| Show I JPOLYGALYINiA11 I I The Clear Views of a Newspaper News-paper Correspondent tf r Ii A POLYGAMY IS SOT THE ISSUE The Struggle ofa Small Minority to train Control or the AflTnirt of the Territory PMO Utah May 11Special A stranger who desires to make an impartial im-partial study of the Utah question is beset y many difficulties The moment mo-ment it is known that he is a professional profes-sional observer he is seized upon by persons who have axes to grind and are determined he shall help turn the crank Some of these volunteer molders mold-ers of sentiment are Federal officials others are antiMormons in speculative business a few are member of the chuich and of what they are pleased to call liberal views Every species of radical opinion is crammed down the throat of the investigator He is treated to little genuine Mormon sentiment senti-ment The leaders of the church while not holding back a free expression of their views and being courteously attentive at-tentive to the professional inquirer do not invite discussion and do not seek to Influence his mind They seem to thInk their works speak for themselves and are content to let them tell the jStqry of what the church is and mav Become if left to follow out its destiny nnhatnpered by stringent laws and un puolested by the enemies who abhor its doctrines and condemn some ef its oraptices The Gentiles on the other hand are POSITIVELY INDIECEEET in their efforts tp impress visitors with the iniquities of the church system They begin by the assertion that it will take long season of experience to arrive ar-rive at a correct estimate Mormon wickedness When the stranger alludes to the orderly aspect of the towns and settlements to the absence ofpolice men on the streets to the evident thrift and industry of he citizens the common com-mon observance of customs which are esteemed virtues in other sections he is met with tee remark that these are only surface qualities and that underneath under-neath are currents of deviltry and fiendish fiend-ish cunning which strikes horror to the hearts of rightthinking men They talk glibly about murder and assassination assassin-ation they tell terrible stories of abominable crimes committed in the name of religion the corruption of the I tithing system is laid out in startling detail and anyone unacquainted with theaffairs of life as witnessed in various vari-ous parts of the world becomes first amazed and then partially terrified at the pictured enormities of these peculiar pecu-liar people One has to get away from Salt Lake City with its many sources of misin formation to obtain a fair view of this troublesome Utah question Outin the settlements several of which I have visited during the past few weeks there is nothing on toe surface which in dicates discomfort or i GRINDING OPPEESSIO > 9 > y THE PEOPLE I Mormons or Gentiles + e The town from which I write occupies almost as fine a site as Salt Lake City It is surround ed by mountains whose peaks are snowcapped all they ear round At thismomentthe peaks north and east are covered with a white mantle glistening glist-ening merrily in the rays of the southern south-ern snow Tiny rivulets entrapped in the mountains and utilized by those villainous Mormons course either side of each broad street and by means of side ditches 1 irrigate the lovely orchards by which the numerous cheerfulres dences are surrounded There is no hum of industry A flourishincjroolen factory gives employment to a HBdred hands but the main populationJjFhlch numbers about five thousand is devoted = de-voted to agricultural pursuits Life seems to pass quietly and pleasantly with the inhabitants Tat plaeejtjjbt lighted as yet but no sumo of pub rages or crime is heard Ahearfj spiritl of honesty and hospitality prevails The old word neighbor has itS rJgin al significance Young sfelks meet nightly at different houses das old time dances sing homey ongs acid play on oldfashioned iristrajneats The guitar and jeshaf1J and month organ arfiirjvogue at present and to listen to a gore of those + XOIUIOM LADS AND LASsES born most orfthemof rents r-ents and nurtured in iniquitous system playing those initrnments in concert on a calm spring Venin lB by no means a disagreeable diversion a town where the pleasures are homelike and the desires apparentlysimple and soothing y I came to this secluded spot to study the peculiar features of Mormtefeei which one is told be loses sightof in the capital I may have bn unfortunate unfortun-ate in the selection of a temporary abiding place atany rate I have Jo and no evidenceof that wickedness wicked-ness which I was told could be unearthed unearth-ed by diligent observation The people are thrifty and contented Almost every man of ordinary activity and I capacity own his little homestead with a patch of land attached Strangers are greeted kindly and talked with free ly Thfc < < first tnaa I met in Ttah was i native of Paisley Scotland He was not inquisitive as to my business and answered all mv questions courteously and I believe Aonestly Said her I wadna gang back to the oald country for quires an quires of greenbacks Its wane thirty sears aia I camhere and td ihev never nad ane SOURCE JUGRJT Dee r belongtothe drk U MonIwad1 