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Show I1, 1 1 Ufa hop Against Ufa hop. i Fight for Lynch and Morris Among the Lesser ; I Triesthood. I1 ! if A game that is almost thrilling in interest is I : being played between the rival leaders for Lynch I ' and Morris in the present campaign. Bishop is ' 1 Li; pitted against bishop, elder against elder, seventy ;,' i fill against seventy, deacon against deacon, and the 1 I'ti plumes of the Morris and Lynch forces are alter. Il l I nately in the ascendant. The outcome will un- I f doubtedly depend upon which side is able to ; 1 muster the greater amount of strength among the ( I x lesser priesthood. ;t)gjj This is the startling spectacle with which in ' Gentiles are presented this year. It all comes ( ilJ f e act at President Smith has not yet f,, seen fit to place his kingly approval or disap- ', ; proval on either of the candidates, and in fact has . If overtly announced to the brethren that he is ; Mm out of politics this year, and has no choice be- j' ' m tween the Republican and the Democrat. This I I 1 seems to have slipped the leash for a free for all f i f fight between the priestly brethren. 1. Ultra Gentiles have been slow to believe that i'j the omnipresent Smith would this year refrain f from active interference, but it has become more j I M l apparent every day that this year the Saints ; f are to be permitted to fight it out among them- selves for the rival candidates. Many causes I, I til- have been attributed for this neutral attitude 1 1 i upon the part of the all-powerful. One is that jjjj, Jf p he wishes to evade the tremendous criticism for ;. v past political misdeeds which is being hurled ' ;p J upon him, and divert the adverse fire to other ( !' ecclesiastics. Another is that as either the Repub- I j lican or Democratic nominee could be controlled by him with equal ease, it is needless for him to enter the fray. But the reason considered most potent for his present singular attitude of indifference in-difference is that he is no longer disposed to aid the ambitious Smoot, and for once at least is going go-ing to permit the ill-starred senator to wage a political battle without reinforcement from the Bee Hive. While the situation may undergo a radical change later, there can be no question that this is the word that has gone out to the lesser priesthood. priest-hood. The result has been almost electrifying, for within the past few days, two rival organizations, organiza-tions, one fighting for Morris, the other, championed cham-pioned by Smoot, opposing him, have become locked in a desperate grapple for political supremacy. su-premacy. At the head of the Smoot forces, proponents for Lynch, is that matchless duo of political cap-tains, cap-tains, Fussy Anderson and Curly Callister, who have gathered around them some strong political swashbucklers of their own ilk. Among these are the fervid Thomas 'Ull, of the Mutual Improvement Im-provement Era; W. R. Jones, Jr., Mr. Frank Emery and the esoteric and many-sided H. S. Tanner. They are alternately thundering and whispering among the Mormon Republicans to remain loyal to Lynch, for the Lord's sake and for Smoot's sake, and giving. out the impression that their admonitions come warm from the sanctuary of President Smith. On the other side, employing the same tactics, speaking also ostensibly in the name of the Lord and of Smith, and strenuously attempting to decoy de-coy Republican Mormons into the Morris camp, is an equally powerful contingent of ecclesiastics, led by the magnificent viking chieftain, Councilman Council-man F. S. Fernstrom. In the selection of ecclesiastical eccles-iastical lieutenants, he has been even more successful suc-cessful than the two arch-deacons of Smoot. On his roster are such scintillating names as Bishop Marcellus Woolley, Bishop Robert Patrick, Bishop Seddon, the Honorable John T. Caine, Stake President R. W. Young, and the champion Munchausen of the world, Editor Charles W. Penrose of the Deseret News. A mere glance at this list of competing war-rio war-rio is sufficient to convince the most incono-clastic incono-clastic that, unless President Smith breaks from his present neutrality, the coming battle between Morris and Lynch will be a most turbulent contest, con-test, and that each one must be conceded a fair chance for victory over the other, although in the matter of priestly adipose the adroit Fernstrom Fern-strom has already gained a small margin. To indicate what the probable outcome will be, a little political history may be found useful. Last year Smoot, Callister and Anderson were masters of the situation. They were able to achieve that distinction by precisely the same strategy as they are are employing at present. They gathered around themselves some influential influen-tial bishops and seventies and stake presidents, organized them and sent them out buzzing among the brethern that Gov-nah Cutlah was the Lord's choice and the choice of President Smith. By faithfully disseminating that impression, probably without the least authority from headquarters, and using the Saints as their dupes, they were able to install a theretofore practically unknown flannel merchant in the gubernatorial chair. This year they and their satellites are parading among Mormon Republicans who have announced a preference for Morris, clamoring for them to remain with the Smoot candidate, and insidiously implying that they are speaking in the name of the church president. This year for the first time they are being fought back with the same kind of artillery. Democratic bishops are denying the authority of Republican bishops to speak for the church, and are strongly urging the right of Mormon Republicans Re-publicans to vote for Mr. Morris if they so desire. de-sire. In this way the contest has developed into almost a sulphuric affair, and it becomes more apparent every day, with this condition prevailing, prevail-ing, that it would be practically impossible for President Smith, even if that were his disposition, disposi-tion, to so readjust the political situation as to throw any appreciable numbers of votes to either of the candidates. He could have done so a week ago, but it looks now as if the fight had progressed too far for one of his imperial edicts to be successful. This unprecedented state of affairs, favorable to the Democrats, was brought about largely through the efforts of the astute Councilman Fernstrom. Learning that Callister and Anderson Ander-son and' their henchmen were making inroads among Morris Republicans on the pretext that the church desired the election of Lynch, he made a protest to the president, and was authorized by the president to state that no such authority had been received from him and that he would be neutral throughout the campaign. Armed with this assurance, Fernstrom began his aggressive flanking movement, reinforced with the aiding and abetting bishops who favor Morris. Whether Fernstrom triumpr or is vanquished by Callister and' Anderson, it will prove a remarkable re-markable contest, one such as has not been witnessed wit-nessed here in the memory vf the oldest local politicians. If uninterrupted from South Temple Tem-ple street, it also means that the relative strength of Morris and Lynch will be so nearly equal that there should rerhain little question of the election elec-tion of Ezra Thompson. Younger Mormons are viewing the sub-ecclesiastical hostilities with especial interest. They look forward to the outcome with the greatest equanimity. equan-imity. Above everything else, they realize that the election of Mr. Thompson means not only a severe rebuke to ecclesiastical meddling, but the complete smashing of the Smoot-Callister-Ander-son machine, against the bizzare operations of which many of them have been fighting ever since statehood was granted to Utah. |
