The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-05-26
A PLEA FOR PoLYaAMY.
An Enthusiastic Claim for ths other side.
-sA~-Prophecy oftAe Fasure. - 81
Especial Correspondence OF The World. j

sswoman,s rights. aspect of polygamy is
one that has never been properly ventilat-
ed. 1t deserves, however, careful consid-
Grafton by those who think that they are
eelevating" Mormon Women By trying to
suppress polygamy. 1t possesses also a
general interest for all. For the plural
wives of Salt Lake City are not by any
means waiting for.salvation' at the hands
of the men and women of the East IN
conscious of having letters on, they evince
no enthusiasm for their noisy deliyerers.
On the contrary, they consider interference
with them as slur upon their intelligence
and on encroachment upon those very
4 rights about which monogafnist females
are making so much clamof They look
fapon themselves as the leaders in the
movement for the emancipation of their
| sex, and how, then, can they be expected
to accept emancipation at the hands
of those whom they are try
ing to elevator Thinking themselves
in the van of freedom, are they to be
grateful fer the guidance of sfragglers in
the iears They laugh at such sympathy,
just as the brave man might laugh at en-
couragement from q coward, or as wealthy
i land owners laugh at beggar's exposition
of the responsibilities of property. Can
| the deaf they ask, tell musicians anything
of the beauty of sounds. or need the artist
| care for the blind mans theory of color2
Indeed, it has been in contemplation to
1 vi nfrolszo fha farra ca an xrav
subject of woman's rights! To send out
from Utah opponents of the proper place
of woman in society and to teach the
women OF monogamy their duties to them
selves and to each .otherlgo sWeman's true
status"-I am quoting from their organ
| lis that of companion to man, but so pro-
| tected by law that she can act in an indie.
pendent sphere il he abuses his position
! and render union unendureble."s They not
only, therefore, claim all that women else
where claim, but they consider marriage
the universal birthright of every female.
First of all, they SAY, be married. and then
in case of accidents have all other rights"
as well. But to start with, every woman
must have a husband She is hardly
| worth calling a woman if she is single
Other privileges ought to be hers lest mar
riage should prove disastrous, but in the
first instance she should q claim her
right to be wife and everybody
else should insist on that claim be-
ing recognized. The rest rs very i'm
portant to fall back upon. but union with
man is her first step towards her proper
sphere.
Now, could any position be imagined
more ludicrous for the would-be saviors of
Utah wemanheed7tha an, this that the slaves
whom they talk of rescuing from their
degradation should be striving TO bring
others up to their own standard? When
Stanley was in Central Africa he was often
amused and sometimes not a little disgust
ed to find that instead of his discovering
the Central Africans, the Central Africans
insisted on discovering" him. Though he
went into VILLAGES In orderto take notes Of
the savages and to look at their belong
ings, the savages used to turn the tables
on him by discussing him and taking his
clothes off to examine the curious color, as
they thought of his skin. So that what
with shaking off his explorers and hunting
up the various articles they had distracted
for their unscieDtifc scrutiny, his time
used to be thoroughly wasted, and he used
to come away crestfallen and with the hu-
initiating consciousness that it was the
savages and not he that had gained infor-
nation and been improved by his
visit. They had "discovelsi' Stanley,
not Stanley them Something very like
this viii be the fate of those who come
here thinking that they will be shining
lights from better world They viii not
find the women of Utah waiting with out
stretched arms to grasp the hand that saves |
them. There VIII be no stampede of down
trodden females. On the contrary, the
clarion of woman's rights viii be sounded, !
and the intruding champions" of that
cause will find themselves attacked with
their own weapons and hoisted with their
own petards. with the sceptre of wo
Ianan's rights the daughters of Zion will go
down as apostles to evangelize the nation |
Who is she that looketh forth as the
morning. fair as the moon, clear as the sun.
and terrible as an army with bannersg The
Daughter of Zioni' sh
Mormon wives, then, are emphatically
''woman's rights women" title which is
everywhere recognized as indicating indie |
pendence of character and an elevated sense
of the claims of the sex, and as inferringex-
ceptional freedom in action 1t is onlywomen |
whoa conscious of freedom that can in
stitute such movements as this in Utah, |
and who are enthusiastic in the cause that
can carry them on with the courage and
industry that are here SO conspicuous.
Other women, therefore, who look to this
Territory as q fine convert ground, will be
egregiousiy disappointed. Newcastle does
not need to import Goals 81
A Governor once came here specially in |
structed to release the women of Utah from
their bondage, but he found none willing |
to be released The franchise was then
riamored for in order TO let tie women of
Utah fight their oppressors at the polls, =
and the Norman styrants" took the hint |
to give their wives votes, and the first use |
these misguided victims of spluralify made
of their new possession was to protest, |
twenty thousand victims together, against
the calun1nies heaped upon the men of
Utah whom they honored and loved"
To-day it is an act of Congress that is to |
set free these worse-than Indian devotees /
and whether they like it or not, they are to /
be compelled to leave their husbands or |
take the alternative of sending their bus /
bands to Jail. 1t reminds me of the story, /
''Sir, you shny have mustard with your
beefsteak. A man sitting in restaurant |
saw bis neighbor eating his steak without I
mustard and pushed the pot across to him
The stranger bowed his acknowledge
of the courtesy and went on eating. but /
without any mustard. But the other mans /
sense of propriety was outraged beef /
steak without mustard -monsfrous, said I
he to himself and again he pushed the /
condiment towards the stranger. ssThank