Show presbyterian resolutions SOLUTIONS KE the kingdom an independent te lillous paper issued at minneapolis prints the subjoined sub joined reply to the rego eions of the utah presbytery ty at fl semiannual semi annual meeting in mantl manti aug 29 21 1898 1111 the reply is by dr gumlack sumner gleason of uth utah the presbytery of utah at its semiannual meeting held aug 29 1891 formulated a series of seven sevea resolutions ians on the present Sit situation in 10 utah the resolutions declare that th mormon church has ads returned to poll ties that it has determined to take calt n arol of the stater spools that t vol polygamy lyta at still flourishes in utah that oh vr influence allen silences cei those who could tea to this lawlessness and prevent an expression of public opinion that beet mormon missionaries rely reli on questionable methods for their suy port WN that these missionaries carry a gospel reserving the more doctrines of mormonism until the jhb converts become stronger in faitel these resolutions are so 80 at 0 variance with the olf such a pervet perversion eldh of the an em of aft th tatt ek existing lating condei tic eions as to call ba indignant protest from and nd gentile aliks first th eyare unfair to te pie who give money to missions utah viete missions are a complete f failure ato SM as an converting the people are conce in this fieda field ve preacher has been laboring for eleven yews bews without babias made mada a single confort wo WF as I 1 faai learn and it looks as these resolutions where were W an am on the part of thi the minister to divert at tenion from the lack of of their labor and make it appear that they are earning their salaries second they are unjust to eastern people who contemplate moving to utah giving them the idea that it is impossible for a non mormon to live at peace with mormons cormons Mor mons and that their children are liable to be contaminated by mormon doctrine third they are a direct injury to myself and other non mormons cormons living in utah increasing the bitterness of the mormon people against us and engendering strife keeping up the old conditions which are rapidly becoming only a remembrance fourth they are an injustice to the mormon people as they make general and sweeping charges not one of which is supported by a single attempt at proof not to take up too much space I 1 will refer to but one or two of these resolutions lut ions the second is as follows fol laws second in addition to the political control the church has determined to take control of the state schools in most of the towns and villages of the commonwealth h only mormons cormons are elected to serve as trustees and teachers in the public schools non mormons cormons at certain points have been notified that since they cannot teach what parents wish their children to know mormon doctrine there is no room for them and they must seek employment elsewhere this is an insinuation that mormon doctrine is taught in the public schools which Is not the case the Th state eState schools are governed entirely by the state school laws which do not allow any sectarian doctrine to be taught in a public school in most towns and villages there is a good reason why only mormons cormons should be elected to serve as trustees and teacher sas mormons cormons form almost if not quite the entire population of these places in this district the population of non mormons cormons Is not more than ten per cent of the mormon population the census of 1895 gives the percentage of non mormon school population and four and one fifth per cent taking the last seven years the percentage of non mormon teachers aei compared with mormon teachers is 35 per cent the fourth resolution reads fourth that this situation way may be perpetuated and this peculiar pe cular institution polygamy flourish that ubiquitous thing known as church influence so affects men that those who could testify to this lawlessness are silent juries refuse to find indictments and officers make no arrests hence religious adultery goes unpunished and the kingdom grows apace from the heads of the church down polygamy flourishes 11 I 1 if such is the case and if as is affirmed in the third resolution that of such cases more than two thousand have come to our notice and this living has resulted in the birth of more than one thousand children since statehood was waa granted jan 4 1896 why have the framers resolutions not brought the evidence before the courts the deseret news humorously asks it Is possible that mormon church influx ent s so and j that to testify specifically before juries and officers of th the law of that which they are not afraid to allege gene genera llly by public resolutions one As a family physician I 1 think I 1 am itt in as good a position to know of such cases as any of the trainers framers of these resolutions and during seven year experience peri ence in utah I 1 have never known of i a single well authenticated case that there are such cases I 1 have no doubt I 1 but I 1 think it is remarkable they are so infrequent the younger generation of mormons cormons arn arc ashamed asha sned of a good portion of the past history of their church chur eb and protest against being judged by it they are as true to their families and have as little desire to practice polygamy as any class of young people in the united states the attempt to force them in to it would disrupt the mormon church As a physician and friend I 1 visit their homes sit by their fi resides and eat at their tables and I 1 can safely e say that there are as beautiful children as happy homes and as noble lives among the mormons cormons as anywhere in the country so far as I 1 have studied the mormon belief I 1 consider it a most absurd thing a mixture of superstition and hysteria but I 1 do not believe it is if itself degrading as the reverend gentlemen would have us believe or that it is necessary to abuse and malign the mormon people in order to teach them something better the work of the mission sion teachers in utah has been productive of great good education offered in a spirit of love is all that Is necessary to antagonize mormon doctrine and all honor be to the faithful body of workers who have labored so quietly and earnestly under such auch disheartening circumstances I 1 have said utah miss missions lons so far as the preachers are concerned are a failure why these resolutions and others similar which have appeared periodically are a sufficient answer A characteristic incident occurred in this field on decoration day when the presbyterian sunday school was not allowed to march to the graveyard although invited to do so because a mormon hymn was on the program such methods as these cannot fall fail to bring upon the originators the con tempt of all right minded people SUMNER GLEASON MD Kays utah sept 13 1898 |