The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1875-11-04
'aaDeeiine Of slormonism.

City writes to the New York Graphic:
The Utah question has assumed
new phase. It is now industrial and COM
imercial rather than moral, political in
stead of religious. Brigham is great in
his little empire, but silver mines and
railroads are ereatef, and even the Nor
mon theoerat is Learning to yield grace
fully (when there, is no help for it) to the
inevitable.
isi "One narrow gauge railroad does more
to break mp the exclusiyeness of a. Nor
mon village than would ten missionaries;
a rich silver mine is foe to theocracy,
and a dozen Gentle ladies', arrayed In
the latest New York styles, are SO many
peripatetic sermons on the folly and cost
of 5polygamy, The tpatriarchal system
was, all very well when both sexes dressed
In valley tam (the home made fabrics of
Utah), and a mans wives supported
themselves and helped support him but
now-well, the modern changes have
evertaken Salt Lake City, and already
their capital islspoken of by provincial
Mormons as luke-warm Laodicea. OF
the religion the well-to-do Mormons of
Salt Lake have precious little they hold
to the system because all their earthly
interests are identified with it. fa
a Mormonism in a family never out
lasts one gereration. The more bigoted
the parent the more certain is the child
to grow, up an apostate. Out of thou
sand young saints (this is lthemodest tile
the Mormons give themselves with
whom ! am acquainted do not know
one exception; they are one and all un-
believers. Young saints as they near
maturity regularly divide into two bodies,
Spiritualists and Infdels. The system
has no moral power over the young (;
they give up the religion of their parents
and adopt, no other in its stead, and hav-
ing no philosophy to serve in place of
religion their morality is of a very con-
venfional type. While Orson Pratt elo-
quently holds forth at the Tabernacle on
the Divine Authenticity of the Book
of Mormon, or laboriously proves from
the Gospel. of Isaiah and Joe Smith that
all Gentle governments, that of the
United States in particular, are doomed
to speedy destruction, his son, Arthur,
with equal zeal, serves the hated GENTLE
government as a United States Marshal,
while another son practices law in the
same Federal Court where his father is
daily liable to be cited asa criminal. Heber
Kimball, of pious and vulgar memory,
leftsome forty sons; Utah to-day does not
contain male Kimball who is an ortho-
dox saint, nor would any of the girls
be If they were not IN polygamy, and
therefore hopelessly bound. Brigham,
Young has, something like a hun
dred children and grandchildren.
Excluding those who are in. polygamy
or who have paying positions in the
church, there is not good saint among
them. He had three Legitimate sons by
his first wife. OF these John w. di-
.yorced his Mormon wives, repudiating
the whole system, and married GENTLE
lady. Joseph A. died last summer of
| whisky cramp,' and young Brigham
still holds on, expecting to be his father g
successor. This is fair average of the
Heading families. Obviously Mormonism
must either re sustained entirely by new
converts or expire in due time by nat
/ ,ural Limitation. .gH5f7 Jd 11e Iaf
10 sc Polygamy is certainly not on the in
crease. Some people have thought it
WOulQ De laW6Q Out Vi oAlSucllCO euiAih
it much more apt to be laughed out.
There is something SO very ridiculous In
| the Mormon theory and practice OF
plural marriage that ] think the, govern
ment instead of law might well afford to
| hire dozen or more keen wits and turn
them loose in Utah with their trenchant
pens, with general instructions to write
the thing up. Here is rich field for
another Nasby who will ENTER in and
4 work it9 But, to do them justice, the
! resident .Gentiles. have shown this up
pretty well. All the local slang, quips,
and Jokes seem to turn on polygamy.
They have made it ridiculous, and the
Mormons in this city show in a dozer
ways that they are ashamed of it. 1t ID
1 felt by the young saints to be a burden
and a disgrace, and they refuse to entel
that condition. Now, if I possessed
plenary Legislative power for Utah, !
would establish but one law. If mar
married two or more wives would con
denim him to support them and theirt
and live in one house with both.
Polygamy, in truth, brings its own pun
ishment, and is to poor man twice a
bad as an average penitentiary. Nearl.
all the polygamists are dog poor,' NJ
matter how much property they nomi
nally own. 80 .'' 20 ''i-7 ''iL