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Show The Cause. An Eastern friend writes us, asking .why Utah is always a concernment to the country; why It seems destined always to be a storm center. The nswer would be a long one and possibly unsatis-' unsatis-' factory, as not many at a distance can comprehend the situation here when it is explained. Aside, from inventions and discoveries in science and mechanics, our country has advanced in a hundred ; years in material power and clear-though tedness as much as any other land ever did in five centuries. cen-turies. This has been due to the fact that first the people have been free from any unjust restraints, and at the same time there have been no limitations limita-tions on their hopes, and then they have had a virgin land, loaded with treasures, for them to explore ex-plore and appropriate. But the chiefest factor has been their equal opportunity without restraints. What thl , means can bo best understood by stat- Iing its opposite. Emerson says: "Whilst I do 1 what is fit for me, and abstain from what is unfit, un-fit, my neighbor and I shall often agree In our means, and work together for a time to one end. , "But whenover I find my dominion over myself not sufficient for me and undertake the direction , of him also, I overstep the truth and come into i false relations to him. I may have so much more skill or strength than ho that he cannot express adequately his sense of wrong, but It is a lie, and hurts like a lie both him and me." That explains the original trouble in Utah. One man, or one set of men, found their dominion over' themselves not sufficient for them and undertook the direction of the others. Thus they overstepped (the truth and come into false relations with th3 ' people, and though they had so much more skill and strength than the people that the people could not express their sense of wrong, it was and is a j He all the same and hurts like a lie both chiefs and people. Worse still, this dominion was founded on superstitious fears, which the longer they exist the more degraded becomes tho subjects of them, the I , more arrogant the bearing of those who hold the 1 ! power. And this love of power Is stronger than I ) any other love, and when couple! with avarice It I is stronger than any friendship or any ties of rela- tionship, or any sense of justice. We saw it manifested mani-fested last winter when the head of the dominant power here caused a widow's home to be sold and appropriated the proceeds on no other title than one wrung through his uuperstitious fears from the husband when he was dying. This is the dominion that has been inculcated here from the first. As it is the direct opposite of the entire spirit and genius of our fr.ee American institutions, there have been clashings ever since those who have never felt this fear nor accepted this dominion began to come here in force. Then after the immigration of the first year or two, nearly all the adherents of this unnatural r.ule who have come have been from the poor of Europe and the pine woods of our own country; they have in great part been assigned to isolated settlements; for forty years they were steadily taught that all who did not believe as they were taught to believe were their enemies, here for no more honorable purpose than to rob them, and the same is still taught against all who raise their voices in protest pro-test against the treasonable wrongs that exist hero. Then there was added to the system the Mohammedan Moham-medan incentive to men, and the fear was doubled upon women that they must consent in order to be saved. And the teaching of this in temples and meeting houses and homes has had the effect to saturate with animalism the whole sytem. And as the foundation was a lie and on its face an impeachment of God's justice and mercy, the lie, as Emerson says, "hurts like a lie" both priests and people. This friend asks what the proper remedy should be. We do not pretend to answer, for the theory of our country is much as Jefferson expressed It, that with perfect freedom the people would eventually event-ually cure their own wrongs. But our Government has as much right to self-protection self-protection as an individual has: hence it holds that it is a crime for an alien to attempt to take part in making laws for it. Very well, there are no other so intense aliens in our country as the members of the Melchisidek priesthood of Jthe Mormon church, for their mission is to overthrow free government. They should not be rated as citizens. |