| Show WOMAN aed AND THE HEARTY BELIEF bellef IN ix POLYGAMY z THAT IS HELD BY A FEMALE THE THU WIDOW OF A mon XON mrs dr ellen B D ferguson of salt bait lake city who was for many years a practicing practising physician in utah territory Is at present living in brooklyn for the purpose of attending att erld erid surgical lectures A world reporter orter 1 yesterday afternoon had i a f long iong 0 ng con conversation with tuner her in regard to her experience experiences 3 among the mor mons ani ij her views and ov opinions inions in reference to them as a people a church and a community mrs ferguson forguson la Is an enthusiastic believer in all the tenets aud practices of the mormon nF in regard to her early hl atory mrs mra fugerson Fu gereon faid paid my husband and I 1 became convinced of the tho truth troth ot of mormonism by reading the books publish d by the church and berini herinio heri heni nit their elders preach I 1 became convinced need that they had bad the truth more than any other body of christians christiana that I 1 ever met shortly before the death of president young and at his request swe removed to salt lake city whore where I 1 practised practiced medi med cine clue and taught mule for two two years I 1 wa wai director of the bonsera tory of music about a year aud and a half ago I 1 lost one of my little children and my bub bue hubband husband bind died and six six months mouths ago I 1 came east I 1 snail return in about two tao weeks to salt lake ake city hae your in regard to mormonism Mormon iam lam undergone any ja change not in tho the least unless it Is that I 1 am more than ever impressed with a belief in the truth of the doctrines of the church and that the revelations of the gospel given by b joseph smith and continued by god through those who have had the presidency of the church are true I 1 believe these things with all my heart and I 1 have hive testimony of my own that hey they I 1 are ure true what Is tho general condition of women in utah 1 I have found in utah a society that is purer and more e elated than that I 1 have ever met mot with in any other community our women are earnest and god fearing and desirous of piot piol promoting noting everything that will tend to elevate both men and woman we aro are not slaves as dr newman and others have ra re presented ua us to bo be wo we think for ourselves and arm ermour our oun own opinions pin independently ot 0 any auy tiling tiling anybody may toll us what wo we do and bud what we believe la ti from the conviction that it is right we have the right of franchot e and we vote according to our own opinions and judgments and I 1 do not know of any in Ins rance sance whew a woman has been coerced to vote contrary to her hir judgment what about the domestic rela lations of your people iam lam am not personally interested in that question having never in y myee myne belf self been a member of a polygamous family but I 1 know from intimate association both professionally sio bio nally and socially with those who are arc living in that relation the proportion of those who at tho pro pre sent cent time tinie practise plural marriage is only about one tenth of the population they alt all believe in it but it Is optional with them theror not they practise thie thic it no one is it Is optional with them theror not they practise thie thic it no one is forced to practise polygamy my experience per peri fence lence ence with those who are arc living in that relationship ia Is that it cin duces to the physical moral and spiritual spi epi ritual elevation of the human family in reference to domestic domeEt ic happiness 3 of course courso there is i a more or less jess ot of wrangling and disagreement in all families owing to differences feren ces in temperament but taking the same bame number dumber of am ules nies I 1 und una its 1 its want of no more but rather ts harmony among families living lining as polygamists than hmong thoe of thero there is perfect mutual confidence between the husland and hib hia wives which chisa is a state of affairs I 1 hardly think es ex istrin any community outside of cf utah has time ultra been or is thero there now going on ally any change in utah in regard to this particular doctrine 19 there has been no change in the cp opinions inions of the people 01 course congress may pass laws to tc the cp opinions inions of the people 01 course congress may pass laws to tc prohibit us the practise of our principle but I 1 do not believe there wid wili ever be any charge in the opinions of our people I 1 do not believe god will chinuge hehns given us this tills re revelation elation for our gcoy and our people will stand by their to the end it 13 really a matter that congress has bas nothing to do with as it is with chii us a 06 peculiarly religious s sacrament and ordinance whit cihat have you to pay fray about the dispatch from isalt lake city an bouncing noun cing that in the cios clos closing i rig speeches ch of the legislature which ad adjourned sr ourn on friday evening evenings there was a tacit rec ree recognition on of the fact that the tho day of polygamous legislation was forever pasted passed the papers I 1 get from silt lake pity city do not indicate any huch tuch feeling as that thore there I 1 nave cave never rt rad ad eln ein e el I 1 have been hero here a single true statement in the papers here hero of our position or of our practices ts they stem heem unwilling to publish anything from our people the c clergy here stern stem to be united to manufactures a publeo pu bio blo opinion against us BO so as to influence congress gress grems to opar oppre siva aud and unconstitutional but iu lu my budai budal and professional intercourse with all sorts of people in new york I 1 h hive ave found that a truthful detate ilent elent by me of our beliefs and po position sItton re veils to them the fact tuat atiat they have been mis ed by constant iuis mis representation and misstatements of facts by our opponents 91 what is to be the result of til all all ail this agnation agitation that is a question which will require a wiser wis r bead head than mine to answer of 01 one things thing tio however wever I 1 am quite certain and mat that is anat one result will be to more firmly unite ui as a people sn an make ns more mure