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Show TUE MORMON' DEAD-LOCK. now far the government of the Uoi-ted Uoi-ted States has gone on its way towards becoming a personal government, mitigated miti-gated by constitutional traditions, we are not exactly prepared to cay. The way of personal consideraiiuus over the administrative sallies of iho present pres-ent executive, however, is not a matter of question but cf record. Its extent and intensity are to bo accurately measured by the usurpations and al-'euiDted al-'euiDted usurpations of functions not his owo, aud provinces from which the law debars him, by President Grant It was to please and to place a friend that Mr. Grant at first ignored and then wished to override the law to the head of the treasury. It was to carry out the views of his friends Babcock and others that the President made his Samana Bay fiasco, sending gunboats gun-boats to overawe a friendly power, and pledging himself in a secret treaty with foreigners to use underhand influences for controlling the vote of congress. It was to help his friend the young man Lee t that the President removed Grinnell to give office to Mr. Thomas Murphy and to saddle tho merchants of this city with the government store incubus. It was to support his friends the carpet-baggers that the President interposed to prevent congress from ajjourning and in person went to the capitol to lobby for the iniquitous force bill. It was in aid of brother-in-law Casey and the custom house ring a1". New Orleans that the President gavo his sanction to the infamous usurpation of Judge Durell aod deliberately overthrew the legitimate and only S'.ato government govern-ment of Louisiana. And it is in the interests in-terests principally of a gang of gold-crabbers gold-crabbers and land-sharks, of whom tho Newman professional pietiBts are the hired hot efficient prhnum mobile, that President Grant now takes hold of the questionably constitutional and certainly impolitic series of measures directed against tho Mormons in the Territory of Utah. Tho Mormon nucstion is rapidly ripening, and its solution is not by any means so near at hand as the designing de-signing knaves who want mines and improved lands, and tho happy-go-lucky religionists who insist that all men Bhall go to heaven over the sword-blade sword-blade of their own peculiar dogma, would persuade us to believe. With the constitutional aspects of this qucs-t qucs-t on wj s'aall not meddle, since theBO are soon to be decided upon by the suDreme court of tho United States; but with tho Boc.al, economic, and moral aspects of the question we think it nccrssary for us to deal at once, nr.d to do so from the standpoint of those facts which the President's advisers consistently con ceal, and of whioh tho President himself him-self is easily ignorant. It is easy to laugh at Mormonism.but not easyto account for it. Here is a religious reli-gious body, which in 1S50 had sixteen churches, 10, 880. members, and $84,7S9 worth of? property; in I860 twenty (our churches, 13.500 members, aod $S91,- 100 worth of property, found to possess in 1870 171ohur.hes 87,838 members, and a property returned at only $656,750, but which in fact amounts to just what veal estate and personal property pro-perty there is in Utah exclusive of that held by the Gentiles for this singular church claims all that its members have, and can possess all that they have, if it should really need ir, Now, what is tho test of a true religion, if there is any teat? Is it tho inward consciousness of the members? The Mormons believe just as fervently as the Catholics believe. Is it the vita-i.y, vita-i.y, the aggressiveness, the proselyting power of the church? Look at this table from the aensus: Methodists. It. Cntholic9- Mormons. ibi f Churchos... . 13,302 1,222 IU ism Churobo3... 10,883 il.&oU 2i 1800 1. Members.., G,2o0,7'J0 1.10-1. i:7 13,500 ,-.( Churches.. 