Show THE MORMON perplexity THE annexed article appears as an editorial in the st lou louis Is ua democrat Demo oraf of september the report of the utah commission for the past year resembles all preceding ones in the important respect that it urges the necessity of more stringent legislation to solve the mormon problem congress has been passing laws for that purpose from time to time for many years and still the perplexity remains mormonism seems seema to be practically just J as strong as it ever was the successive blows inflicted upon it have done it some harm doubtless but in each instance it has recovered and gone on growing there are more mormons cormons in utah now than ever and they keep coming coining from different quarters principally beyond the atlantic the same as it if nothing had bad been done by the government to aup suppress press the monstrous iniquity which has so long made utah a national reproach the mormon church maintains its absolute power over is members both spiritually and temporally the edicts of the priesthood are implicitly obeyed and there are no signs of that thac revolt against i ast ecclesiastical tyranny myrann which laba has 1 so often been predicts predicted after all the penalties t that hat have been provided for those who indulge in a plurality of wives the commission declarer that polygamy continues to be practiced and the opi opinion nion is added curiously enough that the only real hope of abating the evil lies in the possible renunciation of the doctrine as a part of the mormon creed it is astonishing to say the least that no way can be fount found io to deal effectively with this great wrong the power of the government is practically unlimited in the case and public sentiment is decidedly inimical to mormon interests of every kind this implies that the task should be an easy one but some how it is not some of the legislation upon the subject has been very drastic and the courts have enforced it with reasonable rigor and yet the much desired consummation does not come to pass there is something lacking somewhere it is easy to understand but it is not so easy to say what or where the trouble is most likely however the chief mistake has been in not directly and thoroughly taking away the occupation of the priesthood the leaders of the church are its chief strength they rule as so many autocrats acknowledging no sense of duty except abe their r own inclinations and lecog mizing no law except those which they personally make or di dictate clate the mormon marmon problem will never be solved it is safe to say so long as they are permitted to exercise such sway over their followers they are men of extraordinary tra ability in their way thoroughly acquainted with the weaknesses of human nature and quick to seize every advantage that may he be presented if these adroit and unscrupulous individuals could be deprived of their power for mischief the whole matter would soon adjust itself in a sound and wholesome manner they are the principal pal stumbling blocks ind and no legislation can prove satiR satisfactory factory that leaves them in possession of such authority as they now have how to dislodge them is a difficult question but it is nevertheless the vital question and congress can not afford to evade or postpone it these remarks were prompted by the dispatches which have been sent from this city giving garbled extracts from the report of the utah commission for 1893 the urging of more legislation to solve the mormon N problem is the annual effort of that body in the interest of the liberal I faction in this territory its object is to deprive that part of the mormon people who have not broken the law of every political right and privilege this is what they mean by solving the mormon problem abe globe Demo democrat oral in common with the greater part of the american press evidently regards polygamy as mormonism 11 1 and mormonism as polygamy the utah commission know better than that they understand that all the legislation necessary and a great deal handle the polygamy question has been enacted and further that the doctrine of plural marriage even when it was openly advocated and but one out of a very large number of tenets that made up the creed of mormonism 12 also that plural marriage apart the re ligion of the latter day saints is as much above the reach of law as the religion of any body of worshipers in the land does the globe lobe democrat seriously claim that congress has of right any authority or power to interfere with such a religion if not why should accessions to the mormon church trouble the editors of that paper or anybody else or do they mean to say that the practically unlimited power of the government extends to the regulation of religious belief they may answer that all they mean by that power is the authority to suppress practices that are declared to be criminal if that is the case we unhesitating unhesitatingly 9 ay affirm that laws to that effect are in force I 1 in a utah more potently and eW effectually actually than in any other part of the united states moreover there have been less convictions for polygamy for two or three years past than there have been for bigamy in other parts of this great and moral country the records of courts will demonstrate the truth of this statement if it be urged that the report of the utah commission alleges to the contrary we answer we do not believe it the con couter of filse false dispatches in this city may have stated that the commissioners have so declared but that is another aloer thing we are of the opinion that the report when published will disprove his assertion but whether they have stated or not that eighty or forty or twenty polygamous marriages have been solemnized in utah during the last few months or the last year that is something that neither they nor any other body or person can prove and it has been made with malicious intent that is to injure the law obeying Mor mormon mow people and deceive the american press and public the statement that the leaders of the church rule as so many autocrats and that they recognize no law except those which they personally make or dictate is grossly untrue and absurd and can only be excused by the evident ignorance of the writer such a rule if it existed would be the very antipodes of mormonism it would be destructive of the system the edicts of the priesthood have no existence P except in the imagination of persons who are too prejudiced to look into the facts and the mormon 11 leaders are today more strictly observant of every law of the land than ninety nine hundredths hund redtha of their accusers that oft predicted I 1 revolt against ecclesiastical tyranny of which there are no signs has never come because there is no such tyranny to revolt from all things in ia the mormon church are and must be done by common consent the priesthood is composed of nearly all the adult male members women as well as men vote on all church questions and officers and the occupation of the priesthood is beyond the legitimate reach of any secular power of course in the attempt to solve the mormon perplexity there is 61 something lacking and there always will be what is it it ha 19 a failure to get at the truth lea its opponents are figuring and thrusting and plunging in tile the dark they do not know what they are fight ing it is not these formidable leaders that stand in the way as supposed if the vindictive beings who desire their extinction could kill every one of these leaders or immure them for life in dungeon dunge the perplexity would remain and the problem would remain unsolved the rho abatement of the evil the globe democrat says in the opinion of the commission depends upon the renunciation of a certain part of the mormon creed and does any one who is sane believe that ern can be accomplished by more stringent adgent leg legislation isolation 11 does not the globe democrat understand that drastic laws against a belief are more likely to confirm than destroy that belief and if the beliet belief of the latter day saints is the real root of the trouble why not try to reach it by reason instead of seeking to crush it out by forell force we submit for the consideration of the reflecting that a more rational and christian method of combating mormonism would be firotto first to find out what it is and to overcome the power of its chood to ascertain in what it consists then instead of misrepresenting and abusing and maltreating mal treating the mormons cormons Mor mons 11 sho show W them a more excellent way 23 they area good honest industrious 1 I temperate and cheerful people able to comprehend an argument and highly appreciative of kindness they have convictions which are personal and for these they have suffered much they will nevi r be coerced into renunciation of their belief and while falsehood and force continue to be the means employed tile the mormon 1 1 perplexity will remain to vex sectarians sect arians and puzzle politicians |