The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-05-06
Almost . Confession from Brig ham
Young.

to face justice In a somewh hat startling man
ner. Our correspondent ut Salt Lake City
teiegraphs that Colonel Dame has issued an
order to the officers of his regiment for
drill and inspection of arms, on election OF
officers and the filling up of the ranks OF the
regiment. He reminds US of the course OF
Calaveras county rough, as related by his
friend and fellow murderer:-"Jim Long
was the quietest man you ever see he just
hated to be shooting people; but when he
saw the constable coming to arrest him his
feelings were hurt, and he just drew his
revolver and shot him. What else could he
do? He couldn't run away"
We suppose the Mormon colonel, like
Jim Long, cannot run away; he means to
face justice, and he is getting his revolver
ready. In the Southern Mormon settle
ments our correspondent reports military
preparations are particularly active Four
boxes of breech- loading rifles were shipped
to those parts last week from the co-opera-
tive store at Salt Lake City-"Zion's Co
operative Store" it used to be called on the
sign-and there are night meetings for mill
tary drill in the city itself Finally, Brig
ham Young has said that "the Mormons,
who have been driven SO far and SO often,
will be driven no longer" If it is generally
Brigham has said so much MS this we advise
Governor Emory to be on his guard. That
the Mormons would have the folly to attack
United States troops directly we do not be-
leve, but they are capable Of desperate
things, and Brigham Young and the other
leaders evidently dread further
investigation Of the Mountain Meadows
massacre. They gave up Bishop Lee
after vain but energetic efforts to save
him, and they evidently imagined that
this one sacrifice would quiet justice Now
that they find that the great horror is to be
further pried into by the courts they are
desperate.
We print elsewhere long and interesting
conversation with Brigham Young and sew
eral other Mormon chiefs, held with the
HERALD's correspondent on the 18th of
April. The Mormon leaders talked very
freely, as will be seen, and WHILE of course,
all OF them denied any knowledge on their
part or concern in the massacre of the Ar
kansas train q careful perusal of their state
ments does not decrease, but, on the con-
trary seriously increases, the suspicion that
the dying confession of Lee, as made to our
correspondent, is true, and that he was only
acting under the orders Of the heads of the
Mormon Church when he took part in the
cruel massacre of tho emigrants. They
united, of course, in imputing all the blame
to Lee, who is dead. But they talked SO
freely that they entered into minutin which,
as we have said, confirm the suspicion that
Young and the other Mormon chiefs could
not but have known all about the matter.
We think it worth while to point out few
of these suspicious admissions
John W. Young, Brigham's son, said to the
HERALD correspondent that he was with his
father when Lee came to report the details
of the massacre, and that Brigham would
not hear them. Gather stopped him. say
ing that the rumor which had already
reached him was SO horrifying that he could
not bear to hear a recital" Now, nobody
who knows the thorough and almost mill
tary organization of the Mormon colony un-
der the dictatorship of Brigham Young, and
the extremes to which espionage was carried
by him SO as to give him an absolute COM
mand of his people, will believe that Young
ever refused to hear news, if it was news to
him. If he refused to listen to Lee it was
because he already knew all that Lee had to
tell him and did not mean to be further con-
cerned in it. In those days and for many
years later nothing no trivial incident,
even, could happen in Utah without being
brought to the ears Of Brigham Young and
his chief counsellors. They interfered con-
stantly in all the affairs Of their people.
Young made himself their earthly Provi-
dence they lived where he placed them,
planted what he told them to, moved away
when he ordered them, bought and sold at
his instructions-as, indeed, it was admit
ted to our correspondent that orders had
gone out not to sell corn for feed to the
emigrants. No travellers could enter Utah
without the knowledge of Brigham, and if
the federal officers will investigate with suf-
fcient persistency they will discover that
no one could leave Utah without Brigham's
permission.
When Young therefore, told our corre-
spondent that he was merely the spiritual
head of the Church, with no temporal au-
thority, and suggested that he was not
rigidly obeyed, he related what must have
made his Mormon listeners smile But
Daniel II. Wells, who spoke at great length
to our correspondent, made even more dam
aging admissions than Brigham Young. He
spoke bitterly of the prosecutions the Nor
mons had suffered, Of the Harvey expedi-
ton which had been sent against them, of
Johnston's expedition, of the excitement of
the people and of 'the simultaneous adj
vance on Utah of harney's United States