| 586 visit now and again, and then give your readers the benefit of their opinions to the disparagement of the country in general, and our present government in particular. I do not indorse [endorse] the sentiments of such writers and deprecate such statements when they take the form of political bias. Personally I do not like to see the church paper used for the propagation of political animus. I love the church of Christ enough to enable me to sink myself politically, having no desire to see membership of the church wrecked upon the rock of current politics. Let every man exercise his rights of citizenship in that manner which he believes to be best calculated to benefit his country and most likely to enhance the interests of our God-given church, leaving others to do the same, without imputing stupidity or unworthy motives to any one. We want a non-political pulpit and a non-political press so far as present politics are concerned.
In regard to church work, Elder Dewsnup wrote as follows:
Retrospectively, we have great cause for thankfulness. The past year has been the most successful one we have heretofore experienced in connection with the Lord's work in the Manchester District, while prospectively we have commenced the year 1888 with higher anticipations of progressive work in behalf of the Master than we ever had before. Reports from every side are encouraging.
On January 8 Elder William Anderson, formerly one of the missionary force, and one of the early missionaries to Utah and the West, died in Oakland, California.
The Salt Lake Tribune of January 19 gave the following notice of the preaching of President Joseph Smith in Salt Lake City:
Joseph Smith, delivered an eloquent sermon Sunday evening, at the Josephite chapel, to a full house. He spoke guardedly, but to the point, and his arguments were full of force and power. The speaker cited numerous illustrations of divine displeasure with polygamy, both in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and made a strong argument from the fact that section three [Kirtland edition, section 101] of the Doctrine and Covenants was cut out of the editions used in Utah in 1876. This section is on marriage and began about as follows: "Because of a certain reproach against this people we declare that a man shall have one wife, and a woman but one husband except at death, when the survivor may marry again." Mr. Smith wanted to know why this section has been excised which had been in the book since 1835. Most of the congregation could have told him why, but they didn't respond. The organization of the Mormon church under monogamic auspices, and in monogamic States, and how the revelations plainly showed that God intended to build up the church
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