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Show What Bishop Sharp's Action Means. The action of John Sharp, Union Pacific Paci-fic Director and Mormon Bishop, in publicly abandoning polygamy will cause a great sensation among the saints. Sharp, yesterday, in Salt Lake, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with unlawful unlaw-ful cohabitation. He announced - that hereafter he would obey the Edmunds law, and counsel others to obey it. Judge Zane imposed a fine of J300V but inflicted no sentence of imprisonment, remarking that the reformed bishop's example would have more effect than would lite "confinement "confine-ment in jail. Sharp is a man of wealth and influence, and his submission is significant of the probable course of the whole church in the near future. In conversation con-versation with a Gentile friend some months ago, Sharp stated the situation thus: "We must do one of three things submit to the law, leave the territory or go to war with the United States Government. We have too great a stake in Utah to abandon it ; we can't fight fifty-five milions of people, so I see nothing before us but submission. submis-sion. Something must give " way J under the present strain, and It I will be the Mormon Church's resolution reso-lution to stand by the doctrine of poly- J gamy." The defection of Sharp meaus j to the Mormons very much what the conversion con-version of Thurman or Bayard to Repub- I lieanisrn, or of Shernian and Edmunds to Democracy, would mean in politics. San Francisco lJo$t. |