The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-02-01
CLAWSON ON TIE CRUSADE.
General GldwsOn Is Captured by a
Reporter.
Who Has to Drive a Lively Quill
to Keep 0p With the General.

The Chicago Inter-OceGn of last
Wednesday contains the following
account Of an interview with Gen
eral H. B. Clawson, whom an 10.
reporter found in that city:
A reporter of the Inter-Oceaa
heard yesterday that a prominent
elder of the Mormon Church was in
the city, and, like sleuth. hound,
run him to his hole-the Palmer
House-and then interviewed him
upon the subject of Mormonism in
general, and of the anti-Mormon
meeting held on Monday evening in
Particular. The gentleman in ques-
ton was Mr.. II. b. Clawson, a
bright, active, energetic, well pre-
served, and evidently, from his
looks, a well-fed gentleman of un-
certain age. with none of the outer
marks of grave demeanor and ultra
unctious visage that is supposed, ON
the stage, at least. TO give q faithful
outline Of the elder OF = Christian
denomination. The interview was
IS follows:
"Mr. ClawSon, what were your
impressions of the anti-Mormon
meeting held at Farewell Hall last
evening""
''I was not at the meeting, but 1
read the whole of the report of it..
The remarks that were made by
different speakers wers far from
correct. Now ! have long been an
actual eyewitness of what they
only talked about from hearsay. l
have been in Utah since Salt Lake
City was first started that is, l went
there in 1S4S; the pioneers in 1947.
In the first place, the Hon. Schuyler
Colfax, when he stated that the
Mormons had gone to one of the
finest valleys in the United States,
misrepresented the real truth, for
that valley was desert when the
pioneers went there. and there was
not any one at that time who
thought that a single bushel of
grain could have been raised in the
whole valley.
WHEAT WAS HIGH. ~
Major Bridger, of Bridger's Fort,
himself at that time offered re-
ward Of $1,000 to any one for a
bushel of gram raised in that valley.
The circumstances under which
these people left the states are
known. Mr.. COlfax said in SORT of
Boosting way that they drove them
out OF the state of Illinois. | would
have told them that page of their
history would ever have ii shadow
over it. There were thousands OF
those driven out who laid their
bones on the plains between their
old homes and the valley Of Salt
Lake. Polygamy at that time was
among those of the Nor
mon faith. 1t was not, therefore,
the practice of pOlygamy that
caused them to be driven from Hi
HOis in the most bitter season of the
year. Mr.. Colfax said that it was
their intention to stop at some place
on the Missouri. The truth is that
they were forced to stop there, be-
cause it was almost impossible to
pass through the state of Iowa in
the spring. They sacrificed their
in order to get away from
neutrality-suspicious. carried on
against them simply because they
were Latter-day Saints. If they
were thieves and robbers then, they
are thieves and robbers now, but
they were not accused of being such
then. They were four months IN
going across the plains, and when
they got to the end of their journey
they found nothing but a barren
waste, and because they have made
that valley into what it is now, it is
not far to say that they took pos
session of the finest valley III the
United States, as was said last
night.
when was the doctrine of polyg-
amy first promulgated among the
Mormons
The doct of polygamy was
lot promulgated until they got to
Salt Lake; not, in fact, until some
title time after they arrived there"
SOME DO AND SOME DON'T.
"To what extent is polygamy ac-
,ually practiced among the Nor
mons ?"
81 cannot tell. [ can only say
hat there are a great number who
10 not practice II. [ think I can
af-ly say that a majority of them
10 net practice it, nor do think its |
practice is increasing, or that there |
S any tendency shown toward its !;
Increase. There is very little said !
bout it. From what was said last |
light it was assumed that every
,Ody could gets as many wives as
hey liked. The truth is that it is a
1ery difficult thing to get a wife at
III, as those who wish to Go so must
rst show that they are able to pro-
-ide for them, and that they are
nen Of good moral character. Every
nan that has more than one wife