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Show WHY THE CONGRESS WAS LOST. The Utah delegation at Portland made a gallant gal-lant fight to secure for Salt Lake the permanent capitol for the Mining Congreas. Their arguments argu-ments could not be answered, but they were beaten. beat-en. Lafe Pence made an underhanded, altogether petty and malicious plea for Colorado, but it was enough. But all that does not establish that the Congress was unfair. Some years ago a certain state on a technicality repudiated a debt whioh it, through its legislature, had contracted. It was a small sum. The officials who had caused the repudiation, one by one died, until all were gone but whenever that state went into the market mar-ket to sell its bonds, though tho securities were ample, there were no buyers. The reproach of the repudiation was upon the state, and arguments in its favor were useless. use-less. After having made the Government of the United States years of trouble and expense. After having persisted in being a law unto Itself in Utah for more than forty years, the Mormon church, through its chiefs, was finally driven into a cul-de-sac and made to surrender. Those chiefs agreed to give up polygamy, they agreed to emancipate their own people and give them political freedom freedom to espouse any political principles they might choose to espouse, freedom to vote any ticket they might please to vote, without dictation dic-tation or Interference. It was then that the Golden Gold-en Gates of the Union were swung back and Utah was admitted and welcomed even as the shepherd receives the lamb which had been lost We had then two years of signal prosperity, peace and good will, Mormons began to have real opinions on political questions, began to Study and Understand the political history of this country I and to comprehend its splendor and what it was I to the world's oppressed. I But these priests of the creed could not bear II this. If men were to become politically free it I would not be long until they would lift their eyes I and minds Nup and repudiate every form of slavery. slav-ery. The first return of the old grip upon the couls of men was when Moses Thatcher and B H. Roberts essayed to be American citizens. Next some high priests, notably the apostles, apos-tles, went through the state and ordered polygamists who had -given up and settled with their "polygamous wives, to "live their religion." Both Thatcher and Roberts laid down and then to reward Roberts he was elected to Congress that polygamy might be thrust down the throat of Congress, and the throats of the American people. peo-ple. Then the whole American people were given giv-en to understand how much a Mormon priest's word is worth whenever any purpose of the church Is Involved. Again, two years ago, Apostle Apos-tle Smoot had a servile legislature elect him to the senate of the United States and the old fight was again necessarily on. These are the things which caused the Mining Congress to accept the view of a blatherskite and to reject the argu- 1 ments of true men. These are the reasons why I Wyoming can obtain a princely appropriation for 1 a military station, while Utah, is made to get I along with a pittance. In Oregon there was still another reason. Years before the Utah pioneers came in a large company here, individual pioneers made the journey jour-ney and continued on 1,500 miles further to Oregon. Ore-gon. They were mostly Missourlans. They knew all the history of those days and taught It to their children. That is why Utah received its black eye in Oregon. That Utah lost the Congress Con-gress despite the fact that Salt Lake is the spot that should have been chosen is due solely to the fact that from the first the Mormon chief priests have never hesitated to play false to the people and Government of the United States, and because with perfidy unspeakable they have violated every pledge they made to secure Statehood State-hood for Utah. Looked upon from all the usual standpoints, it was an unjust decision that turned the Congress from this olty, but, nevertheless, it was retributative justice, for these chiefs even now continue to demonstrate that they care nothing noth-ing for the Government of the United States, nothing for any people except their own and are - bu$y in building up a despotism of their own on the soil and within the Government of the United States. |
