Show UTAH AND HER PEOPLE SALT LAKE CITY june 22 ISE ro ed Pome roys democrat dear sir after an absence from utah for several years I 1 return and nud find its people undergoing a peculiar ordeal in consequence of the governments prosecutions of tho the polygamists ts which calls for the exercise ot moral courage of such a type that has characterized but lew few people ot of the earth posse possessed sed of the free spirit and independence pen dence that is the inspiration of the great west which prompted them a few years back to such acts performed under the direction of the late governor brigham Brig nain young i as to occa occasion siona a peace com commissioner mis dione r being sent into the territory prior to the army of 1857 under general johnson marching marc bing in attic same daring and independent spirit s yet with the people but is hidden from the view of the government officials now in power by the subjection of those of the saints wao fall into their hands bands and who rather than forego their vows to thu the women who have chosen to be their theia wives now subject themselves to the decisions of the fifty millions voiced through their representatives that polygamy is a crime and that too after allowing the late brigham Your an acknowledged and well known polygamist to hold a commission as governor of utah for many years A nervousness arid and dread is easily apparent among the people and many ure lire the stories told of hairbreadth eb na capes irom glinto tile the deputy marshals hands bands who together with the other officials interested in this raid seem to be working the attack on the baines in a systematic manner that they may not exhaust the louice of supply from whence they draw so good a sabary I 1 asked oue one of the elders the other day how he accounted lor the great tear fear chica t clemed to pervade the peoples mind in regard to the unpleasant call of the deputy marshals marb bals which possibly should not exist if they pro lessed to be correct in their practice and received the following characteristic rep reply dy the sheep always start when th the dogs draw near and bark this dread and fear of falling into the ane tolls toils entirely disappear when the arrest is made then these people appear in a light and position which is to be admired no matter if they are deceived in accepting in their practice such principles which they claim with the rev H W beecher and other bible students had bad no hindrance to tile the blessings of god attending the married patriarchs of early eaily days the late action of the forty eight elders of their church now incarcerated in utah penitentiary shows their faith and confidence in their religious tenet on marriage when the new governor mr west offered his kind interference ter ference for executive clemency in their behalf on condition that they would re mounce their plural wives and children these prisoners while acknowledging knowl the kindness of the new governor firmly firmly but respectfully refused to accept kneir lib liberties birties at the expense of breaking their covenants with their wives and children there is something in the action of these men that is worthy of thought and reflection mormonism and lasciviousness lascivious nees have been synonymous terms in the mouths months of many lor years past but such action as this certainly certain lv springs from a source that has not it its i s origin in lust and unholy desire the price paid for the gratification of lust is within so easy reh reach that it Is beyond reason to ascribe to these men now enduring all the horrors of prison life that lust just is the bulling passion that sustains them now or prompted them to make vows with their wives to endure not alone until death doth dot h them part but according to their faith to endure through the countless ages of eternity and if if some day the civil civilization agis bation of the age should awaken to find that their present ideas in relation to marriage were more or less erroneous erron eods as our fathers father s have done on other poli pol ts and discover that the patriarchal order as in vogue of yore is ig the key to unlock the problem now troubling our legislators regarding the sexual irregularities and prostitution now afflicting not only Arri america brica but all civilized communities the historian of the future will record the judicial proceedings now being enforced against these people as a blot upon the history of the united states E everywhere very where among the towns and villages of utah are ape seen signs of thrift and careful toil that is not nat in accord with a liew of immorality and weakening vice on ever every v hand well cultured fields and homes adorned with Su superior taste and skill though modest and unpretentious ious wear an air that ts is not tp to ge be found in the haunts of men of vile and sensuous natures true no ao doubt in the lifting the vell veil from their io do bestic lives levei as has been done by the courts of late incidents have been made public which show the he weakness of men in attempting to live in the plural wife relation at which the reader of the public prints would easily take issue against and condemn at once this people in their attempt to inaugurate a system that they a are impressed will yet prove a blessi blessing tig to humanity tor for there ard are grave doubts existing whether the morality of plural marriage can be successfully assailed from a bible point of view and it is quite easily apparent that the now existing edmunds act pronounces ther the patriarchs of old criminals criminal who if living in our day under the present conceptions of the good and the true instead of being the recipients of divine blessings and heaven heavenly lv visitations would be incarcerated in the felons cell the men who have already served a term of six months