---
title: Improvement Era
description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930.
authors:
  - Smith, Joseph F.
collections:
  - periodicals
tags:
  - magazine
  - improvement-era
periodical: Improvement Era
volume: 7
number: 5
published: 1904-03
publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
publisher_place: Salt Lake City
language: en
type: magazine
reference: 'Joseph F. Smith, "Editor’s Table—A Senseless Campaign," *Improvement Era* 7, no. 5 (March 1904): 382–384.'
source:
  url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0705unse
  transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers.
  identifier: improvementera0705unse
start_page: 382
end_page: 384
rights:
  status: public-domain
  basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1904-03)
  source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0705unse
  publication_year: 1904
  note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1904, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright.
---

# Editor’s Table—A Senseless Campaign

<!-- page:382 -->

EDITOR'S   
        TABLE.
A 
        SENSELESS 
        CAMPAIGN-
Just 
        now 
        there 
        seems 
        to 
        be 
        a 
        general, 
        united 
        uprising 
        of 
        the
religious 
        denominations 
        against 
        the 
        Latter-day 
        Saints. 
        The 
        excuse
for 
        the 
        turmoil 
        is 
        the 
        election 
        of 
        Hon. 
        Reed 
        Smoot 
        to 
        the 
        Senate
of 
        the 
        United 
        States,
        —
        not 
        by 
        the 
        Church 
        of 
        Jesus 
        Christ 
        of 
        Latter-
day 
        Saints, 
        but 
        by 
        the 
        Legislature 
        and 
        people 
        of 
        the 
        sovereign
state 
        of 
        Utah. 
        Every 
        woman's 
        organization 
        in 
        the 
        country 
        is 
        up
in 
        arms; 
        churches 
        and 
        religious 
        societies 
        are 
        all 
        vigorously 
        united
in 
        a 
        crusade 
        against 
        the 
        Church 
        of 
        Christ. 
        Petitions 
        have 
        come
from 
        all 
        parts 
        of 
        the 
        country 
        to 
        overwhelm 
        the 
        Senate, 
        asking 
        for
the 
        expulsion 
        of 
        Senator 
        Smoot 
        from 
        that 
        body. 
        The 
        whole 
        cam-
paign is 
        generaled 
        by 
        a 
        coterie 
        of 
        ministers. 
        Back 
        of 
        the 
        agi-
tators, hiding 
        behind 
        them, 
        stand 
        these 
        "shepherds 
        of 
        the 
        flocks,"
dabbling 
        in 
        dirty 
        politics 
        in 
        the 
        name 
        of 
        purity, 
        with 
        all 
        their 
        might
and 
        strength.
Is 
        the 
        campaign 
        justified? 
        The 
        charges 
        against 
        Mr. 
        Smoot 
        are
that 
        he 
        is 
        a 
        polygamist, 
        and 
        especially 
        that 
        he 
        is 
        an 
        active 
        officer 
        in
the 
        church 
        to 
        which 
        he 
        belongs, 
        and 
        to 
        which 
        it 
        is 
        alleged 
        he 
        acknowl-
edges allegiance 
        superior 
        to 
        that 
        which 
        he 
        owes 
        to 
        the 
        United 
        States
government. 
        The 
        first 
        charge 
        is 
        generally 
        conceded 
        to 
        be 
        false,
even 
        by 
        the 
        misled 
        petitioners 
        and 
        their 
        agitating 
        ministerial
generals. 
        The 
        only 
        charge, 
        then, 
        is 
        that 
        he 
        is 
        a 
        "Mormon," 
        and,
being 
        so, 
        the 
        question 
        is, 
        whether 
        he 
        is 
        prohibited 
        from 
        holding
office 
        under 
        the 
        government; 
        whether 
        belief 
        in 
        his 
        religion 
        is
irreconcilable 
        with 
        American 
        citizenship; 
        whether 
        he 
        owes 
        his
church 
        an 
        allegiance 
        which 
        is 
        in 
        conflict 
        with 
        his 
        allegiance 
        to 
        the
government 
        of 
        our 
        country.

