New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-01-30

any prospect Of beog protected in doing so and TO
afford this protection to those standing in need oil
it has been stated though not in any official form'
as one Of the objects of the expedition.
II cannot be concealed. however, that spart
from all these reasons for the military occupation
Of Utah. there is still another view of the object oil
the expedition, which, more than all the rest, I'M
presses the popular mind and is generally accepted
as the object in view. The McrnOns have adopted
poypsmy as part Of their religious creed and sociA
prsctice-a system abhorrent TO our ideas and
manners. In this character of polygamsts, they
have become objects Of extreme antipsthy. Their
pretensions 10 peculiar spiritual enlightenment, and
to be the depositories of new revelation. cause
them to be regarded by many religious persons not
merely as dtluded fanatics, but as blasphemous
bypocrites Hence the pending expedition against
them il enthusiastically regarded as a sort OF holy
war, undertaken in the interests of morality and
religion. intended to convert the Mormons to more
correct ideas on the subject of matrimonial rea-
TORS and religious truth, to break up their
polygsmous households, and to compel them TO be
content with one wife each; or should they not be
brought to reason as to these matters BY the pre-
cept and example Of the new civil officers, seconded
by the officers and soldiers of the army, then to
resort to the remedy Of dispensing them by fire and
sword This view of the object of the expedition
is even taken end zealousy sustained on the floor
of Congress itself. If the Mormons are ready to
set themselves up IS Gods chosen people stand
ing in the place of the kraelites of old, there is
scarcely less disposition in other quarters to regard
them as q sort Of modern Canaanites whose infa-
nous wickedness affords sufficient warrant even for
their utter determination.
It il in this last character of the expedition that
the Mormons have resisted lie entrance into their
country. They deny the charge of any refusal OF
justice to, or Of wrongs and expressions exercised
upon, those persons resident in Utah or travelling
through it. not of their religious faith. They deny
that any part of their own people are held under
restraint beyond that domestic and legal restraint
which exists and must exist in all wel-ordered
communities. They deny that the officers Of the
United States who have left the Territory.
acted under any compulsion, or had any other rea-
son for their conduct except discomfort that they
could not have everything their own way. Their
objection to the entry of the troops into their
country is that they are TO be employed as the in
struments Of religious persecution, and that the
real object Of the expedition is to annoy rob and
plumber them, and to drive them out Of Utah they
have been heretofore driven out of Missouri and
Illinois.
The vast expense which must attend the main
tenance Of our army in Utah-not to mention the
horrors Of civil war; and the desperate character
of the resistance which the Mormons threaten TO
oppose to the entrance of the troops-afords
abundant reason why the necessity of this opera
ton should be fully established and its object
clearly explained. What information may be in
of the Executive, We do not know; but
all the actual knowledge which the public possess
is very limited. II the Mormons have chosen to
pay more Difference to their religious chiefs than
TO the officers appointed for them by the United
States Government-if they have preferred the
arbitration of enc tf their bishops or elders TO
SUIT Ium before Judges not of their appoint
ment-that is no more than they were at liberty to
do. We can well conceive that the officers ap-
pointed by the United States might find their Offices
almost or quite Il sinecure, and that the church
jurisdiction might gradually elbow the civil jaris-
diction aside, without any acts on the part
of the Mormons in actual defiance oflaw. We can
well imagine, too, that in fanatical community
like that of Salt Lake City the few resident "Gen
tiles" might find themselves in an uncomfortable
position and subjected TO thousand annoyances,
which yet might not place the MOrmons in the
attitude of legal wropgdoers. Unfortunately it is
not necessary TO 90 so far as Utah to find abundant
cases Of that sort. 1t is TO be supposed, however,
that the investigation proposed by Mr.. Wilson
would show something stronger than anything Of
this sort-such resistance TO law as would fully
Justify the Administration in having originally I'M
dertaken the expedition. 1t would also afford the
Government an excellent opportunity for explain
ing precisely what they ntead the troops shall do
an exposition in the present state of public opinion
much needed, and which might leave the Mormons
without any colorado grounds 10 resist the en-.
trance of the troops.
II is the rule for all persons TO growl and groan
at Corporations established 10 supply by the aid Of
CAPITAL. what individual wealth would