New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-08-19
MORMON AND GENTLE.
A SERIOUS STATE OF AFFAIRS.

| LING NEWSPAPER ARTICLE.
IRON AsTAFF CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRTBUNEl
SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 10.-I find Salt Lake
City in a state of unusual excitement, and Cen
tiles and MormOns who in ordinary times look upon
one another with suspicion and distrust, are now
indulging in threats against each other. and the
community seems TO be drifting into q state OF
ing which, TO the least. is not assuring and
causes much apprehension among the conservative
men of both classes Ii is not my purpose, to-day.
to write a letter on the Mormon question. Almost
everybody who stops here as at sort OF halfway
resting place between the Missouri River and the
Pacific coast, solves in two OF three days, TO his
own satisfaction, at least, the perplexing prob
lem which the remarkable state of affairs here
presents, and for a year afterward announces
with an air of authority what he would
do If he was the President of the United States the
Governor of Utah Territory or the ChefJustice OF
its courts. confess that the Mormon question: so
called, is too complicated for me to bave mastered
il in the three days since my arrival here but no
intelligent man who is in the habit of keeping his
eyes and ears open, and mnglng freely with
people of both classes can remain in Salt Lake City
twenty-four hours without becoming aware OF
very ugly state of feeling among the MormOus and
of a corresponding excitement in the ranks of the
Genties It Is of this Of its causes and the methods
of its manifestation, that | shall treat in this let
ter.
Old residents of Salt Lake City say that at no
time since the coming of Johnson's army to Utah,
than twenty years ago, have the leaders OF the
Mormons felt that they had so much cause of APP
prehension as now. There have been times of great
excitement here within the last ten years. especially
during the time when Judge Mexican presided over
the Territorial Court, and when Brigham Young
was a prisoner and under indictment for numerous
crimes; but neither Judge McKean's hostile rulings
nor the Prophets arrest struck at the root of the
system OF poygamy The Mormons expected that
the legal crusade against them would be brought to
a halt it was, by decree of the Supreme Court Of
the United States, and they knew that as long as
they controlled the juries, or portion of them,
their leader could never be convicted punished.
They were annoyed, exasperated, but they never
felt that their institutions were in danger.
Several events have occurred within the past few
months which have shaken the faith of the Mormon
leaders in the security of their system. Until re-
Gently. every attempt to punish Mormon for the
practice of poygamy through prosecutions in the
courts failed, either because the prosecuting officer
found il impossible to procure legal evidence of the
crime or because Mormons on the juries refused to
vote for conviction. The success of the Govern
ment in the Reynolds case surprised the Mormons.
but it caused no alarm amongst them, because they
firmly believed that the law against polygamy was
unconstitutional, and would be so declared by the
Supreme Court. The decision of that tribunal
against them was like thunderbolt 1t struck
away one of the main corner-stones Of their conf
dence and placed every polygamlst in this and adj
joining Territories in the attitude of a criminal.
Before, they supposed that they trampng
upon law THAI vas null and void because unconsti-
utional. Now they can no longer excuse themselves
on that ground.
/ don't suppose any true Mormon would be de-
TERED from contracting plural marriages because
they are forbidden by valid law of the United
States Three years ago it would have been just as
impossible to convict a poygamist after such
decision of the Supreme Court of the United States
as that in the Reynolds case as before 1t. A part
Of every jury were necessarily Mormons, and they
would never vote TO punish a man for a crime
of which they themselves were guilty and which
they did not admit to be u crime at all. But since
then there has been change in the Territorial law
relating to jurors that is quite important the
late decision of the Supreme Court. The Mormon
Legislature of Utah enacted the code of criminal
procedure of California, not knowing that it con-
tanned provision for the appointment Of triers to
determine whether juror is qualified or not TO
serve in the trial OF given This puts it into
the power of the prosecuting attorney to weed out
for polygamy, and to secure twelve men who will
bring i'm a verdict in accordance with the evil
dence. This law was enforced in the Miles case,
and even Mormon lawyers appointed by the Judge
as riers were obliged to reject Mormon Jurors, and
Miles was convicted. This law cannot be repealed
by the Mormon Legislature, because the Governor
has an absolute veto power and Will never sign a
bill for that purpose.
With a valid law and the power to secure juries
that will decide in prosecutions for pOlygamy in ac-
cordance with the evidence but thing more is
necessary to enable the United States Attorney to
convict the Mormon polygamists by the hundreds
and thousands and to fill the penitentiaries with
the apostles and elders and bishops of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that is proof
of the plural marriages. This is very difficult TO
obtain at present as the ceremony of marriage is
performed with the greatest secrecy in the Endow-
ment House, and those who participate in witness
it peremptorily refuse to testify to it. single act
of Congress making the fact of cohabtatiOn with
more than one woman proof of polygamy, instead of
recurring evidence of the performance of the
mony of marriage, would put it in the power of the
Administration to strike a blow at the very root of
this evil Is it any wonder that the Mormon lead
ers, who for thirty years have defied the law with
mpunity, should be alarmed as they see the net
drawn closer and closer about themH They see that
they are fast being driven into from which
there will be no escape except by surrender.
Worried, alarmed one or two occurrences of the
past week have irritated the Mormons much more
than they otherwise would have done. As you
know Mr.. George O. Cannon, the delegate in Con-
gess from this Territory, and his two associate ex
ecutors of the will of Brigham Young. are now con-
fined in the pententiarv, by order of Judge Bore
man, for contempt of court | do not pretend to
say whether this imprisonment is legal or not. The
Mormons say it is not. As understand it, the
ecutors paid themselves $4,000 fees for settling