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Show (Federal Officials Rule Legislature Curley's Crew Busy Attain I The interference of Federal officials In Utah politics has never been more offensive than since the present session of the Legislature convened. con-vened. It began last Monday) when Marshal "Bill" Spry and Revenue Collector "Curley" Cal-Hster Cal-Hster went on the floor of the State Senate and had the Republican caucus reverse Its action of mm Saturday night in the selection of a chaplain. Their command was obeyed, and, to save the face of the Mormon machine, a Gentile minister was made the Senate chaplain. "Parson" Simpkin is praying for the Senate at $4 a prayer because U Spry and Callister decided that he should do so. I But the most flagrant case of interference on the part of the Federal crowd has been in the selection se-lection of the House committees. At this- writing these committees have not been announced, and the question of whether Speaker Harry Joseph will bow humbly to Federal dictation ia still un- determined, although indications are that he will. B Spry and Callister and Surveyor General Thomas Hull have commanded him, however, to make B Brigham Clegg, a young Mormon lawyer of Salt B Lake, chairman of the House judiciary commit-fl commit-fl tee, although Joseph owes his election in consid-B consid-B erable measure to Harry J. Robinson pf Bingham, B who also aspires to the chairmanship. Robinson B is a Gentile. B With intolerable impudence Spry and Hull in-B in-B sisted on seeing Joseph's list of committees bell be-ll fore they were named. Joseph submitted to them B a memorandum of them Wednesday night, and B the fact that he would do so is evidence that B their wishes will be final with them in the make-B make-B up of the committees. Presumably they will re-B re-B vise the list before handing it back to him to B read parrot-like in. the body over which he nom-B nom-B inally presides. B The position of the Federal crew in this mat-B mat-B ter is such as to warrant their removal front B office on the ground of pernicious activity in poli-B poli-B tics. The position of Mr. Joseph i most un- I enviable, for he is not a Mormon, and is not supposed sup-posed to be subject to the orders of the holy priesthood. Ever since President Roosevelt wont into office of-fice his admirers have been regaled with press agents' tales that Federal appointees would not be permitted to dabble in politics. They have been assured over and over again that the people of the various States were to be left free to conduct con-duct their own politics without interference or influence on the part of the Federal officials. Shortly after Mr. Roosevelt assumed office, Philander Phil-ander C. Knox, then his Attorney General, promulgated pro-mulgated a special rule applying to appointees- of the Department of Justice, commanding them to abstain from political activity, and, if that rule has been revoked, it has been done secretly and without the knowledge of the public. "Bill"' Spry Is an officer of the Department of Justice. Last summer he was caught red-handed trying to influence a judicial decision in a political polit-ical matter, and now ho is found meddling officiously of-ficiously with the proceedings of the State Legislature. Leg-islature. It is evident that Mr. Spry himself is dead to all sense of political decency; it is likewise like-wise evident that he has a strong pull at Washington, else he would not dare cut such capers. ca-pers. Spry should be removed from office. A man so notoriously busy in politic as he is!, so brazen and defiant of public sentiment and of the written writ-ten rules of his superiors, is not a safe man to trust with the administration of justice in Utah 0r anywhere else. A Federal grand jury is now to session investigating the alleged misdeeds of men high in political and business life. Spry is 110 man to have charge of such a grand jury, for, ' his record is any criterion, he should sooner or later be found mixing into the cases to protect friends of the religio-political machine whose creature he happens to be. Governor Cutler gave out 15,000 words of biennial bi-ennial message upon the Legislature Tuesday. It is hardly possible that the Governor wrote a word or a line of the message himself. It was probably prob-ably written by the Mormon elder who is drawing draw-ing $125 a month from the State for composing the Governor's political speeches, and writing his letters. Upon vital issues the Governor dodged every time. He dodged the college consolidation question, ques-tion, the railroad commission question, and the matter of depriving Salt Lake City of home rule. This was because the church, which has set him apart to act as Governor, is undecided as to the commission question; because it doesn't know whether a bill "ripping" up the government of Salt Lake would be constitutional, and because it doesn't want to show its hand in the college matter. But upon matters in which the church is interested in-terested the Governor was strong and emphatic. He recommended a stringent libel law because Joseph F. Smith, his master, is trying to devise some means of terrorizing editors out of criticising criti-cising or even mentioning the sensual crimes of which -he and his sanctified associates are guilty. He recommended a bill closing theatres on Sun-.day, Sun-.day, but