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Show I j'iiilgljH A MISSIONARY'S LETTER. mm ''jlyjHB Tne following letter ia from an honest, most I iPrlllHHi worthy gentleman; well known in this city and k w state. He Is a devout Mormon and perhaps nat- II r ' mSBHBI iirally misconstrues some of the language of the mm I ' n InflB article he reviews. B P flBflH While It uses the word "poor" ho construes it K t ISflB jmean poor in a property sense, which of course B ' IIIBhB never intended, but meant only in the sense mm HWrnmBx tlt tllG neonle though living in this great free S "'tHUHl jintry, make no effort to understand the prin- B ' liilmffll los of our government or their duties as ct- B. ttHB iztins, hut under the spell of what they believe B ' if flHjjB is a reSion, are content to remain in total ig- B -iBBHs norance of the government which overshadows mm' Wmrnmmm, antl protects them and give tlielr gratitude and mm ' H-lmmmW thpir only real fpalty to their priestly rulers. , B '!lHiHl yioy keep their minds and their hearts barren mm II HH of I the truths which would make them a patriotic B" dV IIImBf pepple and which would impel them to teach their mm ' -I i infil children that in all the world there is not such B 'ill BB another land of liberty and of hope for them, or B in! Biff which has such, a claim'upon their affections and B ' ''If MM gratitude as this. ' jf? BBI Tlie wllole article was but an arraignment of these priests for keeping these truths from this 1IlWl BBb naturally sincere people, .fil flB Tne writer of the letter unwittingly emphatic empha-tic B sizGS the truth when ho speaks of the degrada sj'ffiiH tion and poverty of places in the old world and I the poor rewards given there for toil the im- memorial oppression of the poor. When people are rescued from such a life and planted in a country where every honor and every opportunity is opened to them and their children and where I their ballot' counts for just as much as that I of Theodore Roosevelt, is it not, a "shame and I . crime" that their hearts are closed from the first B to the blessing of the land, that it is to their I priests that they? give their praise and cast their ballots as. dictated by those priests? I We do not discount the native integrity of the jj Mormon people or of many of the missionaries I that go abroad to teach the Mormon faith, our ob I jection is that they are not true citizens and that I it is the purpose and practice of thoir priests I never to permit them to be. " I "Goodwin's. Weekly," yol. IX, No. .11 is before I mo, having been sent me by one of my people. E Coming so far I have carefully read it over and I am pleased, with the, clean, smart appearance of I its' twenty pages. The cuts and lithographic work I in ; same are surely, as near perfection as it is 1 possible to make" them. I am sure you will be 1 surprised to receive a letter from me, but I 1 thought that you might perhaps be interested fn f a brief report from one who is laboring in the I "land o' cakes." Before I do so, however, 1 II would like to call your attention to two articles II in the above number: One is found on page 5 1 and is entitled "The Shame and Crime of It All." i Whoever the author of that article is I know n not, neither do I care, but it is quite apparent k that it proceeded from some one whose soul has I reached a degree of acrltude that would be hard to duplicate. Ignorance is the first charge. Deluded, I pimple fools is the next. Willing serfs, held in 1 leash by cunning knaves false pastors, etc. "Go I down into the Country and, entering a house, see I if there is any literature except the Book of I Mormon, a picture of Brfgham Young and some I Qopies of the Weekly Degeret News." Suppos-I Suppos-I ing, Judge, that this is true, what does it prove? I Does it not prove that' they are a religiously In-1 In-1 clined people, that they are struggling with the i elements, many of them forbidding, to make and 1 create a home and a shelter for themselves and their family. Poor, they may be, butoh GodJ-are. they not honest! Is it a crime to be poor? It is not generally understood but it is conceded that it is damned inconvenient. If few books are found in their homes and few periodicals upon their tables, the supposition is that what few they are, are at least paid for and there is some satisfaction satisfac-tion in that: And they have been paid for by the hard early and late toiling of these poor (?) but respectable honest souls. The charge of ignorance ig-norance Is not well taken in the light of statistics whioh show that Utah" is well towards the front" as compared with the other states of the "Union. You must know these things. You cannot help but know them. And is it not amazing the progress that has been made considering the poverty pov-erty surrounding the early settlers and pioneers for years in their labors to. redeem the desert? The charge of "servitude," "fetters," etc., is equally equal-ly unjust, untrue and were doubt still romainlng, it could surely be . demonstrated without any difficulty. dif-ficulty. These same deluded, poor, ignorant people peo-ple are denying themselves the luxuries of life to equip their sons with college and university education in order that they may come to the nations na-tions of the earth to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the lowly Nazarene. He who was poor, had not where to lay his head. Had not a house to live in, nor library to feast his soul upon. "How knoweth this man letters having never learned?" These ignorant serfs are sending their sons out into the world for a two or three years mission. They pay their rail and ocean tariff. They maintain main-tain themselves decently and respectably while there. They preach the gospel to the best of their ability, they buy the tracts and books they distribute dis-tribute amongst the people all for the love of the truth. These young men are exemplars fo mankind. man-kind. They never indulge in the use of liquors, they do not use tobacco in any form. They are incessantly warned to keep themselves unspotted from the vice and sins of the world. While the are doing this they have an opportunity of studying study-ing the religious and political systems prevailing in the world. The mothers of these boys can sleep in peace at night knowing their boys are in the line of duty true soldiers for Christ. Is Utah the darkest spot on earth? What about the great majority of states that do not equal her educationally? ed-ucationally? What about those southern states that have been Inhabited for four times the length of time that Utah has been? What about other countries? The conditions prevailing in some parts, of England, Ireland and Scotland? Come over here, Judge, and see the serfdom here. See the women labor in this country, on pit heads, in the fields, everywhere. If people never go from home how can they know? I wish that all the world was as well off, so far as the necessities and comforts of life are concerned, as Utah is. Come over here Judge and see the political slaveiy the people are in. The pittance of wages doled out to men skilled and unskilled. The utter Impossibility Im-possibility of people ever being able to own a home of their own. Seeing these things, knowing these things, how can we be other than grateful that we live under the Stars and Stripes of the greatest and freest government on earth. And yea, notwithstanding all our efforts to uplift our-selves our-selves and human kind the world over, this, perhaps, sinner, who writes this article would vote to disfranchise his follow countrymen. Enough of this. Turn over next page. Read the "Padon incident." Love, Hope, Charity pervades its every line. There is a fellow feeling here none of that "I am holier than thou art" about it. The spirit that inspired fhe writer of this article was from above apd the spirit that inspired the other was from beneath. "Oh why should the spirit of mortal be proud." Yes, Judge, if those who are engaged in writing such articles as I have first referred to, would take upon them a two years' mission, absent themselves from home, from family, give, upsituation earn nothing, pay I for everything; preach 'the gospel; etc., don't yoU I think he would even welcome the sight of that 8 brown dog of yours wagging his tail when you 8 returned home from the labors of the day. I 8 think they would have a little more charity m 8 their souls a little more love for their neighbor 8 and fellow countryman. I find I have written at 8 such an unwarranted length that I cannot afford 8 to inflict you with any personal report of my 8 labors. Let me say just one thing, Judge. If our fl worst enemies knew How,', difficult it was to con. 8 vert one soul to the truth and the comparativelv 8 small results of our work, they would not Beek 8 to have Uncle Sam interdict their immigration 8 into the United States of America. Apologies for 8 the liberty taken and with assurances of my es- 9 teem, I remain, Yours, very sincerely, DAVID Lu MURDOCK. 8 |