<!-- page:383 -->

EDITORS 
        TABLE. 
        333
Happily 
        in 
        this 
        country 
        there 
        is 
        religious 
        freedom, 
        and 
        it 
        is
well 
        that 
        it 
        should 
        be 
        so, 
        otherwise 
        toleration 
        would 
        die; 
        hence,
that 
        Senator 
        Smoot 
        is 
        a 
        Latter-day 
        Saint 
        is 
        no 
        disqualification.
His 
        religious 
        belief 
        is 
        no 
        more 
        the 
        business 
        of 
        the 
        Senate 
        or 
        the
American 
        people, 
        or 
        the 
        ministers 
        and 
        their 
        adherents, 
        than 
        is 
        the
religious 
        belief 
        of 
        Senators 
        Dubois, 
        McComas, 
        Depew,  
        or 
        Hoar.
Personally, 
        he 
        is 
        a 
        good, 
        conscientious, 
        able, 
        temperate 
        man,
quite 
        the 
        peer 
        of 
        the 
        petitioners 
        and 
        their 
        generals 
        in 
        moral
purity 
        and 
        social 
        standing: 
        hence 
        this 
        does 
        not 
        stand 
        in 
        his 
        way. 
        His
religion 
        and 
        personality, 
        under 
        these 
        conditions, 
        cannot 
        act 
        as 
        a
bar. 
        He 
        is 
        a 
        law-abiding 
        citizen 
        of 
        the 
        United 
        States, 
        and 
        of 
        the
state 
        in 
        which 
        he 
        was 
        elected
        —
        truthful, 
        moral, 
        upright, 
        with 
        no
tarnish 
        on 
        his 
        name. 
        He 
        was 
        elected 
        in 
        the 
        proper 
        way 
        to 
        his
honored 
        position, 
        and 
        there 
        was 
        not 
        the 
        least 
        shadow 
        of 
        doubt 
        or
suspicion 
        cast 
        on 
        the 
        method 
        of 
        his 
        election. 
        There 
        was 
        no 
        money
or 
        other 
        undue 
        influence 
        used, 
        and 
        no 
        person 
        can 
        truthfully 
        accuse
him 
        or 
        the 
        legislature 
        which 
        elected 
        him, 
        of 
        any 
        fraud 
        or 
        irregu-
larity. His 
        was 
        among 
        the 
        cleanest 
        elections, 
        if 
        not 
        the 
        cleanest 
        elec-
tion, in 
        the 
        whole 
        country, 
        held 
        to 
        elect 
        men 
        to 
        the 
        exalted 
        office
of 
        Senator 
        of 
        the 
        United 
        States. 
        His 
        religion 
        teaches 
        loyalty 
        to
God, 
        to 
        government, 
        and 
        all 
        those 
        virtues 
        which 
        go 
        to 
        make 
        up
the 
        personality 
        of 
        the 
        senator, 
        a 
        belief 
        in 
        which 
        is 
        surely 
        not
irreconcilable 
        with 
        true 
        American 
        citizenship.
All 
        churches 
        claim 
        to 
        be 
        divinely 
        appointed, 
        and 
        place 
        God
above 
        country, 
        and 
        any 
        man 
        who 
        renders 
        true 
        homage 
        to 
        God,
cannot 
        break 
        the 
        law, 
        for 
        he 
        lives 
        above 
        it. 
        No 
        man 
        can 
        be 
        a 
        good
Latter-day 
        Saint 
        and 
        not 
        be 
        true 
        to 
        the 
        best 
        interests 
        and 
        general
welfare 
        of 
        his 
        country. 
        After 
        all 
        these 
        years, 
        it 
        is 
        folly 
        to 
        say
that 
        the 
        Church 
        is 
        antagonistic 
        to 
        the 
        national 
        government.
The 
        part 
        which 
        our 
        people 
        took 
        in 
        the 
        Mexican 
        and 
        Spanish-
American 
        wars 
        should 
        be 
        enough 
        to 
        eternally 
        brand 
        such 
        statement
false. 
        The 
        allegiance 
        claimed 
        from 
        its 
        members 
        by 
        the 
        Church
does 
        not 
        prevent 
        a 
        member 
        from 
        being 
        a 
        loyal 
        citizen 
        of 
        the 
        na-
tion. It 
        rather 
        aids 
        him; 
        fidelity 
        to 
        the 
        Church 
        enables 
        a 
        man
better 
        to 
        entertain 
        patriotic 
        allegiance 
        to 
        his 
        nation 
        and 
        country.
There 
        is 
        nothing 
        required 
        of 
        a 
        Latter-day 
        Saint 
        that 
        can 
        in 
        any
way 
        be 
        construed 
        to 
        militate 
        against 
        loyalty 
        to 
        the 
        nation, 
        and
for 
        that 
        reason 
        Senator 
        Smoot 
        is 
        under 
        no 
        obligations 
        to 
        the 
        Church

