OCR Text |
Show U?e Sencttori a.1 I fill Situation in Weber I ITU 1 ph M It would be hard in the short space of a news w i I1M letter to give even a fair synopsis of the Senator!- 'f'lH al situation as viewed by the average Weberite. trfjB The "liberty-loving" (they confess it) Democ- 1 ' !H racy almost to a man deplore tho "forordained rj ,j fl election of Reed Smoot," they prophesy that the f v-t'lliH net result will be a revival of the old strife that I J ) jf fl Apostle Smoot will bo accorded the same kind of a m w I jffEH reception at Washington that was tendered Broth- w -i H er Roberts. That Utah will be made to suffer for ft j; jf.' fjB the vainglorious ambition of one whose calling til''FlH should make him a pattern of meekness, an ex- ujj u iljiljH ample of pui ity and a model of humility. f( ; jU t If ' ilififl It matters not that the loudest and noisest of JK I'MfjM these same Democrats were members of a Demo- fy $ r 'fjM cratic State convention in Utah, that nominated &'f !H Moses Thatcher (then an apostle in good standing fa if $1 JJM and a polygamist without apology) for one of the JH 'F ' JfH Senatorships that fell to the new State of Utah, ', , tH and that they gleefully announced that they had is'lf1 49 by this act "perfected a union between 'God' (tho jfj fffaM Mormon church) and the 'Devil' (the Democratic ' if if? $fjjr!B party) that would keep Utah in tho Democratic l4 " 1ot column for all time." The scales it seems have 'Ijhj ' rfl now fallen from their eyes. They then "saw -M jf "jftlfl through a glass darkly" now "face to face" with tJwLillM tat! u jJUtSwl defeat they, are able to advise their Republican 2 ilviMH brethren how to avoid trouble Mirabile dictu! mi: ?iHfH )m afavApiW It would be unfair not to say that this appre- 'Hf'taT rail hension of trouble from the election of a Mormon IfJllflEiPfB apostle is shared by some very earnest Republi- ,m M jfiH cans both Mormon and Gentile. They take the WlH 'lilllfl position that a high churchman dedicated and set ' f ! SfsH apart to the service of the Master ought not to if! jf ( ."wjB mingle in the turmoil and petty strife of politics. ,A j ,( hmH That the genius of our free institutions, means the ' &,' i if jfl complete separation of church and State of jlta j J$ "Stato" and "high churchmen," and that Brother a f kH Smoot should attend to his apostolic duties, leav- llllj 1Lififl ing to others the cares of State and the all en- 'ffl il grossing topic of politics. lliif f&Infl 'Hi PH While these views are being proclaimed on the M 'g' f 'JjifH highways the student of politics finds much in 'ijiii&'llnlH the situation to amuse if not instruct him. For 9f'I NHB instance tho artlessness now being displayed by m tH the Senator's Salt Lake organ is in the very high- M 1 1 k est degree interesting and we marvel if the HJ (dfH "bumps" the Senator received in the State con- m.& -fliflM vention, the humiliation he suffered right under I'Sl&'iJiH tho eyes of his Hoosier friend Beveridge and later if lfi!ll9 the drubbing that "my servant Hayes" had meted IPjffiB out to him in the Weber county convention came l P?fgH from Smoot wards, and the wily Tom is using The ri , iijfl Tribune to teach the apostle that retribution is ti'A ifiuflH sometimes meted out here on earth or whether f 4 jj rjM being cast down by Smoot the cursing Irishman tfh! ellH has sought allies in other ambitions high church- iff $ ' ilfl men and is going to "spring" a surprise on Smoot -pi iW'lfifH later on. fj ,f JifH nffii y.'rlllH There are some far seeing politicians who opine Ji (. jjH that our parvenue Senator is himself merely obey- IriiifjHI ing the dictum of his own ecclesiastical superior, M x 1 that Archbishop Ireland being in touch with the iU'lf 1 influential and governing classes in the East has M 1 fl seen tho folly of sending an apostle to the Senate ifilJvl and has issued a mandate to the Utah Senator III iilfll who thus under "church influence" of his own, is iff! f merely a puppet in the play. So the war goes Tj ( jHH merrily on. We marvel and get impatient at j f'fll times for the revelation of the plot, but we. must mm 1 wait mkml WBM IXS fmM About the most pitiful thing by contrast if the lfH old war should be revived and the Senator and jm 1flH his organ be by force of circumstances (and the IH WjBA command of Archbishop Ireland) be made the ex- HwflHH ponents of "true Americanism" would be the BIhHH emasculated Tribune. A hornless bull in the arena HhHHH a toothless bulldog in the ring of a gaffless BtrBB gamecock in the pit would be an object of terror SSffllH to a competitor compared to The Tribune as a HHI fighting Liberal paper under its present manage- flQlHH |