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Show NOT AS A BODY, EH? The 'News says that "the church is not engaged in politics as an ecclesiastical body." The answer to that is that it was founded as a political and commercial body, and save for a year or two after Statehood was given to Utah, has never surrendered its chiefest function. The founder of a creed proclaimed himself a candidate for President of the United States; he organized the nucleus of an army and had himself proclaimed Lieutenant-General a rank that no one save Washington had, up to that time borne, all his thoughts were of a temporal kingdom, of which he claimed a divine right to be the head of. The government in Utah was for years a pure theocracy see Bishop Whitney's History and in the late election the teachers went to the widow m of a man, who, in his lifetime, was a distinguished I bishop of the Mormon church, and told her that I it was the desire of the higher priesthood that she I should vote a certain ticket, though they knew that while she would not dare to disobey the counsel, it Would wound every maternal as well as political instinct of her nature to obey. Still, the News says "the church is not engaged in politics as an ecclesiastical body." The body does as the head dictates, and, knowing this, there are many wealthy men in this city, many of whom belong to the Mormon church, who would wager their fortunes against half their value that, under that same dictation, the editor of the News, broke a lifelong rule at the late election and voted for the Republican legislative ticket. |