Demoine courier., 1854-08-10
MORMON!SM As 1T Is.

JUG Suiihh' tHe iIopuei, III MS early
visions, condemned polygamy; bu. in his
latter days. after decreeing special wife
to himself. proceeding 10 lay down the
general law, as it is now received by the
Mormons. as the prime article oil their
faith, and the corner stone of their social
polily. Thus j, runs
"And again, as pertaining 10 the law
of the priesthood, if any man espouses
virgin, and desire TO espouse another,
and the lirst give her consent; and il he
espoused the second, and they. are vir-
gins, and have vowed to see no other
man, then he was justified; he cannot
commi, adul,err, fo: they are given unto
him; for he canuoi commit adultery with
that tina, belonge,h unto him, and to none
else; and if he have ten virgins given
unto him by this law, he cannot commit
adultery. for they belong to him, and
they are given unto him; therefore he is
justified" - .. s.....
Les, the first wife should no, give her
consent, provision is made for dispensing
with il.
"And again, verify, verify, say unto
you. if any man have wife who holds
The Legs of :his power, and he teaches
unto her The law of my priesthood as
pertaining TO these things, then shall she
believe aud administer unto h!m, or che
shall be destroy ed. saith the Lord your
God; for will destroy her; for | will
magnify my name upon all those who
receive and abide my law. Therefore il
shall be lawful in me, if she receive not
this law, for him to receive all things
whatsoever |. the Lord his God. will
give unto him, because she did not be.
lieve and administer unto him according
TO my word; and she then becomes The
transs ressor. and he is exemp, from the
law Of Sarah, who administered unto
Abraham, according to tie law. when
commanded Abraham 10 take Hagar un
to wife. And nov as pertaining to this
law. verify, verify | say unto you, will
reveal more unto you hereafter, there,
fore let this suffice for the present. Be-
hold! | am Alpha and Omega. Amen"
Let US look lille a. the practical
workings Of the system, as seen and
described by Mr.. Ferris in his book jus.
published:
DoMEsTIc EcoNoMY.-'Polygamy,"
says Mr.. Ferris, us Introducing a new
style of building a, Sal, Lake City. A
man with half dozen wives builds, if
he can, long, low dwelling. having six
entrances from the outside; and when he
takes in. new wife. if able to do so,
adds another apartment. The object is
to keep the women and babies, as much
as possible, apart. and proven. those ter.
rible ca, fights which sometmes occur,
with all the accompanimen,s. Billings.
gate. torn caps and broken broom. sticks.
As tie divine institution extends, these
buildings increase, and in a few years
the city will look like collection of
barracks. for The accommodation Of sol.
diers. Some have separate buildings in
paris remote from each other, and Others
have farm houses, aud the wives are
thus kept separate, the husband dividing
his time between them all.
EFFECTS OF PoLYGAMY UPON Popu.
LATIoN.-"The etfec. upon population
is decidedly dele,erious, The prophet
Joseph had over forty wives a, Nauvoo.
and the res. Of the priesthood had va 4
rious numbers, corresponding TO their
standing and inclinalions; and nearly ell
the children of these polygamous mar
riages died a, that place; indeed, j. is al.
legged by Mormons, that not one was Ia
ken to Utah. Brig ham Young has 30
children. Of whom & are by his first and
second lawful wives; the remaining 22
are by his spirit"ais. He has about SO
wives. some of whom were widows of
Joseph Smith, and are probably past the
time Of having children; but, supposing
him to have 80 who are capable OF hav-
ing issue-which is below the true nam
ber-,he 22 children would be less than
one child 10 a concubine. If each of
these degraded females could have been
the honored wife of one husband, the
aggregate number Of children, according
to the usual average of four in family,
would be 100, showing loss in popula-
ton of o.
"The children are subject to fright
iul degree of sickness aud morality
This is The combined result of the gross
sensuali,y of the parents. aud want of
care toward their offspring. As gen
eral rule. The sanity pre.enders take as
lilile care Of their wives as OF their chill
dren. and Of both, less than a faithful
farmer in the States would of his cattle;
and nowhere out of the Five Points in
New York Guy can more filthy, mis-
erabe. aeglec:ed looking. and disordesly
rabDle Of children be found than in the
streets, OF Great Sall Lake City. The
Governor again, whose attention to his
mullifurious family we are bound to sup,
pose greater than the average, affords a
lair illustration. He was twice law fully
married, aud has eigh legitimate child,en.
who are all living. lie has had large
number Of children by his concubines-
no one knows how many-is is only
known that there are only twenty. two
surviving. These females do not reside