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Show f A DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT. I There are rumors that there is a good deal of disquietude in church headquarters, lest the elec-i elec-i tion of a Mormon apostle to the office of Senator I might precipitate trouble, and lest there might be the humiliation of seeing the apostle returning 5 discomfited, having been refused a seat in that t body, which passes upon the qualifications of men P applying for seats, even when they carry papers f which on their face are sufficient to entitle them to the place. If the apostle was the only one con-" con-" corned it would not so much matter, but should he try and fail, that would supply a precedent for all time and would be a notice that no more high j church officials need apply. That would be a V black eye. Our belief is that just such a calamity j would follow the apostle's attempt to break into the Senate. If we cared nothing for Utah we L would encourage the trying of the experiment. If we ever felt any pleasure in seeing any one's hopes broken, or in seeing any person humiliated, j we would urge the trying of the experiment, but p- it would not be good for Utah to have a duly t elected Senator refused a seat in Congress; though jj it would be a good thing for the Mormon priests fe and people, for it would serve a notice on the S people that a priestly office is not a letter of credit outside of Utah; it would serve a notice on the J high priests of the church that in the building up r of a priestly aristocracy in Utah, high political k preferment may not be promised. tf fe There is not only danger to Apostle Smoot in 5 the trying of the experiment to send him to the L Senate, but to all Mormons. trf Suppose he were to go and his citizenship should be challenged. He thinks he could fight B that back, but is he sure ? Mr. Roberts was cer- r tain that if he could get to state his position fairly to the House of Representatives, he could win his p. Place. He was given the opportunity, and then ft tho House decided that they did not want him. g But the question with him was one the House t dealt with on moral grounds alone. Suppose with Apostle Smoot the question of the apostle's real Ifealty should be sprung and it should be made clear to the Senate of the United States that his highest allegiance is not-to the United States, hut to another temporal government that is fully organized, with a president and courts of its own, nd that all it lacks to formally sot asido tho Government of the United States is the power to do so what then? Does any one believe that the aPcstle would bo seated? With him denied the place, would the matter drop? Would not the investigation be continued until it would be shown how absolute is the despotism des-potism here, that makes every member of the organization or-ganization a subject so bound that he dare not refuse re-fuse to vote for any candidate he is instructed to vote for? With that established, what Mormon of any degree would be admitted as a member of either house of Congress? Do not the chief priests begin to see that in attempting to force a Mormon apostle in as a United States Senator they would be playing with fire which, once started into a full blaze, might not besStopped until all Mormons were disfranchised. Once started, it would be recalled that Statehood State-hood for Utah was only obtained through pledges which among men are supposed to be binding on lay members, saying nothing of men wfyo havo been consecrated to the service of a master who is a God of Truth as well as of Justice. We suggest to those most concerned that while a creed may be omnipotent in Utah, while men in authority under that creed may carry themselves them-selves without regard to their own pledges or their plighted obligation to the State; after all, Utah is a small factor in the Great Republic, and men who believe they are giants here are sometimes, some-times, when in other places, made to feel that they are being looked upon through reversed opera glasses. The timid, the conservative, the vicious and the men whose only mission here is to make money, cry out in chorus, "Why agitate this matter, mat-ter, why rake up the questions which agitated and set back Utah so long?" The answer is first it is duty. Nothing Is settled until it is settled right, and the State that permits combinations to make certain men dictators, that makes no pro test when faith Is broken, that lets wrong be clothed in the stolen robes of honor and righteousness right-eousness and makes no protest, is not only not fit to be a State of this great Republic, but it becomes be-comes a menace to the rights of other States. The candidacy of Apostle Reed Smoot for the Senator-ship Senator-ship is primarily the breaking of the solemn pledges made in order to secure Statehood. If ever binding pledges were made, they were made by the chiefs of the Mormon creed, especially by him who now holds office of President of that creed, that the church thereafter would hold itself aloof and cease to dictate to the people in political matters. That pledge changed those who were opposing Statehood here into friends of the measure mea-sure and caused the admission of the State. To break that pledge now is not only an act of direct perfidy but it is a reproach to those who certified to the then President and Congress their belief that the pledge would be honestly and sacredly kept. Of course we know that such attorneys as the Deseret News can crawl from their lairs and hiss that there had been no dictation, but we all know how sincere such a declaration is. When the commander of a ship requests his first officer te see that certain sails shall be dressed', some reefed and some bent on, the Request is a command, and when Apostles, Presidents of Stakes, BishQps and Elders, scrap in primaries like ward politicians to . have certain men nominated, and when the "teachers" "teach-ers" mako a house to house canvass requesting all tho faithful to vote for certain candidates, those M&m requests have behind them more than any ordi- ' Vfl nary commands, for with them is carried tho fll terrors of superstitious fears to awe and control H 'the people. II There are other objections That kind of work Hi I is hostile to the very spirit of free institutions. II It leaves no idea of freedom in the hearts of the 19 people. It is a notice to every young Mormon i- 9 that under the rule of his life, the guarantees 1 afl made by the Constitution of the United States Xfl which were intended to open to him every avenue 99 of advancement in this free country, count for i 99 nothing so far as he is concerned, but for hijn ' 99 there is no avenue of advancement save through . 99 the church. , 91 That is, it means the establishment of a priest- n 99 ly aristocracy in Utah, an aristocracy composed 99 of the few while all the others, under the system, i jjglfl are but to be hewers of wood and drawers of wa- 'j 9 ter. A State so enthralled is both a disgrace and 1 HI a menace to free government. It is a slap in the 99 face of the Republic; it is an insult to the immor- . 99 tals who fashioned a government of the people, jBI by the people and for the people. 1 99 In this case, too, there are other sinister fea- j 99 tures. This candidacy of an apostle Is but a cul- 91 mlnatlng act in a conspiracy hatched with a dou- Wtm ble purpose, to place the church under the joint III rule of a liberty-sapping creed and a brutal, un- - ' scrupulous political machine. Where is the man- '91 hood and womanhood of Utah that there is not 91 awakened a mighty acclaim of protest against the '99 carrying out of this conspiracy founded on the 91 double intention of enslaving this people and of , 91 hurling insult at the freest, greatest, most en- fll lightened, most merciful and most peaceful gov- 81 ernment of the earth. ' mm |