The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1870-02-25
THE MORMON QUESTION.

oOliu L. IdZHafis TIT GnlLGu kStteSNf
Assessor for Utah Territory, has beer
before The Congressional Committee
and gave his testimony as follows:
This committee are endeayoring tC
become acquainted, as fully as possible
with the condition of affairs in Utah
with view to determine what legisla.
ton should be had, and would be glad
to have You state in your own way what
Won know of matters in that Territory
Answer. Well, in the first place,
may safely say that confirmed Mormons
recognize and observe no law, except
such as they are compelled to observe
so far as the revenue department is con
.cerned. ] know that they DO not scru-
pie at amy means they can eontFiFe to
evade the revenue law. Six of the As
sistant Assessors. previous to my going
there, were MofnOas. After fully in
vestigating the matter, l was forced to
conclude that these six Assessors used
partiality in behalf Of MOrmons. lei
the matter run until became thorough
ly convinced, and then removed them
Since that time my assessments have in
creased more than 100 per cent. Again,
in July last, OH seeing the decision OF
the Commissioner in regard to the prop
erty ofa religions society in Ohio, de-
Gliding that the income of their church
was taxable for revenue purposes,
became convinced that the Mormon
Chnrch would cone under the same r,lle
/ accordingly wrote to the Commission.
or with regard to the matter, and re-
ceived from him instructions to make
the assessment on the income of the
property of the "Church ofJesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints" Upon this
notified Brigham Young, through my
Assistant Assessor, to make out re.
turn of the income of the Church, of the
property of which he is trustee. In
response to that requisition, he sent me
a sarcastic reply, which l have brought
with me-for the purpose of placing the
matter before the Commissioner
Young's name is not signed to it, but
the Assistant Assessor makes the affida.
Wit, which you see attached to it; had
him do it, because l know Young well
enough to know that he would crawl
out ofthe matter ifc could. Here it is
FROM BRIGHAM YoUNG TO THE UNITED
STATES ASSESSOR, August 20, 1869
We, the government of the United
States, have no knowledge of any such
person as the E'trustee in trust of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints" nor of any such organization
as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints" Ifthere ever was such an
officer, or such an organization, we, the
Government of the United States, have
abolished them out ofeXistence by legal
enactment, approved July /, 1862.
The witness says he made an assess
ment at last himself, and secured $50,
900 of revenue. He proceeds to say
that the prosecution of the law against
polygamy has never succeeded. Al
10 =
Mr.. Steinhouse's daughter for his third
wife, as was VIGOROUSLY known
the Territory, Steinhouse,
when brought before the Grand Jury,
swore he didn't know whether his
daughter was married to Joseph a.
Young as his wife or not. It is difficult
to obtain competent evidence, as the
plural marriages take place in the ell
dowment house. Persons married out
of the endowment house are married
only for the time, but i'll the endow-
ment house they are married for time
aud for eternity. The woman receives
nothing to show that she is married.
Divorces are granted only by Brigham
Young.
Q. 1t has been stated before this COM
mittee that it use to be the case that di-
vorces were granted by Young entirely,
but that now the parties applied to the
Probate Court, rs matter of form.
A. / do not know as to that. know
Mrs. Clarke told me it was prohibited
to the courts for matters of this sort !;
that whenever q party wanted n di-
vorce, applications had to be made to
and the applicant was COM
PEELED to pay him $40, and, If the other
party objected, and Young was CON
winged that they ought TO be separated,
he signed for them. This (exhibiting
another paper to the committed is n Leg
acy return, the first ever made iii that
territory. There is Ist of Al names,
the children of Heber c. Kimball. He
had 81 children in all, but Is of them
died. / have taken the strong physio-
logical ground, though Young says l
lie like h-ll;' that the Almighty him
self has provided for the drawing out of
polygamy through the operation of
natural laws. L base the opinion on
the fact that out of every 100 children
born in polygamy, 20 are males.
lave the statistics of 257 families, and
names just picked up here and there,
not selected with any reference to this
question, and in those 257 families, SO
out o each 100 of the children are males.
The day before l left, David Caudland,
chief clerk of the ''Zion's Cooperating
Institution" told me he had
10 boys under IL years of age, and 6
Q. Do you think it would be expedi-
emit for the United States Government
to suppress polygamy by force, know
ing what you do of the condition of the
Territory.
A. Yes, sir,-I think it would. In the
first place, L do not think that any force
would be required. / do not believe,
so far as this bill is concerned, should
it become law, that there ever would
be twenty cases tried under it before
the courts. In less than six months
after the passage of the bill, the whole
thing would quietly dissolve away.
of women with but one or
two children. would take themselves
out of the Territory as soon as they
could get out. There would be plenty
of other cases like that of the wife ,of
Brigham Young, Jr., who came to Phil
ldelphia to visit her friends and explain
to them the beauties of Mormonism,
but who has never yet gone back.
q. Suppose the bin, or some other
bill with substantially the same provis-
ions, should pass Congress and become
a law, would the officers of the law be
able TO enforce it?
A. think so. Just now the people
are wonderfully excited and playing
their usual game of bluff. but should
this bill pass | am confident that Brig
ham Young would have another revela-
ton very quick, commanding polygamy
to be done away with. / believe that
| 900 troops sent out there would be
the best thing that ever occurred. l do
not think we need a man to insure Sc
curity to life or property of any Gentle,
but 1000 troops would strengthen the
backbone Ofthose disahected Mormons.
But that would not be sufficient to break
mp the system of polygamy. The lead
ers of the schism are as strongly in ia
vor of polygamy as Brigham Young
himself
Q. Suppose this bill should become
law, making polygamy criminal Of
Tense, what would be the consequence
TO the plural wives and their children
who would be sent adrif?
a. They would be in hundred per
cent. better condition than they are to-
day. In that case the women would
only have to support themselves and
their children, and that they do now.
Not only that, but in many cases they
support their husbands too. l know
of cases where men have married for
the purpose of having women support
them, and who are so supported by the
labor of their wives. The same mount
of labor on the part of the women that
now support themselves and their hus-