If I won another pot like that, I'd be broke." If by any circumstance there should be a change in the political convictions convic-tions of the presidency of the Mormon church, the Democratic party would have Shurtliff again in its midst. They had a quarterly conference recently at Fillmore for the Saints of tho Millard stake. By a fortuous, though unexpectedly happy turn of events, Apostle Reed Smoot was there. No one looked for him, but the mutual joy to the Saints and to the Apostle by the occurrence of an event so unforeseen can well be imagined. Brother Smoot addressed the Saints twice, and then was present at the priesthood meeting. That this relation re-lation may seem pertinent, it may be well to inform in-form the reader that Apostle Reed Smoot is an ppen and an avowed candidate for the United States Senate from this State to fill the seat now J Ijt I occupied by J. L. 'Rawlins. , It is also declared jjj 5$ I that his church is for him and that he will have A iff I the support of the leaders. It goes without saying iff fl that he has received the consent of the brethren )$ m M to malce the race, and with that consent there ', f goes much in the way of "moral" influence, if such 'M I a word as "moral" may be used properly when re- i ' yH I f erring' to tho dominant church and politics in ! re any one connection. The coincidence is that ev- F-'m ery man at the priesthood meeting, which was held Jl 9 immediately after the holding of the Millard stake !j ' conference, was for Brother Smoot for United J! '- States Senator for Utah in place of anyone else. fj , I No one would dream of suspecting that Apostle i I Smoot would either speak of his own candidacy or I ' r I permit anyone else to do so at a sacred gathering. " ' M And yet the information that he was a candidate r ' I' ' permeated the whole place much as tho odor of 'f LjB a skunk permeates tho atmosphere, the source be- !' jii'jfl ing unknown, but the scent unmistakable, and they h )' ! ,jfl were all for the- Apostle Democrats and Repub- 1 1 f jl licans alike. p. , j W . Brother Orville Thompson was selected to be f h M the candidate for the Legislature, and he was for 'jl g tfl Smoot. By a strange combination of circumstances ..'- fl the deal fell through and a party by the name ; J l of Watts, or thereabouts, became the nominee. , "$ 9 Whether Watts is for Smoot is not made public, J " 1 but he was not the Smoot choice for the place. - itc'l Thus it appears that even an Apostle has trou- H :ljl bles with his own people when it comes to poll- j kI tics. .$1IB f ill The number of Republican candidates for the rlf rfffW Legislature this fall is almost appalling. - It not 1, fofl only argues confidence in election, but it gives rise . a ill to the impression among somo that a concerted (1 :'f fifl effort is to be made to put a stop to the purchas- jfi JH ing seats in tho United States Senate by breaking jjl 'fffl the buyers and running the price up Jto a point JK f iffl which will frighten off plain millionaires. Forbid Jfl it, heaven, that anyone should suppose there is ' fl a belief that candidates have any hopes of per- I "MM sonal advantage by reason of a vote in the com- , H ing Legislature. It will be a very pretty spectacle j, j fjgfl to witness the contortions of Apostle Smoot when ! ? "I9H it is intimated to him that there are aspects of a . U JvH spot cash transaction that go a long way toward jfH helping a man in satisfying his ambition. Smoot , jlfH is such a generous man so free with his money '-fffl and so liberal in all his business dealings. (H With what joy one turns from these sordid and ; j fnl ambitious scenes to the prospect recently present- JjjH ed by Apostle Cowley. Brother Cowley is the 'i 11 man who insisted on paying more for a horse than , the owner himself valued the animal at. It will JH therefore cause no surprise that such a soul should $f H arise in the Tabernacle on a recent Sunday and j fffl rejoice that, while the Elks convention was being ' J Jgfl held here, Mormons did not impose any extra j lj charge for food or service upon the strangers. rf.JB This means that all tho "grafting" was done by liflU Gentiles, and this must be a source of great joy m B to the Saints, especially in view of the comblna- 'm WSmt tions of capital that have been promoted by the 'JH "brethren" lately. But their joy in the fact that l'flfl the Saints, according to Apostle Cowley, did not irf'l make any extra charge to the visiting Elks, is per- L ijlH haps tempered to rational bounds by contemplat- . JH ing the price at which the brethren sell sugar to 'i'' 1H their own people, and the delight is further modi- )' iH lied by the knowledge that the price of salt han i jsM been tipped up by the local salt trust at the head I jBH of which is Joseph F. Smith, prophet, seer and rev- mm elator, to all the Latter-Day Saints throughout fil tho world. Because it will take a good many f SH Apostles like Cowley and there are only twelve (llJI to sanctify the disposition of the higher breth- JHhI ren to work all the Saints for all they are worth, HfflH I am constrained to subscribe myself again, 9H THE PESSIMIST. hHI |