Show IN DEFENSE OP OF MORMONISM in the boston herald of oct 23 the following appears it is reproduced in the news by request A new york correspondent reported in last sundays herald an interview with wm R campbell a presbyterian missionary in salt lake city and a 12 years resident of utah on the subject of bf mormonism the statements made by mr campbell were in general a denial of the good faith of the latter day saints in their declaration against polygamy made shortly before utah was admitted as a state and a reiteration odthe of the somewhat prevalent opinion that the mormon church makes claims upon its members which are contrary to the spirit of american institutions it will be an interesting surprise to people living in this vicinity and especially to those of the college community to learn that a mormon a great grandson of brigham young and himself an elder in the Mormon Church la Is now a student of harvard mr levi edgar young for that Is his name is the first student admitted to harvard from the university of utah ubah and is taking advantage of the resources offered at cambridge for the study of history and especially for the study audly t of american history and inn t tutt A re reporter called goon town mr 1 who readily consented to 0 give this aid his bammen oom menta ts on the ii ta ic tonii fatow wan 1 afi i alfele 1 e whop wan it appears an 1 d a and n d was prepared to answer in detail what he considered the most inaccurate wid and the most misleading of the statements there made upon henr asked whether he had bad any general answer to make to the imputations pf af deceitfulness and bad faith of the Mor mons mr young toung replied of course when I 1 answer that question alon you win will know that I 1 speak as a mormon boy for I 1 am a mormon at the same time I 1 hope you will me when I 1 say may that I 1 am now try ing to speak in the interest of justice I 1 do hot hat know mr campbell and never heard of him but I 1 understand he to is a presbyterian missionary now the presbyterians rians especially those down in ft a county to the south of salt lake city show abow the greatest bigotry and prejudice in their relations with nay mt people the jews and the roman catholics show a fraternal spirit but the pres are narrow minded and intolerant era nt to come borne back then to your question I 1 will say that brought up as I 1 am in the mormon church and being thoroughly familar with its teachings I 1 know that mr campbells charges are utterly false and are due to his prejudice and ignorance in spite of the statement that he has made a careful study of the mormon question and i to thoroughly familiar with the mormons cormons themselves 11 what have you to say mr young to the idea expressed by mr campbell Camp belT and wiach it must be confessed Is prevalent in this part of the country that the mormon church makes m akes demands upon its adherents and allows them to act in a manner inconsistent with wl th american institutions so go far as concerns polygamy mr young replied 1 I know that the church has ceased to sanction it and that the law is being enforced I 1 recall now instances stances S within my personal knowledge where violators of the law nave been sent to prison mr campbell shows his ignorance of sociological laws when he ass assumes that the attitude of a community toward polygamy any more than in the case of slavery can be instantly changed by edlet edict then too it is certainly right that men who had several wives at the time of the manifesto should continue to provide for them hem I 1 know of only anly one of the specific instances of prominent polygamists alleged by mr campbell Oam and aind that is of a man maa who has simply continued to care for the wives he had previously married As to the relations of church and state mr campbells charges are utterly false in a sense a mans rell religion glon is the supreme power indis life but that the mormon church claims superiority over the state in the sense in which those words are accepted in such controversies trover sies to is untrue what mr campbell says about the political scheming of the mormons cormons is a grow gross misrepresentation of the facts he alludes to the last city election when as it happened the makeup of the city council was changed from belog being almost unanimously gentile to being almost entirely mormon the facts in the case were that a few gentlemen who I 1 admit were mormons cormons Mor mons got up a citizens ticket chiefly in opposition to the burdensome taxation which had followed the division on party lines this citizens ticket was not a mormon affair though some mormons cormons Mor mons as aa well as gentiles were back of it religion had nothing whatever to do with it and many prominent gentiles notably the last mayor of salt lake acty supported the ticket mr young declared that he be had ney nev 1 I er CT been prouder of hla his people or 0 of f his h is swe state than since he had come east bast H he was wa certain bertaln that the morality of salt lake city barni compared very favorably i with that of eastel ettles re he believed that the principles of christianity were nowhere more consistently lived up to than among the mormons cormons Mor mons and that a more god fearing honest and patriotic community could not be found the patriotism of the mormons cormons Mor mons he declared could not be questioned and he cited abraham Lincol ns call to brigham young for troops and the lat tatters reply that his bis people were poor but that if a sufficient number of young men could not be mustered then the old men would enlist and if there were still not enough then the women or of the state would do what they could though in cambridge as a student mr young toung said that he was here and everywhere as a representative of the mormon church and was glad to be able to do a little to remove the prejudice which even far fair minded people are accustomed to show toward those of his faith since he had come to the east he had suffered in a few instances from the intolerance of people whom he met lie he was waa most enthusiastic however in praise of the catholicity and fair mind edness of university men mem and said that without a single exception his relations with harvard teachers and students had been entirely free from religious prejudice or antagonism |