Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 1 of 2)Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Religion
Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 1 of 2)
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Latter Day Saint churches
Not long since two men, who for many years had been tithe payers and
loyal members of the church, undertook to establish a salt garden
along the line of a trunk railway. One of them was a large dealer in
salt, and proposed to extend his trade by making the salt and reaching
territory prohibited to him by the church price of salt; the other was
the owner of the land upon which it was proposed to establish the salt
garden. These men formed a corporation, put in pumping stations and
flumes, and the corporation became indebted to one of the financial
institutions over which the church exercises considerable influence.
Then the president of the church sent for them. There is scarcely an
instance on record where a message of this kind failed of its purpose.
These men went to meet the prophet, seer, and revelator of God, as they
supposed, but he had laid aside his robes of sanctity for the moment
and he was a plain, unadorned, aggressive, if not an able, business
man. He first denounced them for interfering with a business which he
had made peculiarly his own; and, when they protested that they had no
intention to interfere with his trade, but were seeking new markets, he
declared in a voice of thunderous passion that if they did not cease
with their projected enterprise, he would crush them. They escaped from
his presence feeling like courtiers repulsed from the foot of a king's
throne, and then surveyed their enterprise. If they stopped, they would
lose all the money invested and their enterprise would possibly be sold
out to their creditors; if they went on and invested more money, the
president had the power, as he had threatened, to crush them. Not only
could he ruin their enterprise, but he could ostracize them socially
and could make of them marked and shunned men in the community where
they had always been respected.
Is there menace in this system? To me it seems like a great danger to
all the people who are now affected, and therefore of great danger to
the people of the United States, because the power of this monarchy
within the Republic is constantly extending. If it be an evil, every
apostle is in part responsible for this tyrannical course. He helped to
elect the president; he does the president's bidding, and shares in the
advantages of that tyranny.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account