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Show I THIS MENACE. Almost every day in Mormon publications we read how, from the first, the Saints have been persecuted. per-secuted. We hear it echoed in Mormon speeches; the charge is ground into the hearts of the Mormon Mor-mon children nd they grow up with a great mistrust mis-trust if not hate of the American people. This supplies the most convincing proof of Mormon Mor-mon lawlessness, because the Saints have never yet been interfered with except when they have set aside the laws of the republic and of civilization. civiliza-tion. Their disregard of the property rights of others resulted in driving them out of Missouri. The same cause with their practice of polygamy and their dishonoring the ballot made their trouble in Illinois. Their determination to be a law unto themselves, and to exalt polygamy into a sacred tenet of their faith kept Utah in a turmoil for forty years; the same causes fill Utah with mistrust, heart-burning and apprehension today. The claim is a slander upon the American people, it is a dishonor to the American flag whenever uttered, for search the world over, and nowhere Ielse can so tolerent, so generous, so considerate a people as those of our country be found. All kinds of so-called religious creeds pursue their way undisturbed in our land so long as they hold themselves subject to the free laws of this Republic. But the spirit of the Mormon system was manifested when Joseph Smith invented a new flag, organized the nucleus of an army and named himself lieutenant-general, a title that up to that time had been given to no one but George Washington. That same spirit was manifested when Joseph F. Smith,before a senate committee, declared his defiance of both human and divine laws, but still claimed as sacred his right to lead this people. Had he been pressed, he doubtless would have declared that, by virtue of his ecclesiastical eccles-iastical office, he owed no allegiance to any earthly government, and that because of his place no manifesto mani-festo by any former president was binding upon him. Under the same claim he assumes the right to dictate the politics of the state. His hand is seen in every city council, in every legislature; he is intent only on building up this kingdom in the midst of this republic. His - followers" are not II strong enough to resist this tryranny. Thus con fronted what is the duty of our government? What would any other government do? What would Great Britain or Germany do? We have during the past few months seen the struggle in Prance to wrest the government fron. the divided rule of the Holy Moiher church. If that is the situation in Catholic France, what should not our government do to vindicate the constitution and make clean the ballot in Utah? When a foreigner comes to our shores he has to be naturalized if he would be an American citizen. But when children chil-dren here grow up aliens and from the craddle are taught that their first fealty is not due this republic, re-public, we hesitate to exercise the precautions which we insist shall be taken by foreign-born comers, and so behold the spctacle of a man dictating dic-tating who shall be elected to office, and knowing all the time that what he does is by virtue of a so-called so-called religious authority. And the nation looks calmly upon this growing menace to free government gov-ernment and does not interfere. The situation has no parallel and never has had since the bloody days of the Inquisition. It should be changed, for if it continues, if our country permits per-mits its ballot to be dishonored in future as it ha& in the past, if it continues to compromise with this wrong the result will be as it was with slavery, slav-ery, the land will be filled with young men dead, and ten thousand homes will be filled with mourning. |