OCR Text |
Show ' $ Why Necessary APOSTLE HEBER J. GRANT a few evenings since, published a protest against raking up old by-gone episodes and sayings in the his tory of Utah, and asked what use it was to repro-t repro-t duce them now. He is entitled to an answer. It J, is because one apostle at conference declared that &, the Mormon church was unchangeable, that it is now what it was at the beginning. At the begin- ning it was framed as a religious creed and t claimed to be a restoration of the creed that the Savior promulgated. But at the same time, under the guise of a part of its creed it organised a po- fg litical despotism, as merciless as the rule of an- f cient Asia, the intent of which was to rule in pol- f" itics by surrounding its people with a supersti- l tious fear that would make them the slaves of a one-man rule all their lives. At the last confer-, confer-, ence one of the most pronounced addresses of the conference was one on the necessity of obedience jp to priestly rule. That rule was intolerable in h Utah twenty, thirty, forty and fifty years ago, in tolerable to all men who believed in the sov-erignty sov-erignty of the free institutions of the United States. It caused the expulsion of the believers In that creed who were driven from Ohio, Missouri and Illinois; Il-linois; it awakened such opposition here that at last for fear of utter disfranchisement this priesthood priest-hood solemnly covenanted to henceforth keep their hands out of politics, and permit the people to think and vote as their best judgment directed. Heber J. Grant was a party to those covenants; he is one who stands branded, as a man and a churchman, who broke his faith with the president, presi-dent, congress, the entire government of the United States, and is today engaged, behind the wall of that statehood which came of promises intended to be broken in trying to reinstate the old tyrannies in all their original hideousness. That is why it is right to recall what was done in the days when this thing which is called a church, but which is merely one vast political and commercial machine, did when it had undisputed sway in Utah. We had peace here for two years after statehood state-hood was granted. We all rejoiced in the hope and. belief that Utah was soon to become in truth an American state. It was Heber J. Grant and fourteen other men who, over the wreck of their own broken promises, sought to again weld the fetters of political servitude upon the necks and souls of their followers. If there are contentions and heartburnings here, they are all due to that perfidy, and if the men who conspired to bring around this discord through their broken covenants cove-nants are reviewed, the name of Heber J. Grant will be found second on the list. |