Show THE MORMON PEOPLE the follow following 1119 statement from the utah Dele delegate ate to congress appeared in the pittsburg pa dispatch Dis june from the first the cormons mormons have contended that they were not under stood by the world that neither belthe r their r religion nor their conduct was investigated at by those not ot of them but that judgment u ent was and execution issued upon an ex pare statement of t the he case chit it was known that mormons cormons believed it eved in and practiced polygamy and as the christianity and the civilization of the age were both opposed to plural marriage what we term enlightened mankind turned against the mormons cormons without taking the trouble to inquire as an to the extent of the so called evil ia or to ask what manner of peopled people these theme mormons cormons were outside of their marital practices it 16 was assumed that all mormons were te that the women were of the offen offensive give class that the oriental harem was wall the prototype of our homes that immorality was prevalent and sanctified by religion and that the cornerstone of our faith was lust tetas betas vet aa a matter of fact polygamy was practiced by such a small percentage of the people as to make it little more than an incident in a great community numbering souls the mormon homes are and always have teen been as pure as the homes of other people mormon wives are as virtuous and modest and mormon men as regardful of the marital vows and obligations at ae the wives and husbands in any ally other christian society THE PUBLIC I 1 INFORMED proof that the american people are deplorably and inexcusably ignorant concerning our community to is furnished in the recent savage assault upon president eliot of harvard sity alty dr eliot did not applaud or justify polygamy he did biot ot even speak peak tolerantly ot or it on the contrary hie big address was in the nature of a congratulation to the country and to the cormons mormons themselves that polygamy had been discontinued he did however say a good word to and for the mormons cormons Mor mons not on account of their polygamy which no sane aane man should charge him with approving but because of those spiritual and material virtues uee of the mohmoud mormons of which ardi nary ap people le hove here so persistently refused to learn 1 rn HOW ELIOT REASONED the doctor saw la utah pretty and prosperous cities and thriving towns he saw stately business blocks and magnificent residences he met men and women who were in no respect inferior to the educated and cultured people with whom he be is in the habit of associating elsewhere in short he saw that a vigorous young american corn mon wealth had sprung up lip in the wilderness of a few years ago and he be very naturally concluded that what he be saw could not have been achieved by bi a depraved and immoral people it takes earnestness and integrity hon esty eaty and devotion brains and brawn and withal a sincerity of purpose to accomplish com con what a generation has brought bro tight forth to in utah president eliot knew this and he to is broad enough to recognize these virtues courageous enough to acknowledge them and manly enough to commend and applaud them it has been asserted among other things that the mormons cormons are largely foreign born and are alien adlen in sentiment it is in sufficient answer to this that the founders of the church were ne new Eng engenders landeres most of the early leaders being of puritan stock the successive census reports prove that the percentage of foreign born tion is lower in utah than in many of theelder the older states the community is in essentially american in birth and none the lose less so in sentiment training and ed education u bation MORMON patriotism within a few hours of the arrival of the pioneers in the salt lake valley brigham young and a few of his handful of followers climbed a lofty mountain overlooking the site of the present salt lake city and erecting a flagstaff thereon swung to the breeze the stars and stripes that mountain has since been known as ensign peak the flag of the mormons cormons always has been the flag of the american union it has waved continuously over all that broad land since the july day in 1847 when it was taken from the ax lu which it had been carefully transported over a thousand miles of trackless wilderness and raised in an country the national holidays and events inspiring enthusiasm in american breasts breatta have been celebrated in utah as elsewhere throughout the ibe land the comme mur active bonfires burning as brightly the cannon ro roaring as merrily the ad dresses dreimer breathing as doff deep i patriotism and the masses ilen enthusing t h us ng and applauding pla plau dingas as heartily and sincerely as aa in massachusetts or virginia all this talk which has been dinnel dinned into the ears ean of the american people for the thaid of a century to the effect that the mormons cormons are aliens and want log ing iu patriotism is malicious slander which has been dla proven every day though the evidence has been rejected by many professing patriots BELIEF IJ IN THE constitution the constitution of the united states has been the boast of mormons cormons always and you will hear from the pulpits and in the lowliest cottage the confident expression of belief that the greatest of human enactments to is an instrument inspired by the almighty indeed it is the patriotic belief religiously held that it is a part of the mission of the saints to preserve inviolate that sacred instrument and protect it by force of arms if need be against desecration brigham young was an american through and through his him ambition was w to build a commonwealth which would excite the admiration and command the respect of the nation he laid the foundation in americanism and built thereon to the time of his death the structure so cleverly designed and with which he made such remarkable progress has ban been carried forward upon the original plan largely under the inspiration of the founder the utah commonwealth which is no longer a mormon commonwealth as some still insist to is the case came is in destined to become the foremost the grandest and altogether the best in the great interior west and this thin will be so sd because of ef the honesty the devotion the religious sincerity and the broad Ameri americanism caul in in which the foundation was wag laid and on which the edifice is being erected recent events will accelerate the growth and development and in my opinion strengthen and acid improve the structure POLYGAMY HAS GONE the bormus Mor mus having withstood for halt a century an almost universally antagonistic sentiment have sees seen the of longer continuing the contest and have gracefully yielded they have forbidden plural marriages and given obedience to laws which they thought were unconstitutional but which they now respect since the authority to interpret and decide has upheld them polygamy could no more be resuscitated in utah than could slavery in the south the cormons lor mons have ac cepter the decree of the great arbiters to which all must bow the law and popular sentiment and having baring placed themselves in their civil capacity in harmo y with their follows the commonwealth which they founded and in which all the good people of utah without regard to creed or party are proud of membership will go forward with mighty strides the antagonistic elements which clashed so furiously during the long contest and vib which ich bad a more or less injurious t effect upon the state are last fast disappearing the former opponents coining together and working harmoniously in the building of the great state upon which all our hearts are set |