Show ahn STANDARD AND THE MORMONS we are advised that some of our gentile friends in speaking to other gentiles and referring to the standard and the polygamy question make effort to apologize for us by saying that the preponderance of mormon support given tho standard makes it necessary tor the to have pronounced anti tribune editorials we egret that any person and especially a friend of ours stoops to make such an excuse for us if we cannot be given credit for justice honor and right in taking the stand we do then ws prefer to remain unexcused several times we have heard it mentioned that our great preponderance of mormon advertisers caused the standard to take the church side of the tribune fight we want to point out that first the standard has no great preponderance of mormon advertisers and neither does it take the church side of the tribune fight by inspecting any issue of the standard it will readily be seen that the great majority of the advertisers are gentiles we have before us the daily standard of dec 1899 and we find in that issue the advertisements of different advertisers of which 80 are gentiles and 31 cormons mormons with several advertisements in which the firms are composed of part ons and part gentiles which are not counted this shows that the reverse is truer that about three fourths of our ad erasers arc gentiles and a little 0 er one fourth are cormons mormons Mor mons in figuring up the matter in dollars and cents we find that almost 70 per cent of our money for advertising comes from the gentile advertisers As a matter of fact were it not for the cash we receive each month from the foreign and eastern advertising we would be forced to close our doors on short notice and all of that money comes aiom gentiles this and any issue of the standard will plainly show that no preponderance of mormon advertising has a bearing on our actions to further show the utter ness of the matter we will ask our readers to inspect the name of each mormon advertiser now in the standard and then ask this question Is there one mormon advertiser in the standard who would pull his advertisement out of the paper it the standard changed its opinion and endorsed the stand of the tribunes Tribune 9 can you name one we know that every mormon advertiser in the standard runs his advertisement ti for the good it does him and not as a matter 0 charity it is a business proposition that causes advertisements ti to be put in the standard and it it is not profitable to the ad he discontinues it now as for the standard taking the hurch side of the roberts tribune ight we deny that also the church side of the roberts tribune fight is 0 pay no attention to the matter president snow says the church is out f politics and ho permits mr rob its and the tribune to fight their own rattles without the churan taking either side tho standard gives its opinion on ill subjects as its editor sees the right and we care not whether our public impressions favor gentilee Gen tiler mormon we are establishing a record for the standard on which its future must iland tho paper in the future will lave the for its foundation an d n that foundation the standard ex K acts to prosper it is therefore sm that we be eminently juat and air to all the standard claims that the gentiles 0 utah should permit the old polygamous mormon fa miliea to continue to live in polygamy until death parts them we further claim no new polygamous marriages have been performed by of the mormon church since lorenzo snow became president of the church why should any charge be made that tear of mormon patronage caused the standard to maintain that no polygamous marriages have been performed when it Is a known fact that we have tor the pi bof of such a marriage since statehood in the christmas number of the desert news president lorenzo snow has a signed article in which the venerable president says 1 I do most solemnly testify that during my administration ns president of the church no such marriages have been contracted neither to my knowledge have any buch marriages been contracted since the manifesto was issued by president tard woodruff to show our sincerity in our belief and faith in the honesty of the president of the mormon church we hereby agree to indorse the tribunes egand in its light on the church on presentation of the proof that the words of lorenzo snow a above quoted are untrue in addition to that wo will pay a reward of to the first man who presents the picot that a plural marriage hs been performed by authority of the mormon church since lomenzo snow became its president until better proof is presented than the mere publication of charges in the salt lake tribune we shall continue to believe and assert that the mormon church Is honest and sincere in its effort to discontinue the practice of polygamy we further believe that every gentile should give tho church the benefit of all reasonable doubt on this matter until the proof to the contrary Is perfect and complete it is easy to charge but another proposition entirely to prove the charge true now it there are any who still be birve the standard is wrong in its opinion in this matter to those we say present your and take our we will gladly pay that amount to know that we arc wrong it is worth to to know that the church leaders in utah are false to their solemn pledges it they are false to such pledges |