21,337 3,H0lJ 171 1S70LMoDibors... G,52S.2U9 1.000,514 87,838 The Methodist increased a little loss than 50 per cent, from 1850 to 1860, and only about 5 per cent, from IStiO to 1870; tho Catholics increased about 120 per cent, from 1850 to 18G0, and only about 30 per cent, from 1860 to 1870; whereas the Mormoma increased 30 per cent, from 1850 to 1860, and then, after having been warred upon by the United States government, between be-tween I860 and 1870" they increased over G50 per cent Hence, if prosont vitality were a test of future growth, Methodism and Catholicism are dying faiths, and Mormonism is a thriving and living one. If ihe same relative rates of progression were to subsist for a few decades the table would stand as follows; js;o. iano. l oo. Methodists 7,000,000 7,-l00.0i)0 7,800,000 Catholics 2,500,000 3,750,0iJ0 4.S00.OO0 Mormons 560.00J 3,5OO,0ou 22,760,000 But suppose we tako an eduoational test. Why should tho religious opinions opin-ions of Utah be regulated upon that ground any more than the religious opinions of Massachusetts? The population of Utah is 86,786, or six and a quarter per coot, of that of Massachusetts, which is fcl,457,351. But Utah sends 21,067 children to school, one-fourth of her whole population. popu-lation. While Massachusetts only sends 268,000, or one-sixth of her population. Thero aro in Utah 7,363 persons who cannot write, being one person in twelve. There aro 97,742 such illiterates in Massachusetts, Massa-chusetts, being one person in fourteen. four-teen. It is said that tho favor with whi'ih polygamy is received by the Mormon women proceeds from the fact that thoy are kept in a stafe of gross ignorance. This also tho census refutes. re-futes. Of the 21.067 school children in Utah in 1870, 8.844 were boyB,while 11,223 were girls, showing an ao:ess of female scholars of over fourteen per cent. The school ohildrcn of Massachusetts Massa-chusetts in 1870 were: boys 134,777, girls 134,560, the boyB being a fraction in access. The churches and churuh-membership churuh-membership of Utah are ten per oent. of those of Massachusetts, whilo the population is only six per cent., showing show-ing that Utah is forty per cent, ahead of Massachusetts in respect of devotion to religious duties. lJy every test, therefore, which public authorities as such can employ to decide, upon tho comparative moralities of sections and the comparative bench's ofdonma, iho polygamies are superior to the Met.hc-dists Met.hc-dists and tho Cnll olics, and the people of Utah to the mndfl people of Massachusetts, Massa-chusetts, Upon what data will tho President act when bo attempts to treat the Mormon question forcibly, wiih a view to the suppression of profligacy? Whether ho takes tha poia, of view of relation of births to population, of freeholds to population, o;' pauperism, of crime; whcihur ho look at the matter mat-ter in the light of industry and material prosperity, in the light of the "social evil" question, in tho light of public health, the Mormons of Utah will - till bear away the aim of superiority from the thousand faiths, oncgravy, aod no liquor of Massachusetts. Tho argument of public morality therefore fails by tho facta of the cen- sus and by what wo know of the Mor-monp. Mor-monp. There is nothing whatsoever in the conduct or tho character of this sect since they havo been subject to public inspection which would induce us to give credit to the stories of the Mountain Meadow massacre and tho hundred other sensational legends about them. Unquestionably the government gov-ernment of Utah has been a theocracy and practically unrepubliean, though nominally republican in form. This fact has caused collisions with our government, gov-ernment, and will again cause them unless un-less the thing is rectified, as it must be. So far we have a right to demand retractions re-tractions f rom Utah and to exact security secu-rity for the future but no further. The onsus satUScs the world that tho Mormons arc not a profligate people, and the univcrsi! consensu of ucprt ju-diced ju-diced travelers con5rms the fact, fic-hiad fic-hiad that no government has a right to go. and none but an exceedingly stupid and igcoraut govtrr.rjont would attempt at-tempt to C'l. For nothing cn.n ,-ave the peculiar repulsive re-pulsive features of Mrirmocism except persecution Polygamy is too ridiculoi 8 a thing to ,-tt!ni com pari. -nns wi:h moioiTMny iu m.