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Show SMURTHWAITE AND THE CHURCH. Mr. Charles A. Smurthwaite, a prominent Mormon Mor-mon of Ogden, has been summoned to appear for trial for apostasy and un-Christianlike conduct. The complaint alleges that he has denounced the church authorities, and especially Joseph F. Smith, the president, as no Prophet, but rather as one who is leading or driving the church to destruction. destruc-tion. He will doubtless be promply excommunicated. excommuni-cated. It seems that during the Moses Thatcher troubles, trou-bles, he for a time sided with that gentleman, but later recanted.. It seems now that a private grievance griev-ance lies behind his present rebellion against the rule of the church president. He with others, so the story runs, invested In some salt fields on the shore of the lake, and finding obstructions thrown In their path at every turn, and tracing the troubles trou-bles to their source and finding they came from an opposition salt company, of which President Smith Is the president, they wetot directly to him and laid their grievances before, him, demanding justice jus-tice or at least to be made good for the money already al-ready expanded. It Is said that to this President Smith responded savagely, telling them to get out of the way of the church company, and that shaking shak-ing his finger in the face of Mr. Smurthwaite, told him that if he persisted "we will crush you." The biblo tells of the case of one woman who was by divine power converted Into salt, because she could not control her curiosity, but there is no account of any belligerent of Almighty God going into the salt business and threatening to salt down any opposition company which might seek from the free waters of the lake and the sunbeams, to turn j an honest penny. The matter of first interest to gentiles is, if a brother in the church is treated lhat way, what show has an outsldet. The next Is what effect, if any, will this have on the rank and file of the church. They have been taught implicit, unquestioning obedience so long that it is doubtful if many can summon up the resolution to dare to say that such work is not only unchristian, un-christian, but that it is downright tyranny, an unheard un-heard of abuse1 of priestly power. One class of Mormons are much excited, and In private are most outspoken, but when it comes to the test at conference of "sustaining the authorities," author-ities," we suspect that as usual every hand will go up, for there is no fear so terrible as a superstitious super-stitious fear. While many good Saints are excited and troubled trou-bled exceedingly, there is a mighty contingent, a&d many of these are leaders, who exult over Present troubles and hold to the belief that it needB contention from within and without the church to keep the organization solidified, that under un-der repose the system would in a little while dis-totegrate. dis-totegrate. That this disintegration began oven in lhe two or thre'e years of peace which succeeded toe receiving of statehood, and that to stop this Wji8 one reason why the Roberts candldaoy and Action was forced upon Utah. Considering these things and how the system is spreading, and under un-der the certainty that the polygamists in Alberta will be driven back for British laws on British soil are most direct and final in executionthe conclusion is almost ir'resistable that the United States will have no rest from the insistence and persistence of the subjects of this alien government govern-ment planted in our midst until political power is taken from it. The use of the American ballot to build up and further the schemes of this alien kingdom became intolerable to the1 men of Illinois; Illi-nois; it will be remembered that no arguments, no prosecutions in the old dayij in Utah had the least effect until a bill to disfranchise the whole organization was introduced Into Congress. That brought the manifesto of President Woodruff. He was sincere and so were a few others who surrounded sur-rounded him; they wanted this alien system placed in accord with free Institutions. But no such spirit is apparent among the leaders today, and a caustic remedy is not only just, but a necessary nec-essary act of self-defense1 on the part of the nation. The man who gives unquestioned allegiance to the rule of Joseph F. Smith and believes he has a right to rule, cannot give any but a qualified allegiance al-legiance to the Government of this Republic. |