<!-- page:384 -->

384 
        IMPROVEMENT 
        ERA.
that 
        can 
        come 
        in 
        conflict 
        with 
        his 
        fealty 
        to 
        country.    
        It 
        is 
        plain
that 
        the 
        campaign 
        of 
        the 
        ministers 
        is 
        unjustified.
Why, 
        then, 
        do 
        they 
        carry 
        it 
        on? 
        It 
        is 
        to 
        fight 
        the 
        Church 
        to
which 
        Senator 
        Smoot 
        belongs, 
        over 
        his 
        head. 
        The 
        fact 
        that 
        he
holds 
        the 
        priesthood 
        is 
        gall 
        and 
        wormwood 
        to 
        them. 
        They 
        fight
him 
        to 
        get 
        an 
        opportunity 
        to 
        oppose 
        the 
        .work 
        of 
        the 
        Lord. 
        And 
        they
antagonize 
        the 
        Saints 
        because 
        they 
        believe 
        in 
        revelation, 
        and 
        choose
to 
        worship 
        God 
        in 
        the 
        way 
        that 
        Christ 
        commanded 
        when 
        he 
        estab-
lished the 
        Church 
        upon 
        the 
        earth; 
        and 
        for 
        the 
        further 
        reason 
        that
the 
        Saints 
        refuse 
        to 
        acknowledge 
        these 
        priests 
        as 
        spiritual 
        leaders.
For 
        these 
        reasons 
        they 
        combine 
        together 
        and 
        seek 
        to 
        place 
        the
Latter-day 
        Saints 
        under 
        a 
        political 
        ban. 
        They 
        are 
        unjustified. 
        The
Church 
        is 
        not 
        in 
        politics. 
        It 
        did 
        not 
        elect 
        Senator 
        Smoot. 
        Its
mission 
        is 
        to 
        preach 
        the 
        gospel 
        of 
        Christ; 
        to 
        help 
        the 
        needy;
to 
        do 
        good 
        to 
        all 
        men
        —
        not 
        to 
        control 
        politics. 
        The 
        Latter-
day 
        Saints 
        entertain 
        individual 
        views 
        as 
        to 
        politics, 
        to 
        which
they 
        have 
        a 
        right; 
        and 
        are 
        entitled 
        to 
        them 
        as 
        much 
        as 
        the 
        peti-
tioners are 
        to 
        theirs. 
        The 
        Saints 
        do 
        not 
        vote 
        as 
        one 
        party, 
        and 
        do
not 
        even 
        combine 
        politically 
        to 
        fight 
        their 
        enemies,
        —
        a 
        course 
        which
the 
        ministers 
        and 
        their 
        congregations 
        have 
        not 
        only 
        recently 
        pur-
sued in 
        Utah, 
        but 
        which 
        they 
        are 
        now 
        pursuing 
        in 
        seeking 
        to 
        stir
up 
        political 
        frenzy 
        in 
        Congress 
        and 
        the 
        nation, 
        by 
        accusing 
        the
Saints 
        of 
        disloyalty, 
        treachery, 
        and 
        all 
        manner 
        of 
        unworthiness,
when 
        the 
        facts 
        are 
        that 
        their 
        history 
        proves 
        them 
        to 
        have 
        been
loyal, 
        honest 
        and 
        worthy, 
        in 
        every 
        test 
        to 
        which 
        they 
        have 
        been
subjected.
Furthermore, 
        it 
        is 
        a 
        ridiculous 
        farce 
        to 
        ask 
        Congress 
        to 
        in-
vestigate and 
        report 
        upon 
        the 
        moral 
        condition 
        of 
        a 
        church, 
        in 
        order
to 
        determine 
        whether 
        a 
        United 
        States 
        Senator, 
        against 
        whom 
        no
wrong 
        can 
        be 
        found, 
        and 
        who 
        was 
        regularly 
        elected, 
        is 
        entitled 
        to
his 
        seat 
        in 
        the 
        Senate. 
        If 
        the 
        laws 
        are 
        broken 
        by 
        individuals 
        of
the 
        Church, 
        such 
        individuals 
        are 
        amenable 
        to 
        the 
        laws; 
        but 
        what
bearing 
        their 
        shortcomings 
        may 
        have 
        upon 
        the 
        seating 
        of 
        a 
        senator
from 
        the 
        state 
        in 
        which 
        they 
        live, 
        only 
        the 
        enemies 
        of 
        the 
        Church
appear 
        to 
        comprehend. 
        Justice 
        and 
        common 
        sense 
        can 
        see 
        no
related 
        connection.
It 
        is 
        a 
        dangerous 
        precedent 
        which 
        the 
        agitators 
        are 
        seeking
to 
        establish.    
        If 
        the 
        Latter-day 
        Saints 
        are 
        proscribed 
        today, 
        what