The weekly Arizona miner., 1873-05-17
Brigham and the Mormons.

About the list of April, Brigham Young resigned the Presidency of the Deseret Ma .3aal Bank, the Presidency of Zions Co- operative Mercantile institution, and bis | office of Trustee in Trust for the Mormon | Church, thus relieving himself of all respon- sibity in connection with those institutions | and retaining only the Presidency of the | Church, which be will probably never reIin- quish. |
 The effect of these rcsisnatious will be l likely to cause a more liberal spirit among the | Mounons towards the Gentilcs. and tO open | the way for unrestricted commerce between | tue Saints and the outside world. Twenty | wears ago Brigham led the Mormon emigra- ! ton to Salt Lake, and from that time to the l present has wiclded autocratic sway in Utah, | carrying out his own plans in defiance of the United States Government at times, and, un- til within a few years, rsoi,ting every endeay- or of the outside world to gain fOothold in his domains. The opening of The Pacific Railroad, and the Discovery of enormously large and rich silver mines, brought m emi- grafton from all portions of the country so rapidly that it could not be resisted, and Brig ham ssgaciously ioreseeing that the ultimate result must be a weakening of both his spir itual and temporal power, wisely decided to resign the latter and let the blame of it's over throw fall on other heads.
 While Brigham Young was trustee of the ! church he was responsible to no one, and it Is generally believed that he used and appropria ted the millions of money that passed through his hands in making ample provision for the support and future pecuniary independence of hls family of sixteen wives and siXty-three children. He is now sevcnty-two years old, 1 and no longer able to cope with the obstacles ! in the way of the realization of his plans for an independent State, therefore he yields gracefully to the force of circumstances and 1 the progress of the age and abdicates. He does not, however, propose to abjure the pc | cular tenets of Mormonism, but proposes ! that the faithful shall in a new wilderness, start new settlement founded upon the same principles that have been so successful in building up the waste places of Utah. To ! that end he sent commissioners to Arizona some two years ago to select favorable loca- | tions for settlements, and it is understood l that the neighborhood of the San Francisco ! Mountains was reported on as being suitable 1 for the purposes in view.
 The locality in question is 75 to 100 miles northeast from Prescott, having large quan- | tity of fertile soil, plenty of water and any quantity of pine timber, and vast extent of ! grazing land.
 A gentleman recently from St George, Utah states that an advance guard consisting of TOO men, women and childred, with all their 1 household goods is now on the way to this new haven of rest.
 The train will cross the Colorado River at the mouth of the Virgin River, and proceed directly to the spot selected.
 If this be true there is no reason to doubt the success of the scheme, for the Mormon Church has ample means to provide every thing necessary to place the colony at once on a sound basis.
 Brigham's own words in a letter to the
 New York Herald on thls subject are these {:
 We intend establishing settlements in Arlzona, in the country of the Apaches, persuaded that if
 we become acquainted with them we can influence
 them to peace In accordance with President Grant $
 Indian policy and open up that country to settle
 meDt by the whites. Our cities, towns and villa gcs now extend about four hundred miles in that diTection and, in view of the railroad crossing that country, we hope to be prepared to assist in it's construction aud when completed, bring large portion Of our emigration that way to set- tie the cOutry.
 We shall welcome such an emigration and
 the sooner it comes, the better. The religi-
 ous belief and practices of the Mormons will not hurt the Apaches nor interfere in any
 way with the predjudices of Arizonans, and
 their presence in Arizona will be very ma
 terial help 10 us in more ways than one.
 Some of the Mormon leaders will, Of course accompany the emigrants, and, no matter how many wives they have, we shall be glad to see the same style of industry put in practice m
 Arizona that has built up hundred flourish ing towns and cities in Utah in tue last
 twenty years.
 The Mormons are rich and strong, and if the most fanatical of their number leave
 Ctah, they will not leave empty handed.
 Their landed property has increased in value
 during the last five years and will bring large
 prices even at forced sale, and those who leave
 Utah for Arizona or elsewhere, can leave in
 peace and with plenty of this worlds goods.
 great contrast to the feeble, poverty -strick-
 en band who camped 26 years ago on the present site of Salt Lake City which now contains 5,OOO inhabitants. That majority of the MOrmons will leave Utah cannot be expected. But the resignation of Brigham is
 the beginning ot the solution of the Nor.
 mon question. His iron rule relaxed. and
 his power delegated 10 dozen other trus. tees and financial agents, discipline will be
 relaxed, property holders will submit to | $. Laws. and in time, the distinctive and re ) pugnant features of Mormonism in Utah vii ! disappear.
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