I na be wiout its consolation and saving grace for warlds WrangIsjt 7 I guess your out of kilter thou It means the greatest guid to the greatest number and I ken na better statesmanship than that The kirk has beep my guide and stepplngstanfc tomohv years o1 warld ly l prosperity and I nivir shirked my tithing either It has been the makin of mony a puir fellow and if th gniil Lord cTntinuesHis guidance it will SVc and mak mony madHoo moaywiva tiae I7 Get ootimohlye manna be tae 1 U J h 0 r j brash Ive got a guilouc andllm thinking Fm no tired of th auld dame yet Quid morning moa i maybe yare a marshal mon t Quid day There seems to be wholesome dread of deputy depu-ty marshals hereabouts and no Wonder Won-der Thpse zealous officials have played sad havoc in many a peaceful home presided over by more than one wife They are by no means gentle in their methods The people hatethem with a desp rooted hatred and a great deal of tall lying is undoubtedly done to evade the execution of their duties One need not be afraid to talk to the people about the peculiar tenets of their church They discuss THE QUESTION OF POLTOAMV with great freedom They all claim I I that it is a divinely established rite and i cannot be abolished except by revelation revela-tion direct from God Ibis sounds strange to an eastern man whoso mind is firmly imbued with the rightfulness of monogamy and the wisdom of the laws for the suppression of plural marriages mar-riages But the present day Mormon is v t ry cautious in admitting tbat he knows anyone in polygamy Such an admission to an outsider might be followed with dire results The Ed munas law against unlawful cohabitation I cohabita-tion is rigidly enforced and prosecuting officers have a way of segregating the offense which is fraug t with terrible consequences and which is one reason I I am assured why George Q Cannon of the first presidency slipped his bail and ire t to parts unknown It is claimed there was an intention on the part of the Federal authorities in Salt Lake to prefer several hundred charges of unlawful cohabitation against him and by the accuiuulated < putiisbments therefor keep him in jail for life This was a prospect which startled the pillars of the church John Taylor the president and prophet is old and feeble Even unharassod by the Worries wor-ries of concealment in the nature of events his career cannot last much longer Cannon would undoubtedly succeed him George Q as he is familiarly famil-iarly called is well known in the east owing to his REMARKABLE COSGEESSIONJkL CAREER and his many attractive personal qualities quali-ties Without doubt he is one of the brainiest men in the church and more fitted to lead its temporal affairs In timss of trouble than any other noted Mormon He is indeed the Brig am Yqnng of this time and great regret is constantly expressed about his enforced absence from tho capital But he ap pears to be in communication with the subordinated The epistle read to the I late annual conference of the church in this town bore his signature along with that of John Taylor and gave evidence that though lost to sight themselves the leaders are still able to keep a watchful eye on affairs This question of segregation is pend ing before the United States Supreme Court in the case of Lorenzo Snow The iudgesihere are anxiously awaiting the decision since on it depends their future course of action in polygamous I and unlawful cohabitation cases Yesterday I Yes-terday Judge Ppwera of this district suspended sentence for three week incase in-case ot Mr Groesbeck of Springville who was convicted on two counts some time ago on the ground that the Supreme Court may establish some rules for his guidance in SUCH DELICATE CASES While on this point itmay be stated that the men who stand up and face the penitentiary on account of plunfl marriage mar-riage are looked upon as martyrs and firm upholders of the faith The Mormons Mor-mons seem to have no use for anyone r tt gn f who shirks alLthe responsibilities ofhis religion even to the extent of going to the penitentiary for refusing to give up his manifold wives This Groesbeck matter a case in point A tinejatnrdy son of Illinois he belongs to a family which has taken a leading interest in everything pertaining to Mormonisrn He acknowledged that he lived with three women who had born him eigh teen children and boldly said he id tended to sustain them That settled iL In fifteen minutes he was pronounced pronoun-ced guiltyand a day fixed for sentence which was further postponed for the cause mentioned There is 1 no chance fan escape when one of those desolately desol-ately guilty men gets before the courts The jury composed strictly of nou Mormnoi is bound to convict and the courts which UP to the time of the discovery dis-covery of segregation were nlwayfe expressing regret that their1lfent nCrh were compnlsorily too mild have ben prompt imposing i t THE FULLEST PENALTY I allowed under the Edmunds law of course this Is nght and proffer If polygj any is to be suppressed but what amazes the eastern visitdr probibfj more than anything else fs the fact that the leading Gentiles and amon then the late Governor Murray frankly admit ad-mit that poly Gamy is not the leading