-dein civiSizitioa. Polyandry is cn'y a little nmre absurd. The mere flct of a i lurality of wives in this enlightened aud clothes-wearing day, when so few j men can decently support even one wile, is enough to dau.rj the system by ithclf; but when it i.. reiuembercd that a plunlity of wive? ii;voivL-s with it aNo a multiplication of mothert-it-law, the miracle is that the promu'gators of this prcpostrous d ;gtna have not long since b?eu iiuna by ihiir vi'iitng, cr huog ihenisiXven n t lu ir owu bed-pnt . in the last frci.zy nf ihper.it'on. The merest catul cii'i.iiuu with Gn Gentile-Mho .'liyh't-ft c n'.emplatinn ol their comparative happirjest in i hio vak-of vak-of tears, will sutlic:: io settle the vx ed quislion forever, unless cur govern mtni continues its interference and pemisis in making the blood of ihc.-e domestic marlyrs tho seed of a solf-sacntJcing solf-sacntJcing church. But tho Mormons believe, and we must be can f ul indeed if wo want to help tln ir uobelitf, rather thnn chance their sour faith into a spirit of rook-liko rook-liko rc-isiacce. 'Iho generation who wero contemporary with the miracles and preachment? of Smith, ard must have liiid a iloic nr h s.s uneasy cou sciou-mss of their flimsy tcMuro, wire yet capa'ito of auswering to persecution by marching throuch ihe desert and subduing the wilderness. But tho Mormons of to-day, nine-tenths of them, aro a generatijn whioh know not Joseph in ihs fl:sh, which is only acquainted with his works by hearsay and through cducaiion, and which oon-scqucnt'y oon-scqucnt'y believes in them impliciily. The evidences of Mormouism, to their uotion, are established. Miracles substantiate sub-stantiate il. cm. Prophecy fulfilled cor-ruborjtcs cor-ruborjtcs them. The progress of their faith just i ties lict.i. iN'otl.ing but tho winning, slow but sure v..ioe of reason and OTiiigh'eini can lift its disciples out of thoir tj. ii -f ; bur, tm ihe other hand, Lothiiu pureciuion can confine con-fine thorn within it for any very lorg period. L; is all nonscono to lalk about knaves and hypocrites, robbers and mu'durt-rs, profligates and de-buueheos de-buueheos in this connection. Tho perform per-form at co ef mon like Smith, Young, Piatt, and tJydo speak for them. Their deeds, their conquests, their followers. Witness to the fact that they must havo believed something themselves, must hive had earnest purposes of their own h'forthey wero oapable of striking fi o from tho souls of others. Crom-wells, Crom-wells, Napoleons, Mahommcds, that class of men may not indeed hesitate to employ dsoeit when they think it necessary But they cro not hyprc-oritcs. hyprc-oritcs. On fhj contrary, thoy begin their oarccrs by deceiving thcmsolvcp. If tho reports of massacres, murders, thefts, D-tnites, destroying angels, and the like, which hang like a lurid cloud over tho legendary period of Mormonism oo indeed true (and there is no means of cither proving or disproving them tj the publio satisfaction), we Bhould only havo a more terrible conviotion than over cf tho deadly faoatioisra of this s; ot, of the bitter earnestness of their devotion to thoir faith, and of the u'tcr imposnibility of subduing them by force, or indeed by any other mcihod than by tho kindly solvents of rigiu reason, aod the example or other . BL'ota better adapted to encounter tho wood's buffets, from which even Mormons Mor-mons will eventually find ihey oannot 1 flee nor hide themselves forever. ! W hut wu are now coming to in Utah, under tho legislation of congress and President Grant's xeal for enforcing en-forcing the laws (suoh as suit his ideas), is simply a doad-!ock of nullification nullifi-cation and hostilities and embitter-ments embitter-ments such as it wilt tako generations to wipe away. If wo compel the Mormons Mor-mons to fight for polygamy, we compel them to retain it. What was originally origi-nally only a mere economio experiment beoomcs at once a vital rsligious dogmaa dog-maa tenet to be fought for; and the supcrerogative ao' of ooogrcsa oonvcrts tho peaceful, thrifty, industrious Latter-day Saint into an Anabaptist to run mad with Knippcrdolling, or a Hashishcen to immolate himself at tho word of his chief. Now York World, Maroh 31st. |