mure determined to stand by our principles we have aldaya been loyal to lne flig flag aud the constitution ald aid we take our on te cm c n titu dional guarantees guaranties guaran lees ties of religious ioui liberty will the leave utah leave where aou d they go will they resist the ibe endur ement of lei legi lation dation against them suppose the united states should send an army to drive the people of new now york from their homes would they resist we own bun our homes and have bought and ald paid aid for them they may drive us out or murder us its in cold blood blod but if they do they will only get a mae of ruins for their pains I 1 for one would bum burn everything I 1 have boore be ore it 16 should fall into hands bands of the united states authorities resistance on our part what the united states authorities ties in utah want they aro ore desirous of getting their hanus on the funds of the Tearl territory tory which have thus far been administered honestly by the mormon authorities tho men in business there out siders I 1 mean do not desire this agitation they deprecate it they live on good terms with our people and are satisfied sl what are the educational facilities of the territory if we have district schools in every ward in the cities and in every set fet clement we have three high schoola the university of deseret the brigham young school at provo and the logan academy in the northern part of the territory these are all excellent schools in which pupils have been prepared pie pic pared to pass examinations at west point at the polytechnic school ol in troy and at the school of mines where they have llave graduated with high ho 11 nois norh no IB how hi regard to the I 1 lights of property the rights of property in utah aregust are just as sacred and absolute as they are here bly my house belongs to me and I 1 did not buy it from the church either cither property properly is bought me and I 1 did not buy it from the church either cither property properly is bought and sold there just the hame rame aa as anywhere else and titles descent deacent deb dee cent ceni in the same way I 1 heard dr newman lecture on mormonism he said that Preil president dent deat taylor was the rich estman eat man in the world because he owned all the property in the te terl teri rl tory lory now he knew that was false when ho he eald it the real animus of dr newmans newmand new Kew mans mand hostility comes from his discue discussion slon sion with elder pra t in bilt silt lake city in which helas he was terribly worst worsted eds and ever since that ho he has thought it a religious duty to lie about us but the key hey keynote note to his hla whole position is to be found III in his prayer in which ho he said 0 lord wo mant vant to redeem those fertile kaleya and ach mines miner P yes that is just what they want s how do the women of utah look upon this prop proposed oed legislation ol 01 conc Cons ress upon prop ol 01 conc Cons ress congress 49 rhe file women are the very last persons in the territory to wish for any legislation in their behalf it would not bo for their benefit but to their serious detriment it would break up thoin their fancily ties parate separate ss them from their husbands whom the they love lovo dearl dearly yand and leavo leave them theoa an and tib tin ir children unprotected and for buti congress proposes to legitimatize the children bm in polygamy down to a certain time 19 ly 19 1 yep but what delhey co they to do with the wives A gentleman bald eald to me not long ago apo 1 I maniec three wives years ega any legislation on the subject by congress wak was ever thought of I 1 leave have sons and daughters grown up do you jou suppose they would stand quietly by and bee eee me turn thein their mothers out of doors I 1 have treated all my wives uniformly well lived happily with them each in their own house and have violated no law and thatis the u universal I 1 sentiment among our people s Is it customary for men with several beveral wives to furnish each wife with a al es parate house gilf if thoy they are able they do EO fo sometimes but I 1 have known three or four bouen aou cn living happily iu in one house speaking bp Sp taking aking of rights in utah ulab it habs haa been asse ted tod that women vote at any age and without natural tl 0 y are married that is 13 false A woman must ujust be 1 21 01 years of aud and natural zed unless she la Is oborn or the daughter of a naturalized citizen no matter whether she is married or not before she can vol voe le mihe ribe must aso gain a residence by living oke OKO year in the territory six months in the county and three months in the tho precinct before she la Is entitled to the franchis franchise the ballot is absolutely free from dictation of any sort so far as the church is concerned the principle of our form of or government is that the majority shall rule th 4 minority in U ah are not willing to concede this they want to control the whole territory all civil government Ing conclusion let me bay say oue ouy thing more our women have been hinted to the world as degraded creatures fit subjects for the prayers and sympathies of all tile the birtous women in chrls chris endom N nw w I 1 cou coc consider sider bider myself a a fair specimen of the women of utah and if anybody cai bee eee anything ae graded degraded about me I 1 eh h uld like to have llave him or her rocus bocus ome me when I 1 came east I 1 to lecture but have b en unable to do so be cauble causo I 1 could not get a place unless I 1 hired a high priced hal hall which I 1 was nt n t ahl abl able abie c to d dj I 1 even asked hnry ward beecher fon lor his e room roomi telling him the e was another s de to mormonism niam besides the one he be lind had been in the habit of looking at his jepty was th think clod dod I 1 never saw but one oae bide side aud and I 1 do riot not want toil toll to permission to lecture iu in his pulpit was refused as it was in every other church lap I 1 applied plied for when amer visited sait bait lake city he was asked by brigham young to preach fathe lathe iu the temple so was as dr newman talmage taimage was not our people invited discussion and are not alra afra d of the truth it is mib mia decoit and falsehood anade and aud deceit that we object to and ete cle deplot e 11 |
