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Show M COSMOPOLITAN ABSURDITIES.' M The Cosmopolitan magazine, in its last issue, has an article on H Mormonism by Alfred Henry Lewis. The author has gained a name B as a writer of magazine stories, but, studying the man's work at M close range, we must confess he is a sensationalist, either easily im- M posed, on or readily accepting anything as fact if the elements of M the sensational are present. H Mr. Lewis reaches the climax of his story on the Mormons by M charging that the Mormon church owns control of the Oregon Short M Line and Union Pacific railroads and has wealth greater than a H Rockefeller. The evident purpose of this wild declaration is to con- M vince the American people that Mormonism, something more than H a localized problem, menaces the very safety of the nation because H of its tremendous financial power and influence. 1 The story, to the people of this region, is one of absurdities, H , over-drawn statements with half-truths and base fabrications, inter- M. woven with the truth itself. H The article has given us an insight as to the character of some Hj of the magazine writers of nation-wide fame. If they are all of H the calibre of Alfred Henry Lewis, the country would be better off Hj without their contributions to current literature. Lewis is a H wielder of words without regard to truth and is in need of a school- 1 ing in the common rules of fairness and honesty. |