Goodwin's Weekly.
.T" SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, AUGUST 16, 1902. No. 14. j!
C. C. GOODWIN, Editor.
j. T. GOODWIN, - - - - Manager.
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY.
Subscription Price ?0crr0rnths ( in Advance.
ddrcss all communications to Goodwin's Weekly,
P. O. Boxes 1074 and 1020,
if 320322 Dooly Block, - Salt Lake City, Utah.
LEST WE FORGET.
The day following the funeral ofkthe late W. S.
Godbe, the Deseret News, under the heading "Ma
licious Harangues," published as editorial, the fol
lowing: In these times, when the best people in this
State, of all parties and opinions, desire to unite
for the advancement of Utah, it is very regrettable
to see the old. malicious spirit of misrepresenta
tion still burning in some hearts, and dropping gall
and venom from some lips. It may be thought
wise to let such evil efforts pass without notice and
without rebuke. But even that quiet course is mL,
interpreted by beings thus imbued with strong de
sire, and silence is construed into acquiescence or
inability to deny the charges brought forth.
People who have come here in recent times
ought not to be deceived by ancient stories, newly
retold, to the effect that in the earlier years of its
settlement, Utah was dominated by an ecclesias
tical despotism under which liberty of speech was
suppressed, men's lives were in danger for dissent
ing from established views and customs, and os
tracism was the inevitable consequence of disput
ing the dicta of religious authority. The very per
sons who indulge in accusations of that kind are
living instances of their own falsehoods.
Any man who asserts that in past times there
was little or no patriotism in the hearts of the peo
ple; that it was not taught in the schools here;
that members of the church were cut off for ad
vocating the right tocarry on their own business
and were persecuted if they undertook to advocate
"what they believed to be right; that hate and en
mity pursued any advocate of liberty in thought
and deed; that his business was ruined; that storms
beat around such an advocate of freedom which re
quired a courage and valor to meet enough to
crown him as a martyr, may be indulging in flights
of fancy to let loose poetic sentences, but he Is
either ignorant of what he prates of, or is so men
dacious and vicious that he is unworthy of respect
or recognition among decent men and women.
There have been times whea the welfare of the
people here demanded the adoption of measurs, on
which thy agreed themselves, and when efforts to
defeat them by pretended friends caused them to
be regarded with anything but friendly eyes. There
have been schemes devised by persons within the
church to organize revolution against its order,
doctrine and discipline, and they have been, de
feated by the excommunication of the promoters,
after they were given opportunity to reform. But
no man has been denied the right here to advocate
Ws opinions, to carry on his business, to do any
M thing that is lawful and right in any peaceful
community.
"Mormonism" teaches the highest freedom com
patible with wholesome law. It doeff not plot
against the life or the liberty of any human being.
It promotes everything that tends to lift up and
unite mankind, and claims for its adherents no
more rights before the law and before the world
than it cheerfully accords to others, no matter
now much they may differ in faith.
To take advantage of any occurrence that opens
the way for freedom of speech, and prostitute it by
assailing a church and a people guiltless of wrong,
is simply Infamous and cannot be ignored without
toss of self-respect Such harangues ought not to
be held up for public belief, and it is time that all
such perversions of truth should be understood in
their true light, as ebullitions of deep-rooted spite,
and unworthy of credence by enlightened hu
manity. Of course, the foregoing was intended to be an
arraignment of what was said over the coffin of
Mr. Godbe. The purpose, no doubt, was to have the
article serve as future history for the Mormon
church, cumulative evidence, so to speak, of the
"ceaseless persecutions" which followed the intro
duction of the creed, and of the "heroic band" who
in those days were "defenders of the faith." It
must have been put out with the sanction of the
First Presidency, for the News is the church or
gan and between the time of the funeral and the
publication of the article there was ample time
for consideration. Again, there has been no re
traction of its infamous falsehoods. This places
the responsibility for the article, not upon the ed
itor of the News, but upon the chiefs who inspired
or permitted its publication.
So considering it, we first ask the Mormon peo
ple, those who are familiar with all that has been
going on here for the past thirty-flve years, what
they think of it? What of the lake where the fires
are not quenched and which is supposed to catch
and hold "all liars"? Or is It true that lies told
for the purpose of getting the best of Gentiles do
not count? In the articles of faith of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, where is the
justification found for that kind of work? And
what must be the natures of men who appeal in
long prayers to the Master and then go out to in
spire such articles as the above?
The thoueht behind what was said over the
dust of Mr. Godbe was that while there must be no
self-stultification and no stultification of Mr. God
be's memory, at the same time that there must be
no trace of injustice, that what was to be said must
be absolutely truthful and fair. "We believe that
the thought was carried out.
