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Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1902-1919, October 18, 1902, Image 3

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GOODWIN'S WEEKLY. 3 '
If t H
IT WILL MEAN A STORM.
It is certainly true that if the dominant church
liero forces or permits the election of Reed Smoot
to the Senate it will make the devout Mormon peo
ple more heart-burnings than they have felt since
the Congress of the United States closed its doors
against B. H. Roberts. The claims of the Mor
mon creed will be fully aired by the press and peo
ple of this country with a discouraging result to
Mormons. The American people are strong par
tisans and wrangle without sunt over matters
political. At the same time they are very jealous
over the full sovereignty of the Republic and not
very patient toward those who give to it only a
half-hearted fealty. If Apostle Smoot goes to
Washington as Senator, his claim for a place there
will surely be questioned. He will be asked if it is
not true that his first allegiance is to the Mor
mon creed, if that 'creed has not a temporal as
well as a spiritual side and if the temporal part is
not founded on the claim that the president of the
creed is likewise the chief of a temporal govern
ment which claims the full fealty of its subjects?
He will be questioned touching the authority
which, in his estimation, is held by the head of his
church, and before they are through with him, the
apostle will be forced to admit that his first politi
cal fealty is to that head of his church. After
that, re believe the decision will be that no Mor
mon apostle is entitled to a place on that floor.
With that storm started it will be more and more
difficult for Mormon churchmen to obtain places,
even though backed by the votes of thousands of
willing subjects. It is liable to go further and
bring out a resolution that no Mormon can ever
hold the office of Senator, on the ground that their
fealty is not to the Government, but rather to an
other government which is Asiatic in all its meth
ods, the very opposite of the free Republic of the
United States. The church had better call Mr.
Smoot off.
The season thus far is very dry; there is a
good deal of dust, but did any one ever see wea
ther so perfect in which to work? When away
from the dust of the city is there any spot more
delightful and pleasant? The Autumn hush fills the
H world; the foliage is turning to crimson and gold;
H the migratory birds are gathering their broods
for their southern flight; the mornings and even
H ings are sharp and crisp, but ever the sun stops in
H its southern drift to give just the right tempera
H ture no place is lovelier.
H It typifies a perfect life going into the final
H calm, painlessly, uncomplainingly, and wrapped
H in the peace which ought to precede the long
sleep.
H The School Board has performed some beauti-
H ful work at the Wasatch school. Improvements
H that ought to have begun when the school closed
H in the spring, were really begun just before the
H school opened in the autumn; a new addition to
H the building. The heating apparatus is unavail-
H able and cannot be used until two large boilers
are received and set. The consequence is that
H the children go to school every morning and are
H then sent home. It is estimated that in about
thirty-five days from this date, the school will
be really opened. The situation is a great re
H Proaeh to the School Board, a great injustice to
H e pupils and is altogether a shame to the city.
I THE FORCICAL LOCAL CAMPAIGN.
H We can recall no other political campaign, not
one in the history of this Republic, like the
Present one in Utah. We weald think that ev
j ery self-respecting man who lus been making
beeches would return home and keep still until
H the programme is completed on election day. The
H cnvention of Republicans in Ogden showed with
H asolute plainness that the men voted for there
jyere as much "set aside" for that purpose as if
V lney had been called to go on a mission. It was
still more pronounced at the county convention
held in this city, except that here the church and
the Kearns 'political machine worked together in
absolute harmony, and made such a mingling as
was never before seen in Utah. After that what
use was there for any campaign? None what
ever, except to beguile the people into the belief
that they are really factors in the campaign; to
beguile them, for the moment, into a belief that
they are in truth American citizens. This does
not fool any Mormon, it ought not to fool any
Gentile. There is no Mormon with strength
enough to denounce the interference of the domi
nant church jn this State; that being so, what
self-respecting Gentile can go out and make
speeches as though he did not believe there was
either a combine or a church direction to the
people how they shall vote this year.
The truth is Utah is no more a free State than
it was, in the old days, a free Territory. In
those days the Mormons voted the People's ticket
without a scratch even as they were directed to
from Church headquarters. The same authority
is over them this year and the result would be
just as of old except that a solid vote would be
too much of a give away. The order, this year,
will be simply to secure a majority for the ticket
which the Church wants elected.
The situation is perfectly understood. It be
ing so, we cannot see how any Gentile can stul
tify himself by pretending not to know the fact.
The shame of the business is most deep. To
call this a free State, when it can be controlled
through the superstitious fears of a part of the
people and through a lust for spoils on the part
of others, is a most humiliating falsehood. The
Saints and their First Presidency are not alto
gether culpable, for the people were brought up
to obey, and the chiefs to rule; but the Gentiles
that toady to that dominant church power, what
language can properly describe them? Under it
all, how can men go out and discuss the princi
ples of the different parties, and make their ap
peals to the people to vote this or that ticket?
There can be but one excuse. If they make as
gallant a fight as they can and the result Is what
everybody expects it will be; that result will sup
ply the justification to protest against the result
and to appeal to the Congress of the United
States not to be imposed upon by men seeking
seats in that high Parliament and hailing from
Utah, for their commissions will have been given
them by an alien power, and when they take
their oath of office it will be but a lip fealty that
will go with the oath, their first allegiance being
to another temporal government which is build
ing itself up within the Government and upon the
soil of the United States.
TO LESSEN STRIKS.