said nothing about the resorts of which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is proprietor, where liquor is sold and where immorality im-morality flourishes unchecked. Presumably theatres the-atres are to be closed on Sunday to drive people to these rum-soaked joints whether they want to patronize them or not. The Governor made no mention of prizefighting prize-fighting because the prophet dearly loves a prizefight, and attended in person a brutal mauling maul-ing match given in the Salt Lake theatre. The Governor did recommend, however, that the crime of "polygamy" as defined in the Utah tat- Ij, -iflB utes bo changed to "bigamy," but made no rec- 5 mot ' ommendation that the holy men of his church jfl who are living in a riot of sin and sensuality, M .' ; -jS A keeping, harems at the expense of their deluded j! fJ j followers, bo punished either for polygamy or l' '' l ' V Tlie Governor's handling of every important ii'H 1 !' state 8Uhjct touched upon in his message dom- : ; 1 aj . onstratetl anew that he is merely a creature of n'wm the Brigham street bosses. It is a pity that Utah 1 ' lms to endure a straw mnn for Governor, but of J : 4 J p The Inter-Mormon, edited by an imported 'ilwll.' Democrat, shrieks with horror over the insinua- 1.1 'ii it tlon tlmt tlle Mormon church anfl tno Republican VPi national organization are In a hard and fast al- ' -' 'Is liance. The horror would have a more genuine !l-8 appearance if it were expresoed by a Republican. 'I v But let that. pass. '', jjtij Does any sane person suppose that leading '' ' H 'ff Senators of the Republican party are standing by . ' ' H j t the Mormon church in the Smoot fight because 1 M1' they lilc0 it? Does anykody lmag,ne tnat they ' MIh w&i are condoning polygamy and defending the right ' -vf 9 of a man to live with a half-dozen or more wives m' because they approve of such practices? Not in S !') 1 a thousand years. They are doing it because I M i hey seo a political advantage to be gained by t ; Ji !'"''' assuming a friendly attitude toward the churun. vm. 'r Smoot and his associates, moreover, have : ;? jx !!,. found a new card to play. A contest is raging in ' ' 'm I-': tne RePul)1Ican Party over the presidential nom- ' ",.M U ination two years honco. They are leading each ' 18 of tl10 candI(lat0S and llis frIen(1s to believe that ' i ' f iflj; i 5 if Smoot is seated and the church "let alone" the :lm Hi votos of Utal1' Idall and WvominS will be cast i!ffB: for that particular candidate in the Republican I f j r ;$. 1 national convention. Presumably this explains J i I; M Secretary Taf t's visit to Idaho to pull the church KuljB $ ticket out of the hole; it may explain "Fire ' i )nm Alarm" Fornker's zeal in behalf of Smoot, and it ! 'll$m is possibly the reason why Vice President Fair- I JjK banks and the coterie of Senators who are com- H ; jj2 in it ted to his presidential aspirations are working J '!.,'' tooth and nail to keep the apostle in his Boat ; j jnj I ' ;. These are the frozen facts, and all the black- mm i : ''mm 1 type hysteria in Christendom will not change Hj t '.ln ''',' them. Men claiming to belong to the party of Bj ; . f I ;IW ''y.. Lincoln are not apologizing for the keeping ot mWt "' YmT seraglios in the twentieth century because they m $f believe that the Oriental style of living is a good ' jjjm l-i thing for the country. They are not so anxious M) t I'jH t ;;-. to keep an avowed apologist for polygamy, in nis ' i'1 'Wk' '' t sent as tneIr asfiodate that they would stultify l'wr. themselves and misrepresent the evidence ad- 1 4 i K Hi ducod against him merely out of their personal t l m, K admiration for him. The reason is deeper and E' "i T$ more potent and it is pretty apparent. ' i': B '.i1 ' r Tlle 1)111 to Dlace tlie flre and police depart-R: depart-R: 1 1 H H ' ments of Salt Lake City under the control of a Wm ' H" K ' t commission to bo appointed by the Governor has Hi ' ft m ' ' been drafted, and is reputed to be in the custody !K of State Chairman O. J. Salisbury, who, as mo , M '! ofllclal head, nominally, of the State organization, B ;f will father it. As is not unusual, the church has Hi : - ''1 f ' set apart a Gentile to father a particularly dirty mm J 'il 'K I 1 ol)' 11 18 8aid' tll0Ugll tliat ueforo tne hill ia Hi ' I If 8: ('' ' Introduced, or at least before any serious effort mm ' 'rl' ; 18 ma(le to Pass Chairman Salisbury 'will sub- mm '? mm ,:' m to a committoe f lawyers who will pass B J 1 S I upon Its constItutIonality' If this is done the bill H I ' ''I : K will never see the light of day, because lawyers H ' A ''MM i ' are PractIcally a unit in declaring it unconstitu- I i e 1'Bb " tIonal 1"! I ''-l ' ImBi't President Love of the State Senate is re- j ' nf 'i ported to favor the creation of a railroad com- i : ' j fLw mission, and Speaker Joseph is claimed to be 1 : tWn against it. If Mr. Love takes a stand 'ie is not !f 'iK'' HKoly to flinch; but, judging by Mr. Joseph's ! I ' i'Hlf rrender to the church in naming his commit- 1 ' lie w111 proi)ai)iy siiut aa iouci fr a raii" p&M83Bttifcii . road commission as anybody else if it Is revealed re-vealed to him as the will of the Lord that the commission bill should pass. The spectacle of a non-Mormon speaker of the House obeying the orders of the priesthood as abjectly ns a temple worker is shameful. |