Now let us for a moment review the response
which it brought in the News.
The opening sentence is a dead give away.
When the News speaks of the desire at this time
to unite for the advancement of Utah, by indirec
tion it refers to a time when there was no such
desire. That much is true. There was a time and
it extended over two score years, when the dom
inant power here had no such desire except that
the advance could bo made under its dictation.
When it refers to the "old malicious spirit of
misrepresentation still burning in some hearts and
dropping gall and venom from some lips," its words
are utterly meaningless, unless they are intended
as a confession.
Now, when and by whom has there been "mis
representation?" In what spot in America save
Utah has a call for obedience to righteous laws
and for the disenthr aliment of an infatuated peo
ple been ascribed to personal "gall and venom?"
Its next reference to and denial of the early
despotism which ruled here needs a little more ex
tended notice.
"People who have come here in recent times"
can hardly comprehend the rule of thirty years ago
in Utah. They can read what the News says. Now
here is what was really done in the case of W. S.
Godbe, and there are still hundreds of living wit
nesses to confirm the truth of what we say: A lit
tle magazine was being published here about 1870. 'flffi
The men most directly interested were Mr. Henry j J S
Lawrence, the late Messrs. Godbe and Harrison. I I m$
They published an article advocating the opening 4 JH?
of mines and the right of the people to engage in I yWL
mining if they so desired. There was no question , jf w
of religious belief or of church tenets; it was slm- Y Wki
ply one of business. For this offense against the . ,,i Jjlj
despotic order of Brigham Young these men were ii , Jftj
summoned to appear before "The School of the l4w
Prophets" to show cause why they should not be f" 1 am'
disciplined. They were prosecuted before that as- K lvm
sembly before the late George Q. Cannon and the J" Jj
late Smith. The latter in his arraignment said if.,, em
that "these men" had advocated the opening of the il j 1 wM
mines, the bringing In here of all "hell and dam- iff! iSI
nation," and declared that their hearts were M ffll
blacker than perdition. tjffl
That "School of the Prophets," a body of Slav- 'i IjSI
ish churchmen, was so wrought up that a single 4 4 fill
word would have been enough to cause the murder W nil
of those three men right in that hall. , jffljfl
But they maintained their integrity and, liter- Jfcj ff ml
ally, in the very face of death, refused to recede SillrfH
from their position. For that they were excommu- IjijraM
nicated. Then the boycott began; people were jliJliU
warned not to trade with those men, and in the Iflal
case of Godbe, the day after the excommunication, n hI
a stock of drugs was purchased, a store opened to It'BBH
destroy his business and the boycott pressed with, Hliflfl
all the zeal of extreme fanaticism. With it were i '!
"the glances of hatred that stab and raise no cry 'llfflH
of murder," and those "robberies that leave men 1 j il'jM
and women forever beggared of peace and joy." p.1 jjjjaffl
As for the assertion that there was never any ji 1 gH
despotism here, never any abridgement of the lib- "X, HI
erty of speech, the best answer is found in the J I
skeletons that are so frequently unearthed in ex- , j SH
cavating cellars. No despotism? When men were Ut
assassinated singly and in companies, and when f? !
every member of the church organization was U'f flH
made to subscribe to horrible oaths of obedience to j.;H
their priests and of vengeance upon their enemies, 1'otH
those enemies the people bf the United States. fllMl
mm
Then as to patriotism. Let us see. The same liH
creature is editor of the News who was editor ? 'pfH
then. He has the files of his paper; he has access Kfbil
to the sermons and writings of those days. Will ,fl
he find and publish one single sentence from the flfl
lips or pen of any Mormon of those days which Jril
gives the merest hint of love for the Government rriSfl
of the United States? ftlM
The Constitution was often applauded because, ' gg
as construed by Saints in those days, it supplied H
full license to practice polygamy and they babbled ll'UfM
about the Constitution with no more conception or h dfll
its scope or bearings or commands, as the funda- ' (H
mental law of the Nation, than as though it had t sVilM
been written in the cabalistic characters adopted Ifttrafl
by ancient Rabbis and mediaeval Christians. ,ffiH
But one word of praise of the Government or its M j
officers is what we would like to see. Was it when IfJfl
the flag was trailed in the dust here? Was it when R 1181
Apostle Woodruff delivered the prayer at the dedl- ifjjIjH
cation of the St. George Temple? Was it when HiHI
dead cats were thrown into the houses of United bUHI
States Judges because they had insisted that the iilSH
laws should be obeyed? HH
Was it when, in contempt of the Government, 89B
the flag was half-masted on the Nation's birthday? BJSII
Up to the time when the manifesto was icaued, HircH