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Show ! WHAT THEY WILL NEVER DO. A Wild Idea That the Mormon Will Flock to Nevada and Bun That State. Washington, March 1. It is said the Mormons are contemplating a most daring dar-ing move. Heretofore they principally selected Territories in which to live. From Utah they have branched out to Idaho, New Mexico and Arizona. Like all residents of Territories, they are under j the direct control of Congress and amena-' amena-' ble to the laws passed at Washington. The rigidity of the laws against polygamy and the unrelenting enforcement of them by the Federal Court3 of Utah, have forced the problem on the Mormons of how to escape from the control of the j Federal authorities. If they controlled j the State by a majority vote, it is thought j by some that a solution would be found, i They would then be free from the inter- j ference of Congress, and might carry out j their polygamous practices in defiance of j Federal law. It is said that Nevada is the field selected in which it will in the end make its defiant stand against the general government gov-ernment and make perpetual Mormonism and its institutions. Their obvious course j to attain this position is by an immigra-; tion into that State sufficient to command ' a majority at the polls. Once dominant there, with the power of making, amend- j ing and administering the local law, their I situation will be one of pre-eminent value, and they will have enlisted for their pro- ' tection the States rights doctrine. That j they have not yet made a direct move in J this direction is due, not to their inability j in several years past, but to the fact that j they have everything to gain by delay. I While the population of Nevada has been diminishing, the Mormons have been augmenting by an average yearly addition ad-dition of 2,000 converts and by natural increase the result of plural marriages and the prolificness of the healthy agricultural agri-cultural people who compose their rank and file. Until they declare themselves, no one outside the faith can know how many Mormons are already in Nevada, living unmarked in a community not addicted to religious inquisition. |