Conditions in Utah - Speech of Hon. Thomas Kearns of Utah, in the Senate of the United States by Thomas Kearns
page 31 of 32 (96%)
page 31 of 32 (96%)
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deplorable. I believe that they would loosen the chains which they wear
if it were possible. I think that many of them pay blood-money tithes simply to avoid social ostracism and business destruction. I believe that many of them do the political will of the church monarch because they are led to believe that the safety of the church monarchy is necessary in order that the mass may preserve the right to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience. The church monopoly, by its various agencies, is usually able to uprear the injured and innocent mass of the Mormon people as a barrier to protect the members of that monarchy from public vengeance. It is the duty of this great body--the Senate of the United States--to serve notice on this church monarch and his apostles that they must live within the law; that the nation is supreme; that the institutions of this country must prevail throughout the land; and that the compact upon which statehood was granted must be preserved inviolate. May heaven grant that this may be effective and that the church monarchy in Utah may be taught that it must relinquish its grasp. I would not, for my life, that injury should come to the innocent mass of the people of Utah; I would not that any right of theirs should be lost, but that the right of all should be preserved to all. If the Senate will apply this remedy and the alien monarchy still proves defiant, it will be for others than myself to suggest a course of action consistent with the dignity of the country. In the meantime we of Utah who have no sympathy with the now clearly defined purpose of this church monopoly will wage our battle for |
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