issue Some of thctu go so faras to say I that they admire ante could lie lenient toward the old polygamists that the real t object Vtbepre agitation is to overturn a church system which threatens to undermineLhelqasdariees of A nrican lib J1 ya dKbp ai IjStWg disgrace to tier i civilization ofthc rigv 1 They expect to t effect this object < < bX the passage of the Should c measures ha rorfrOongresrf Should his Is pored antiMorraon legislation becbnietcbry alsjliied intoJavr every AIormonqthe Territory would be disfranchised aijd the property pf the cburclj placeR in the hands of trustees appointed by the Federal government Somo30000 Getl luw would have complete control of IltaH and bate the right to lord it over We T Hormonstwho aavCitaade a natnr Uy barren eaud teziTe country I j b a lrbosonij likethe rose and whose sole offense now according to Ole lately revealed policy bf their op 2flnentst meraberahifo in schnrch wqich j pfirhapsTnpra i ttiainbnr other ttkeg t t T 1 v i J j Q0 flC I A DEEP PATXRX AL INTEREST inj I ts people TJbecry Is not now against polygamy itiia crashtHli theocraUcdeapgUsjsr4gfiSb Rimpedes the progress of the Territory makes savesL2 th i psopl 1 bc 4 fhteaI ns to i sap thefoundaionr every principle ot American institution The Mormons J saythis pojicy carried out to Fs 1 loeal sequence means h reign of terror 1 and Tie Gentiles lnlmrt spoliation Gentilesclaimfti I will bring < < unbounded prosperity to aj hall JerUle ia < nalHaLP dobttf s I n4J breafe up ian nbgmiuable syeiteRp of I pri stcraft Even though there 6e n contraction of constitutional rights of j citizens in this process they contend j thnttlle end jnstifies the nteaus Onj this point I have nothing to say per I 7 aonally The two positions are plain enough Polygamy the sole point against which previous laws have been directed Is practically abandoned as an issue It is simply a fight for vested rights and continuation of the privileges of citizenship on the one hand and a struggle to gain possession of the a aatrs of Utah by a small minority who claim that they are able to govern wisely prudentially and justly and in a manner man-ner which will redound to tho credit of the United States I have looked somewhat sharply into the Mormon system during a two months sojourn in the Territory There are probably abuses connected with it I do not like THE TITHING SYSTUt I do not like the almost absolute control con-trol of the bishops over the people and I do not admire several other things which savor of theocracy and give zest to the criticisms of some of the anti Mormons But there are conditions prevailing every where which more tLan counterbalance the apparent evils of those principles Tho people are prosperous pros-perous and contented They are opposed op-posed to the use of whiskey and tobacco tobac-co In Salt Lake City not a single saloon out of a total of about fifty paying a license of J 1200 a year each is run by a Mormon There is no Mormon Mor-mon vice on the surface Chastity is one of the cardinal virtues of the church adultery and seduction are punished by prompt diamembership from which there is no appeal It is the unpardonable sin with these peo pie Everything la peaceable and orderly or-derly in the settlements Litigation is avoided as much as possible and the people live quietly together attending to their respective airs helping one another with neighborly kindness and paying their dues to the church with apparent cheerfulness Leaving out this question of polygamy which all parties in the east are agreed should be suppressed with a firm hand I see nothing to condemn in the conduct of these people They will in my estima tion compare favorably in the matter of THRIFT HONESTT AND INDUSTRY with any other community on the face of the globe Mention those facts to the Gentiles as all antiMormons are dubbed and your honesty of conviction is at once impugned They rave about the crimes of the past when an outsiders life was not safe in Utah and sty those people have just the same spirit now ai then and would exercise it hot for n whnV some fear of the law It is with present conditions we have to deal and they are as I have hastily sketched them A GenWeis just safe berets he is elsewhere else-where ThereTs no restriction on outside out-side immigration there is no taxation on mining or its output Gentile can trade here with as much freedom and prospect of success he can elsewhere Even those who are most bitter against this people have to confess they have prospered in the Territory A Gentiles sole grievance now is that he is woeful l Iv In the minority rind bas no voice in public affairs And yet this is not practically correct All the Territorial offices are 111 thin hands of Gentiles the electoral machinery fs In their hands they have the majority qf the post offices and the governor has the abso lute veto power which was exercised with the utmost Jfberality by Governor Murray last sessipn This is the situation here at present I have sketched itImpartially Polyg amy is not the evil we deem it in the east according to the Utah Gentiles The Utah question now is simply war 1 to the knife for Territorial control and a very bitter war it bids to becomeJ W PlntheCbicago emu |