imprisonment and now returned to their homes are now living with their first orl legal wives and are strictly observing the und ands law keeping apart and separate from their plural wives their minds im premised sed with a dread 0 of iture I 1 punishment but still convinced that their imprisonment was unjust and that the relations with their plural wives areas are as sacred as those existing with their first wives and the children born to them by their plural wives are ss as free ma from 0 taint ta of f b bastardy a ard y as any of 0 the tris twelve ell 1 sons on of gf the datria patriarch jacob whose 0 names anies our oui u bible bi be tells us shall wh I 1 aar I 1 bed 0 on t the e G gates ate of the new jerusalem e in wilether W ther this pre present en t at attitude ti of the government at ru in ent ea t will il I 1 e eradicate r d 1 at the practice vt ot t polygamy I 1 in y ti time in NV will alone tell bulte utah boasts that one third of her population is composed of chil dreu eight years of age and them many are of poly polygamous carnous kar origin these including tue tae children born bora in this plural relation for the past abir ty years make quite a large who owe their very existence i to this patriarchal order of marriage barriage and ad who will be hard to convince that teat he set act that gave etem being was based in error not to use the harsher term crime these children will ever con tend that bat they are tree free from the taint tf af bastardy and become strong advocates 0 the divinity of the religious principles of their lathers therefore an a nil all probability many years must elapse before the judicial power of the uehl states can hope to eradicate the effects of this marriage system from froin their territories r there is one thing made plainly apprent in this action of the united autes government that the bonds which bind the women of utah to their Ims bands must be pleasant ones to them fur for in no instance in the many convictions made and attempted have the jko women volunteered any aid in dav arbi lot governmental prosecution but otherwise instances have occurred in the women have refused to an oer the questions ot of the prosecution oil suffered imprisonment lor for con of courtly Coart Court ln lu their effort to screen A ausband chus band of their choice and in one se before the court it was di cov c gd ed anat the plural wile had bad real or a ased cause of grievance against to justify her seeking a separation reparation from him aim still it was wah w th griat great effort on the part of the court was induced to give evidence spenst the prisoner of course all this is received bythe by the prejudiced mind in summing ung aeu lor or or a against a ast the great eat american Amei ican problem polygamy 0 0 utah with a of misgiving as to whether in this instance the action of these plural wives seoul be applied as it would be to ordinary nary circumstances as tend tending i ug to establish a more fair consideration of the motive of this people some writer has said 11 that mat woman woma it 8 nature in utah is the same pa f elsewhere with this granted the people ol of the united and the world at large should pause and reflect before condemning a people who ha have ve so many virtues virtu eson on their side as shown in their strength of character cha character racier in the performance of the pioneer duty that made practicable the transcontinental trauis continental telegraph aud and railroad communication between the Ati atlantic antle and pacific the advance of civilization and growth of railroad towns aloag the route of the union pacific and denver and rio grande railroads across the great plains prevent the traveler of today to day conceiving how nuch much is due to this people as tb tafe pioneers of the great west as be his bis ease across the great plains in pullman car but the day has been when that same journey would have taken from two to ahr three ee months to accomplish surrounded surround ed with great peril from the marauda marauding ma ng I 1 savage stampedes and cies of travel now so little known min in the meantime the fight progress lea lea on one side the mormons cormons Mor mons strongly entrenched behind a religious faith which wh has heretofore sustained fully evinced that they have the divine probation and the key that will ve ive the evils of sexual crime and de ra dation which no afflict the human tee e on the other side the strong and erful government of the united tes ites who are operating against this api dpi ale depriving them of their liber by a stretch of the constitutional er apparent to so great an extent a committee of thy judiciary odthe of the se ise of representatives lately re ted d upon the necessity of jupt t to the constitution with a view aring ing upon this especial tenet of the mormon faith implying at once that heretofore the prosecution of the lat ter day dav saints was rather an encroach apon upon the principles contained in Constitution the that congress sh shall all sake no law respecting religion or pro the J free ree thereof va V R bat the end will be seems of little to the world at large but there exist alwer and religious faith among this peculiar people gathered together from the many nations of the earth england having havin contributed largely in this particular parti particular cufar that from the successful stul pioneering occupancy of once sterile utah which now bloomy blooms as the rose under their care and culture and shows in ua its public bullings bui lings ii a progress that Is ie in keeping with the spirit of the times and greatly to the praise of a population whose boast is that nine tenths of them live in homes of their own and who have materially increased the value of the nations r real eal estate to such an extent as to deserve better treatment at its hands bands respectfully fully W M |