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Show S50,000. Such is the tune to which the taxpayers tax-payers are to dance. .The music will be furnished by the purling waters of City Creek. It is a sweet song, and lias a pleasant sound as it falls upon the sleeping ear. "If music be the food of love, play on ; , Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting. The appetite may sicken, aud so die. That strain apaiu; it had a dying fall. O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south, That breathes jpon a bank of violets. Stealing, and giving odor." The taxpayers will have their surfeit Of this crystalline music that sounds upon the ' air. Halt Lake City must have water, and who can so well furnish the water as j the owners of the two hundred and twenty acres upon which are situated the " 'Old Saw Mill Water Power,' the 'Old Empire Em-pire Mill Water Power,' the '2sew Marble Works Water Power.' and the largo gravel beds formerly used by the city for grading purposes?" If anyone thinks that it is rather high to pay $50,000 for this same two hundred and twenty acres, let such pause and think what might have been. Many people think that the very bad is irood because the very bad misht have been much worse. On this theonT, let eve ry good and law-abiding citizen think what might have been. In place of $30,000 for two hundred and twenty acres of land upon which are situated the "Old Saw Mill Water Power," the "Old Empire Em-pire Mill Water Power," the "Xew Marble Mar-ble Works Water Power," and "the large gravel beds formerly worked by the city for street grading purposes," the price might have been $500,0000, and our gracious gra-cious city fathers, the guardians of our peace, the cleaners and beautifiers of our streets, our city fathers sans pear el sans rrjiroche, would have paid the price. It may be asked if the taxpayers did not elect the city fathers to be public servants, ser-vants, and we answer, yes. But the taxpayers tax-payers should remember that' Ye cannot serve two masters.'-' Whom shall our city fathers, those living examples of great and good men, serve, their temporal tempor-al or their spiritual masters? What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose heaven? Naught. Would any taxpayer be so hard-heated, so selfish, I so un-Chrislian as to deprive our city I fathers of their eternal salvation ? And that would be the case were they to refuse re-fuse to pay the price asked for his hundred hun-dred and twenty acres of land. What is $50,000 ? A mere nothing ; a sum somewhat some-what in excess of the city revenue derived from taxes for one year; that is all. At best it is but a small tribute paid by .each taxpayer for a little more than one year bseause we are all in the "hands of the Lord." Do any complain of this? If any such there be, let them remember that "the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." The seoffer, the unbeliever, the redeemed, re-deemed, and purhaps irredeemable, irredeem-able, may think that $50,00 is so great a price for this to be notorious notori-ous two hundred and twenty acres of land, together with the wonderful water privileges, that he will ask if there were no other method by which it could be obtained, if essential to the cit-, than by paying without question the price asked. Yes; the law provides away, which is for the city to go into court and ask for thu appointment of three appraisers apprais-ers to set a price ujutn the land, and havo it condemned. This is the proper course to pursue when there is a difference be-the be-the parties as to the price to be paid for land, and one of the parties lias the right of eminent domain. But upon reflection, re-flection, we are convinced that such a proceeding, considering who the parties are, the Mormon church on the one side and Salt Lake City on the other, would be a violation of that "inspired instrument" instru-ment" the Constitution. But to cease sarcasm and raillery, why do not the City Council treat the matter as it is, a matter of business and nothing else? If they have not the manhood and moral courage to deal honestly and fairly with the city funds, will they have the . manhood and moral courage to say that they dare not so act in the present case for fear of the anathemas of t heir church ? This parade, this play of independence on the part of our city officials, is far more sickening and revolting than their absolute slavery itself. Their independence independ-ence ! their manhood ! Bah ! they are but puppets in the hands of their ecclesiastic eccles-iastic masters. If they had the courage to say that they lielieve that tlieir church has a divine right to rule in iolitical mat ters, a divine right on account of itself and without regard to the individual members composing it, they would be entitled en-titled to respect ; but as it is they are entitled en-titled to nothing but contempt and loathing. loath-ing. Ix'tthe taxpayers of this city and the people of the common country understand un-derstand that tlie City Council give to the Mormon church at least $25,000 because the City Council of Salt Lake City are members of that church jnul dare not do their duty lest they will be "ostracised." |