| Show ma aa or the tile mania against the patriarchal order of marriage as practiced by the members of thu the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is one of the latest forms of epidemic disease dige dise ease known in kocl society ty th the tho e tendency to cry down dowa this principle is universal among khoe those professing christianity although sustained throughout the whole bible the book which they i prize so highly we consider that this is one of the strongest external evidences of its divine origin that can be given for when all the world lieth in wicked nebs nees and who will deny that such is the case now universal opposition must bo be anticipated to a revelation from heaven this disease is fearfully prevalent among the members of the editorial profession and one oue of the latest and most violent manifestations of it that we have seen is in the san francisco morning call the editor of that paper has evidently got it bad and judging by a recent effort entitled the momon mormon question he must have been laboring under its influence foursome for oon some bome time the mass meetings of the ladies ladles of salt lake flake seem to have developed the disease and we have no doubt that he will feel considerable relieved after such a free freo expression of beelin feeling g as isi ia contained in the article we refer to he indulges in the usual denunciation of the principle of patriarchal mar marriage riago common among those most corrupt at heart and most ignorant of the design had in view by him who revealed it and mingles therewith the stale but high sounding claptrap about plague spot on the tho civilization of the age mans lust womans comans degradation and so on ad libi tum charity inclines us to believe however that the editor of the theCa cail call lik ilk m many any other only seemingly ill natured persons says worse than thau he lie means after asserting that polygamy ia Is a question which our states statesmen nien if we have any have got to decide and saying some rather uncharitable things about the people of utah he repeats the oft told tale that polygamy degrades women and then adds that it ft destroys civilization shocks the moral bense sense of the public and scandalizes lizes christianity itself now we are persuaded that our would never write in this strain if he were not either elther a joker or like a great many more of the newspaper fraternity 11 had ad allowed prejudice to get the better of his judgment the position that he has assumed however is a false faise 3 one and with th the hops of removing removing his prejudices and I 1 converting him to the truth we propose to 0 o labor with him a little and first in regard to the degradation of woman if as he asserts patriarchal marriage degrades women utah after more than twenty years testing the matter ought to furnish abundant proof of the fact but he cites none and with all respect te to him aa as a brother editor we hold that wa we alej justified in saying that his dixit dixie goes for nothing IV we deny the assertion so far as utah ia is concerned and we shall try and show our contemporary that we are right he should remember that mormonism ia is a system of practical christianity a real application of the te teachings ich ings of the savior to all the afra affairs irs of life extending to the marriage relations aa as well as everything else eibe in the so called christian world where passion instead got of principle la is the only acknowledged guide and religion little else than theory we know know that polygamy for in its most debased form prostitution on It prevails there universally does degrade women but in utah after testing its operation for more than fet twenty y years those greatest proofs of female d degradation prostitution and illegitimate children are unknown another assertion made by our friend of the call is to the effect that polygamy destroys civilization this again so far as the experience of the people of utah is concerned la Is controvert ed by the facts in the case and no attempt at proof ia is attempted by our brother of the quill if we inquire what ia is meant by civilization we are told education art and science and the proud eminence which education art and science have attained inthis in this country and the professed christian nations in europe is boastfully referred to aa as the proof that they are the most civilized nations on theearta the earth in viewing civilization in rig its development on both coth sides of the atlantic there is great cause for sorrow aa as well as for it is unquestionable that the arts and sciences nave have a degree of 01 tion and that wealth and the facilities for education have wonderfully increased there of late years bab bat it is equally true that the masses of the tha people still wallow in ignorance and poverty in the midst of this thia same highly vaunted civilization it is also true that vice and crime of every conceivable name and nature abound and flourish and statistics prove that they are increasing at such a fearful rate as to everywhere threaten destruction to law and order the very bulwarks bulwa of society it may be and often is said that mime dime poverty squalor and social wretchedness are not civilization this is verily true but they are an integral and inseparable part of the false civilization of the christian world and these theae and monogamy flourish to together ether how is it in utah where polygamy prevails if the encouragement of art science or education constitute any claim to bo be considered a civilized people we certainly have every rl right lit to the title for what science useful art or branch of education ia Is not fostered and encouraged here not one but here is the difference between our civilization and that of the world at large while theirs develops crime of every kind ours suppresses it as our records show hence instead of patriarch ial lal marriage destroying civilization as our contemporary says we maintain that by basing the relation of the sexes the very foundation and substratum of all social life and of society the world over on oa correct principles principle sit lt is developing the highest and the only true civilization liza tion known on the earth there ia is one other point to which we must call attention for we have no doubt our readers will enjoy the joke as hearte heartily ly as we did our oar friend of the call in further proof of how seriously he is afflicted with says the practice of the peculiar pecullar institution institute na shocks the moral sense of the public and christianity itself to our notion that is the very culminating point of absurdity I 1 amon among the latter datter day saints in the territory of utah prostitution seduction adultery and free are unknown yet in christendom where thes these elaud and hud a thousand other crimes are ore openly practiced without exciting aught beyond a passing remark the tha moral sense of the public is shocked and their thein Cristi christianity anley anity is scandalized at the iao marriage ilig e system of the mormons Mor monal mons thou hypocrite first cast the tho beam out of bf thine own eye etc more might be said in reviewing this precious realous tirade of abuse on the mormon question but we desist trying to believe that our without really designing evil through prejudice and ignorance of the subject upon which he inada made an art efrost to display his hia powers and while laboring under the influence of was betrayed into the committal of a slight indiscretion and we trust that the violence of the symptoms have by this time abated in conclusion we would suggest that in future when writing on ue the mor mon question our post himself with facts and exercise more charity that would be the more becoming course for a christian gentleman to pursue he should remember that the people here have not had bad the advantages enjoyed by the people of san ban francisc francisco 1 0 been shut up as it were for many years in the rocky mountains and their intercourse with outside civilization haa baa been somewhat limited but there is yet hope the facilities for missionary journeys to utah are far greater than they used to be and if we have haye not already reached the elevated plane upon which our friends outs outside ide stand including prostitution illegitimate iz and abandoned children freelove etc they all including the editor of the call can come to ours if they will repent and be baptised baptized sed for the re mission of their sins by men holding legal authority to toad ad minister that sacred ordinance but whether or not they avail themselves of this blessed privilege we advise all laboring under the distressing symptoms sym of the epidemic ep disease we have mentioned not to dis tress themselves on our account but to keep calm all is well with the saints and though the great majority of the ladies ladles of our community are threatened with ineffaceable disgrace for not being married by a hireling priest or a civil officer and the gentlemen in en with fines f ne imprisonment mp rison ment and the deprivation dep riv atio atlo u of alery every e civil right they feel fee I 1 perre perfectly aly easy and tranquil knowing that he e whom they serve will preserve them under all vicissitudes and trials in the future as he has in t he the past f |
