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Show IT WOULD MAKE TROUBLB. ' j ! ,jfl The Mormon chiefs should keep in mind if they i '',B cause or permit the election of Apostle Reed Smoot j ifcM'f, iH to the Senate of the United States, they will be j fei' JH dealing directly not with the people of Utah, but I WK 'ftH with the Government and people of the Republic, ! W' '''JH and it is quite possible that Mr. Smoot will find P'w-jfl a different reception in Washington from what j Sif 'J H he expects. M -.ju 1j The teachings of the Latter-day Saints are well ; w "j BH known in Washington: the particular teaching rfj Pf JH that the Mormon creed covers a claim that the ! M j jy jB Mormon church is not only a celestial kingdom, M ', ' --'tH but a kingdom of God on earth; that its claim is I ,t' I ( , jfl not only a right to religious but to temporal rule I Jf "' H a something higher than and altogether inde- : Jf . 'fjH pendent of the Government of the United States. ! w j " SaH Plenty of Senators and Representatives are per- l HH fectly familiar with the terms on which Statehood " IH was granted, one feature being the plighted prom- V jji H ise of the chiefs of the organization that hence- ' fJfi ol forth the church would refrain from dictating to ! t jf j H the people in matters political, that every man M,'r I and woman in the church should be free to thlnK !j ' I and to vote as they might think best. But if Apos- H jj Jj H tie Smoot is elected everyone in Washington I Ijj-'H as well as in Utah will know that it was because I ' B the chiefs of the church willed it to be so, or at I F ' i ', H least permitted it, and that will be a notice to the " , . I j Senators in Washington that a man is about to 1 -K ', jf '.'fl come to them claiming equal privileges with them j jf' " u B who, even after he had taken the oath of office, J r jifM would, were a command of his chiefs here in Salt j & ' ' Ill Lake to run counter to a command of the Presi- Sj m 'si dent of the United States, that command confirmed '' 'H by Congress and its legality be affirmed by the ) ''f HH Supreme Court of the Republic, this man would, I iijBH as higher authority than all three branches of the j '"i!"r:flM Government combined, obey the First Presidency I j yr ' fM of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-tiay Saints, iy JH We do not know, but 'we believe if the attempt I l,j MjM is made and carried through, there will be trouble. : U k mIB We believe some one will authoritatively question , P H the right of a Mormon church apostle to a seat in m J WM that body on the ground that he is in truth an m HH alien; that the only allegiance he can give to this wMfluH Republic is at best but a secondary, allegiance, BnlMH his first and real allegiance being to another tern- flflHfl poral power. We suggest to Apostle Smoot to HIHW think what he would do if confronted by a KiHBIH situation like that. We suggest to the church flflHI chiefs to consider the matter carefully and see BHHH CSHIHBHHh I jig' if they think it best for themselves, their peo- jm Plo and their creed to have anything like that jjff sprung just at this time when their promise to m keep their hands out of the politics of the Mor- jjp mon people is still fresh in memory. ji It may be asked: "Would you debar Mormons w from high office simply because they are Mor- jjp mons?" jig The answer is, by no means. But we would H f H' debar Mormon apostles from being both apostles m i ; and Senators, and for several reasons. One is H ! jwi their priestly office unilts them for the position of Hi ( ' if Senator as much as it would a Cardinal of the H ' jj Roman Catholic church. H j H Another is, such men would depend upon their H ; w rank in the church and not their merits and H ij i 'S equipments as citizens to secure them the place; H j ; lk hence their election is really the beginning of the HI S $ rule in political affairs of a religious aristocracy H itj and oligarchy, and that is not only a perversion H M oC tuo tneory and Principles of our Government, Hi M I ut a ranlc in3ustic0 to every aspiring young man mm ifj m in the State. HI j W Finally, a Mormon apostle is set aside in a Hi jlj fj priestly office in the secrecy of the Temple; the mW fl! m world knows nothing of the obligations he takes H 1 upon himself, but we all know that by the very 1 mM claims of the creed, he is in the most solemn form R ti sealed in citizenship to a temporal government, HI jl! W not that of the United States. When the only HI 3p church that claims to have a lightning rod to the Hi $fc Jy Infinite combine to peddle out offices it means a H& j? union of church and state with the state the lesser K W factor. |
