Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-03-25
tribes of robbers as the great basin of the

said IN the beginning, that the lmme-
diate practical interest We had in the Nor
mon question was securing our emigrant
routes to the Pacific. This interest, l fear,
will be more endangered by successful war
against the Mormons than in any other way.
We wish railroad; we wish the telegraph
wires to 'wreak themselves upon expression
through the centre of the continent How
can you accomplish either of these great
ideas, after you have driven the Mormons in
desperation and fury to the mountains? My
objection to offensive war is that, even if
successful, it defeats, more completely than
anything else, the very purpose We have in
view-securing our communications with
the Pacific.
The second mode of employing force
against the Mormons, shutting them up in
Utah, interrupting all communication with
them, seems to me the wisest kind of force
to adopt towards them, at least at first. By
that mode, with proper criminal legislation,
we may place the Mormons in such circum-
stances as may make them willing to obey
the laws. The only inconvenience this
mode of procedure will cost US will be
some addition, perhaps, to our military
strength, and more circuitous route for our
emigrant trains. The question is not free
from difficulty in any aspect. We should
choose the least of evils. Let us try peace
full means if they be possible; then the iso-
lating process. If all fail, then. war out
right will still be left to US. In the mean
time, something may turn up in the chapter
Of events. Then may be schism among
the Mormons, or something else that may
give us the opportunity of acting to more
advantage.
There is one consideration should not be
overlooked in this Mormon question. 1t is
this: that the greatest danger to the integri-
ty Of the Mormon faith is prosperity. The
greater their material, moral, intellectual
development, the less hold a false faith will
have upon them; the more likelihood of
woman asserting her divine mission among
them. In short, the more they become civ
ilized, the less they are Mormons. This
development will most certainly take place
by peace. Mormonism may be eternal a.
mong nomadic tribes, Arabs, or bandits; it
must perish out under the blaze of civiliza-
ton. Prosperity will destroy Mormonism ;
slowly, it may be, but, certainly. The
Turks, the Mormons of Europe, are perish
ing from contract with civilization. They
only proclaim great philosophical principle
when the recognize that they are only camp
ing on this side of the Bosphorus, and that
it is their destiny to return into Asia. Ci-
vilization is death to Mohammedanism or
Mormonism. Let US not lose sight of this
consideration in determining our policy to-
wards the Mormons.
Before I close, l would cite the House to
some remarks of Mr.. Burke, in the British
Parliament, on the subject of coercing the
American colonies. Mr.. Burke, in his cele.
brated speech on Cancellation with the A
merican colonies, says:
"First, sir, permit me to observe that the
use of force alone is but temporary. 1t
may subdue for moment, but it does not
remove the necessity of subduing again ;
and nation is not governed which is per-
petually to be conquered"
Suppose you defeat the Mormons in a
series of battles, and they Go not fly to the
mountains, but remain sullen, yielding an
enforced obedience under the shadow of
their holy temple !; how long will that last ?
As soon as you have withdrawn your troops
they trample your authority under foot. 1t
will oe necessary to keep large military
force permanently in Utah. Do you pro-
pose to do this? 1t will be very expensive
operation.
Again, Mr.. Burke says:
owe have no sort of experience ip favor
of force as an instrument in the rule of our
colonies Their growth and their utility
have been owing to methods altogether diff
ferent. The last cause of this disobedient
spirit in the colonies is hardly less powerful
than the rest, as it is not merely moral, but
laid deep in the natural condition of things
Three thousand miles of ocean lie between
you and them. No contrivance can prevent
the effect of this distance in weakening
government. Seas roll, and months pass,
between the order and the execution; and
the want of aspeedy explanation of single
point is enough to defeat whole system.-
You have, indeed, your winged ministers of
vengeance who carry your bolts in their
pounces to the remotest verge of the sea-
But there is power steps in, that limits the
arrogance Of raging passions and furious ele-
ments, and says, $50 far shalt thou go, and
no further Who are you that you should
fret and rage and bite the chains of nature?'
Nothing worse happens to you than does to
all nations who have extensive empire, and
it happens in all the forms into which en-
pire can be thrown. In large bodies the
circulation of power must be less vigorous
at the extremities. Nature has saidi it. The
Turk cannot govern Egypt and Arabia and
Cardistan, as he governs Thrace; nor has
he the same dominion in the Crimea and
Algiers which he has Brusa and Smyrna
Despotism itself is obliged to truck and
huckster. The Sultan gets such obedience
as he can. He governs with loose reign,
that he may govern at all; and the whole
of the force and vigor Of his authority in