Something that would be a great remedy for
strikes is not much thought about, though a
mighty object lesson was supplied to the people
of this country four years ago. There suddenly
came a call for volunteers to go out and uphold
the flag in the cause of human liberty. Every
discordant voice was hushed in a moment, while
a few days later the measured tread of the citi
zen soldiery, from every State, marching to a
common center, made the most impressive sound
that ever arose from the earth and echoed back
from the sky. The patriotism of the nation was
aroused and in the hearing of that call for sol
diers, men forgot the lesser trials that fretted
them.
It would not be much for those great eastern
corporations who employ hundreds of men, many
of them foreign born, and possessing only a limit
ed impression of what our free institutions mean
to the poor; it would not be much, we repeat, for
them to establish public halls in centers where
the operatives congregate, and every night and
every day have some gifted men familiar with the
languages spoken by the workingmen and women, 1 HE f "'
give brief illustrated lessons on the structure o , l
our Government in contrast with the other Gov- if j
ernments of the earth and close these lessons by b
brief lectures intended to impress the audiences. . ' '"H
that the strength of our system of Government 1 , 1 ' 1
lays in the patriotism and intelligence of the units r I, H
which make up the masses of the people, that the fM
blessings of the country are a trust which the peo- 1
pie must administer upon from day to day; that j. l pH
wise laws arc no safeguard unless made safe by h'
the intelligent public opinion of all the people; ' J j
that the ballot is the only protection that our 1 j ' H
country's institutions have unless an appeal is 1 '
made to the shotted gun and bayonet; that this g j "
mighty inheritance must be transmitted; that ev- , "JB
ery laboring man's vote counts for as much as 1 1 r j M
does that of Theodore Roosevelt or Grover Cleve- if 1 TtH
land; that the humblest man's opinion helps to IP. I ) jj
make up the opinion of the country; that the great , !1J
consensus of opinion is always right when it is the t$, 1 Sifl
honest and intelligent opinion of the people, and ti t ,V
that the highest thought of every American should I sr ' I 1 j
be worthy the Government of which he is a part lir f n ( H
and of the flag above him, which is the highest ic " t I
symbol of liberty and justice that ever was vouch- ra y! H
safed to mankind. 1m' $ H
The above is but an outline of what should litl i( gH
be. The effect of such an experiment would int'' ''' i M
soon be apparent in an advanced moral tone I I I''fiM
among the operatives; m a little time they would t ' $ I i?fl
be discussing what they had heard the night be- 1 i h4jM
fore, gradually the feeling would take possession 1 f 1Mi$M
of them that a sense of duty to do right was upon 1 j ai&ilJM
them, for their own and their children's sakes: 1 3 3 WU pM
that while their toil might be hard, still all the I iHllMM
country's opportunities were open to them and 1 HCjjfH
their children, and that in this land the only 1 H'' JliiH
limitation to what a free man can do in the way 1 ' L ivfflH
of advancement, is his want of courage to aspire 1 f, ' LhM
to great things, his want of persistence in follow- 1 LP &H
ing his courage. 1 ' ' j If Ifl
As it is, the owners of mines and manufac- III , 1H
tories live in great part away from where ther E Ji ' 5, jjjJH
capital is invested; the property is in the hands P I '. JH
of hired agents; neither the bodies nor the souls i f 'IgH
of the workingmen are looked after; the low sa- I fa, JH
loon is their only clubhouse; they feel that they I I N HI
are only held in the same estimation that the I 1 h t !H
machines which they operate are held in; what 1 f.UlojH
wonder if they listen to demagogues who tell 1 n' jfflH
them they are being oppressed, or to cunning men 1 i, fj l jfl
who, in their own ranks would keep up an agita- 1 1 jf , afl
tion forever, if thereby they could live without 1 it!)H
work? I ll'jjyiH
Utah is making a great mining record this Iw'IH
year. Park City is doing wonders, so is Tintic, I f i 'I'M
so is Bingham, so is Ophir, and the promise for I f ' IH
Beaver county in the near future is more filled I ' jj'fgfl
with hope than ever before. Next year this State 1 r j J 111
should in mining be like Abou Ben Adhem, it I B1 iiffffl
should "lead all the rest." This great central 1 ft I jl i!9
depot for the State, Salt Lake City, is feeling the I ! 'fH
thrill of the mining camp prosperity, for this 1 K, ' v 9H
is and always must be the great distributing cen- 1 mh '.H
ter for the mines of this central basin. Utah J m lM
ought to be exceedingly prosperous for many years ni''PI
to come, and in those years the State should take mx 'jfafflB
on a thousand new attractions and should be ft 1 FlH
fixed in an educational way on grounds so ad- w!' 'WM
vanced as to draw students from all the adjacent ( IW
States. The same is true as to her reputation as .1 fllffl
a sanitarium. One hundred thousand patients jLp.MM
should be drawn here annually just for the cli- : ! ffi JH
mate of the State, and this would come about if m ' IjfB
a syndicate of gentlemen would, in the right place m flM
build a sanitarium, with the full equipment which K ) fflM
such a place should command, included In which a'fHI
would be all the advantages of the lake and ifilifll
springs. Such a place would be a great addition liH
to this city and if planned on a scale commen- BIHI
surate with the place and its surroundings, it 3lRIH
would pay better that a great mine. If Salt BflBIH
Lake was directed by a spirit like that which has HHI
made Denver, without natural advantages, a vBBI
wonder, it would be the very Queen inland city B9H
of the continent. Blfl
jHBHh

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