New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-07-09
EIGHT HUNDRED MORE MoRMoys

On Thursday last a Liverpool steamer landed
strange load of Storage passengers al Castle
Garden. There were 800 of them, all Mormon
converts, and all on their way to the "Prom-
ised Land" Of the Latter Day Saints p" i'm
Utah. These deluded creatures had been
gathered up by Mormon missionaries in Europe,
chiefly in the three Scandinavian counties.
They are ignorant and poor, and the promise
of a pleasant lot in the New World and of
money enough to pay their passage over was
to their minds, no doubt, more potent
argument in favor of emigration than
the prospect of uniting themselves to the
Mormon Church. This is not the first
ship-load of victims of Joe Smiths fraud
ulent religion which has arrived from
EuroNe. large party came over in the spring.
The business of PROSECUTING in the Old World
does not appear to have fallen off in the least
since the death OF Brigham Young. in spite
of the loss of It's able and interruptions leader
and Of the occasional efforts of the Govern
ment to put stop to the practice of its doc
trne Of polygamy, Mormonism continues to
flourish. 1t keeps large sum of money in
the Bank of England for missionary work,
employs numerous preachers to deude g-
norant peasants, and two or three times
n year receives a heavy reinforcement of
converts. Already the Saints " have occu-
pied nearly all the valleys in Utah that
can be made fertile by irrigation, and
they are now colonizing tho adjoining Terrific
tories of Arizona, Idaho and Montana. They
live in open and defiant violation of tho United
States st?tute against polygamy, relying upon
the right OF trial by jury to save them from
punishment 1t is impossible to fairly draw q
jury i'll Utah without having Mormons upon it,
and 1t is equally impossible with jury made
up in part of Mormors to get n verdict against
q Mormon for doing what his Church specially
enjoins.
Apart from the question OF how to deai with
this gross and criminal fanaticsm in the seat
of its power, it would seem as if some means
| might be adopted to prevent it from import
ing recruits from Europe by the shp-load. The
converts its agents bring over are deceived
about the character of the region they are
going to, and in most cases about the practice
of pOlygamy. The women, especially, are
kept in the dark on the latter point, and few
of the men, whatever knowledge may have
been impaired to them as 10 the privileges of
plural wedlock, have any conception OF the
tyranny of the Mormon Church organization,
or the difficulty ii gaining o livelihood from
tho arid soil of Dcseret." Many of these poor
victims of abominable superstition might be
kept out of the clutches of Mormonism if be-
fore embarlung in Europe on their landing
here, they wee told, by some authority which
they would respect the actual facts about
Utah. it, church and It's polygamous practices in
violation OF the laws of the country.
Perhaps the Government would be warranted
in taking the matter in hand and circulating
among the immigrants document disabusing
their minds of the errors they have mhibed
from the Mormon missionaries. OF course. il
could not undertake to crush out the religious
theories of the Mormon Church, but i. could
at least let the immigrants know that polyg-
amy is crime in Utah Just the same as in
Europe, and that the Valley of salt
Lake is very far from being the
Promised Land" of plenty and ease
which they imagine it to he. Sooner
or later the Government viii have TO glappe
cncrgctically with the Mormon law-brcakers
Why should it ait STILL year after year, and
allow them to constantly recruit their forces
We are Of coulse aware that the Government
has been cndcavornS for some time past.
| through its Ministers and Consuls IN Europe,
to cnlightcn this class of immigrants as to the
fate in store for them; hut every sh;p-load of
them that lands in New-lorl, only shows the
necessity for more effective measures.