The Holt County sentinel., 1873-05-02
The Mormon Failure.

IuE resignation of Brigham YOUNG
VIII surprise most people, though IL was
expected by few. 1t is due to several
causes. His age and WEAKNESS are mere
pretexts and excuses besides, were he
old and worn out, he would naturally re-
tire gradually, resigning trust after trust.
to find repose in the bosom of his numer-
Gus families, and amidst the scenes of
prosperity and thrift he has done so much
TO create. lie Is a man of action and
analrs, and his sudden surrender of every
post and responsibility, and purposed de-
parture from the city he built up In n
desert, means much more than fatigue
ana the feeling of age. 1t has been evil
dent for some time, to shrewd observera %p %p
that many of the Mormon leaders have
looked upon the fate of their peculiar In.
stitution as practically sealed. Mr.. Young
mas merely anticipated an event he saw
was inevitable.
In fact, the Mormon experiment has
failed. Its domestic institutions are an
anachronism. Its social politv pre. SIM
poses a semi-civilized condition. lis
ecclesiasticism was adjusted to a state of
ignorance and docilty which no Longer
exists. 1t is compound of Orientalism
and Catholicism, with the practical
shrewdness, energy, sagacity, pluck. and
determination of the North and West,
Inc elements were incongruous. The
tmlng was out of time and out of place,
Inc failure was in the Institution, and its
want OF harmony with our age and civili-
zatlon. instead of trying to bring the
rear-guard of society UP to the front lines
of advance in culture and virtue, IL organ
lZed retreat, and entrenched the strap
glers from the ranks behind embanf-
ments OF tradition and custom in resist
ance 10 the onward movement of mankind.
ana the failure became patent as soon
as lt was found impossible to preserve
a state of practical Independence
and isolation. The Mormon leaders
showed great sagacity and forecast in
taking their forlorn hope through the
deserts and wilderness, to q region which
seemed to be cut off from the whole ont
slde world BY Its distance and peculiar To-
cation. They did not anticipate the dis
coVery OF gold and silver, the immense
emigratlon westward, the rapid formation
vi STATES al about their own. They did
not iorsee that their capital would be a
station on the great central highway of
the nation. The Pacific Railroad was NOT
dreams. '"'ii
| Inc failure Of Mormonism is due TO the
lorce OF circumstances and influences its
astute, leaders failed to foresee. The
growth OF an outside population; the de-
Velopment of interests, Industries and
enterprises entirely Independent of its re-
strlctions; the spread of popular intelli-
gence and literature and institutions; the
spirit OF the age, which, however impal-
pa0le, Is resistless as the climate--all
conspired to produce its fall The nine
teenth century was too much for Brigham
Young. The fiction of the United States
authorities created an uncomfortable irri.
tatlon, 1t Is true; but its direct interior.
ence was contrary TO the genius of our i'm.
sututlons, which know no sect in religion
ana no social usages, save as they inter.
lere with the operation of the laws. 1t was
not the'action OF the government, but OF
the intellectual and social and moral forces
pehlnd the Government, that did the work,
me death-blow to Mormon rule was
struck by the first pick which broke the
soil Tor the Pacific Railroad. 1t has been
uecllhlng ever since. The resignation OF
its great leader marks an important stage
IN inevitable decay. Its history shows
tne lInpossiDility OF creating anomalous
and abnormal institutions in an ace and
nation which have public schools, a free
press, railroads, telegraphs, and universal
suffrage. Its failure proves that erron-
eous theories and questionable institu-
tlons can be more effectually overcome bv
argument and education and general en-
Ightenment, than by legislative amend
ments. Civilization is stronger than
statutes. Public opinion is more irresisti-
Bile than the police. The courts NAV
persecute, but the railroad, the school,
ana the newspaper overcome.--Ne,o Fork