Show T SMITH as POLYGAMY rolt roly gamy GAnY at the tabernacle in the morning elder N H felt occupied a portion of the time in relating his bis experience during his bis mission in the east from which he has just returned he was followed by president goor Geor george geAL geak A smith who briefly described the organization 0 of the church the early history of the church the dr ivings privations of the saints and their settlement and progress in those these valleys referring to the repugnance the world professes to entertain for polygamy smith said there is one doctrine however that the latter zatter day saints have that there are objections made to I 1 believe belleve we are all right with the exception of one principle that is pretty much right with the world I 1 know lenow that when our folks were driven from jackson county mo by the mob in 1833 one of the principal charges against us was that we anointed the sick with holy oil and lad iad laid hands on them that was declared to be blasphemy bas Isas phemy but I 1 believe that our chrisula friends have got so that many of them aro willing that we should do that without the least objection in the world but the beat and terrible objection now is that the mormons cormons Mor mons believe in a plurality of wives under certain circumstances that is the great objection now and the nation being entirely moral every man being strictly in obedience to the laws of monogamy and evory lavery woman in the nation strictly observing her TOWS vows and the city of washington be lag zag a place of true purity U r why the idea of tho the people of utah believing 0 1 in a plurality of wives produces a horrible sensation and an awful stink sow kow the Inis misfortune fortune in relation to us is that shat we believe the bible that good old sacred book and we not only believe the old testament but the new now as well as the revelations which have been given through joseph smith in the present age we donot do not practice plurality of wives because the ancients did but the circumstances under which wo are placed wd arid the revelations which god has given eiven ia an lla as 4 people make it necessary it is roq required require dired dof or as uis under certain man in thie tilo united states wilt will live strictly y according to his vows and stop forward and marry every woman that wants to marr marn marry y in the united S State tate swo swe are willing to do the sanio sanle same and if there is a few women left that cant get husbands we will give them to the best men we can find and it will be all right we are perfectly willing to arrange it in this way but bat as long as half the men refuse to marry at all and half the women for want of a suitable gui bui table tabie opportunity are compelled to live in single blessedness in open violation of the command of god to the human family to multiply and replenish the earth we claim the privilege of having more than one wife and we think we have good examples for instance our father jacob the man roan who wrestled with God whose name god changed from jacob to israel and who was made by god the father of or many nations bad four wives was god displeased with that man for it certainly not for it is is re ro cord edby the apostle john that the names of his twelve sons the sons of four wives the sons of a polygamist are inscribed on the gates of the new now jerusalem how are we going to get in there without acknowledging polygamy A man says 1 I will not go where ra a polygamist goes if so you must not pass thesa thosa gates you yon must stop outside but must every man get a plurality of wives I 1 do not think there is an opportunity we are not all good looking but every woman on the face of the earth should have a chance to marry and if a portion of the men are too corrupt wicked selfish and full of hell to perform the duty ut of husband and father it should not deprive woman of the opportunity of filling the measure of her creation that is what I 1 have to say on the subject we think it is immoral say some I 1 do not think it is I 1 think the system enforced upon the christian world by ancient rome laid the tho foundation of degradation and immorality that the christian system would have avoided if it had not been for the institution of mono gomy that is my impression about it and when you pass a law that enforces such a system you go astray some will compare the system of plural marriage as practiced in utah with the bigamy of different states that is to say a man marries two wives clandestinely deceiving them in violation of law in violation of custom and in violation of his honor ho nor iam lam I 1 am of the opinion that itis it is difficult to commit a higher crime than this if a man have a plurality of wives it should be in accordance with the law of god and the wishes of his family and the association should be agreeable and natural it is not my intention of course to say a great deal on this subject but as this is a great point I 1 wish our christian frie friends rids to understand that the savior descended from david david the polygamist I 1 wish them to understand that he descended from the house of jacob the polygamist I 1 wish them to understand that if they ever get into abrahams bosom they get to the bosom of a polygamist I 1 wish them also to understand that if they ever e enter the gates of the new jerusalem they will have to pass by gates where the names of the twelve sons of jacob the polygamist are recorded and if they are offensive and disagreeable to them they are expected to stay outside and that when they fight against these things they fight against light and knowledge but says one does not the new testament condemn polygamy where in what place in what definite passage I 1 have not been able to find it in the days of the savior plurality of wives was a custom among the jews to a certain extent jesep Josep josephus lius ilus says that king herod had several wives no now w if th the a savior had been disposed to do away with this and to introduce a new system now easy he could have done it among his followers sall by simply saying so in plain words he said sald 46 you shall not commit adultery he discountenanced divorces and proclaimed in the loudest and most positive terms against all sins but what did he say about plurality plural ltv not a syllable how easy it would have been for him to say to his disciples you must have but one wife but he never said sald it but says one the apostle paul say that a bishop should be the husband of one wife I 1 remember when elias smith was elected bishop of the stake of zion in iowa a grave objection was raised in the conference said they a bishop should be the husband of one wife but he had none and they chev admitted him on the ground that thit he would get married pretty soon now su suppose apos ehe he had bad had bad two wives under the law a w of G god od would it have been any obo objection oc not the least I 1 understand paul pa u I 1 to mean aban that a bishop should be a mar married ried man without reference to the number of his wives my faith on this subject is that if the laws of great britain and the laws of the united states were made to correspond with the laws of god on this thia subject that nine tenths of the prostitution infanticide bastardy and corruption now in existence would be done away in I 1 n fifty years by a simple change of institutions this is my faith futh and I 1 have a right to believe it and at the same time I 1 have a right to be a citizen of the tilo united states this bible must be burnt annihilated repealed or declared worthless and everybody become infidel or the doctrine of plurality of wives has got to stand may tho peace peace of goa goil ba baucon upon you and d i all alt israel is my prayer 1 in the nama name of jesus amen in the afternoon president D H wella wells occupied the time ills hia dim diw aurga was reported |