Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-15
ExTINGUIsHMRNT OF MORMONISM.

/ Before the Pacific Railroad was
built, before the mines of Utah were
opened, before the dressmakers and
milliners upsurped the place of
"Zion's Mercantile Cooperative In
stitute,n y and made polygamy too cost
ly to be pleasant-before these things
happened, Mormanism was compact,
strong, power. 1t formed the estate
of DeSeret" and rejected the lower
title of TERRITORY of Utah" But
when the railroads grappled Utah
to the United States with links of
steel; when tens of thousands of
Gentle miners rushed into the Ter
ritOry and vexed the Saints with
display of force beyond their power
to conquer, and-alas-with dis
play of reckless dissipation before
unknown to the sedate city by the
Great Salt Lake; and when an epi-
demic of shopping seized upon the
Mormon matronS, so that seven wOm-
en- laid hold of one man and simulta-
neously said: Sour husband, we want
new spring bonnets," then Zion was
cast down and the ungodly exalted
their horns (of Bourbon straight).
Since these great changes, Mormon
ism has been sustained by the will
of few strong souls. 1t is a very
noteworthy fact that there are no
young men of sufficient prominence
and popularity, zeal or piety, to
lead the Latter-Day Saints, when the
old leaders die. The despotic sway
of Brigham Young and his three or
four chosen assC Cciates has reduced all
its subjects to an apparent dead-level
of stupidity. Even the present lead
ers are losing power every day. In
the dark days of 1868, Young sent
an insulting message to Col. De Tro-
BRAND, since prominent in Louisiana,
but then commanding the fort that
overlooks Salt Lake City, bidding
him pull down that ''rag" on his flag
staff. That "rag" was the flag of
our country. De Trobriand's reply,
backed as it was by battery of
guns trained on the palace of the
Prophet, brought down the flag of
the estate of Deseret" with head
long haste, and gave Mormon inso-
lence an effectual shock. Old res,
idents in Salt Lake City say tn at
Young's power has been wanin g
since that day. 1t is still great,
however. In 1871 when a collision
with the Uuited States seemed neal
at hand, the different stores OF
"Zion's Mercantile Cooperative In
stitute" suddenly displayed thou,
sands of rifles and revolvers, and the
faithful, urged on by their apostles,
bought weapons until the streets
were full of armed men and boys
and even a woman, carrying a rifle
on her shoulder was not an infre
quent sight. TLen Young harangu
ed vast audience in the Taberna-
Gle, and as he exhorted them in
language that broke through the
shackles of both grammar and sense,
to be ready to defend their creed
with their lives, a mufied hum Of
stern applause resounded from aisle
to aisle. No other man could have
held that multitude in his hand 81
thoroughly. 1t needed but another
word from him to precipitate {
crazy revolt.
But when Death tears this prophet
priest, and king from the bosoms Of
his family, the cohesive force of Nor
monism will be gone. The man who
could have supplied his place better
than any other has just died. He
was Geo. A. Smith, First Vice-Pres
i. ident of the Church for the last tel
or twelve years. He was next tC
Brigham, but his dream of succeed
ing him never can be realized now
His religious hate of the gentiles haC
been intensified by their driving hin
from his homes in Illinois and Mis-
souri,. Twice all his property hat
thus been taken from him. On thai
September Sunday in 1871, he spoke
in fierce, short words, to knot o
Saints and Gentiles, of his resolV,
never to see himself so robbed again
T if he gave his life in defense of hi
home. The cluster of hearers brok
r up into groups OF two or three, ant
as one of these strolled away it
Mormon member said to the Gentil
journalist by his side: "Smith Is ou
hope for the future" That hope
dead. The journalist to whom tn
: words were spoken writes this rec
ord of their nonfulfllment.