The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1882-08-24
THE MORMON QUESTION.

1
The effects OF The Edmumds bill. i
rigidly introduced. will be simply 10 re
move polygamistafSom the field of active
: politics. 1t wiz deprive them Of the
right 10 vote ana hold office. but il CAM
deprive them Of their influence upon
the voting and iceholding OF others
II simply appoints a commission tC
revise the registration lists and to strike
from them the names of all Dolygamists
IL also renders polygamists Ineligible IL
, office. l asked sx.Delegaie Hooper q
few days ago what the result would be-
He replied that the Mormon vote al the
next election would be larger without
the pOlygamists than il has been here.
tofore with their assistance. Hundreds
OF Mormons who haye never voted up
10 this time are being naturalIzed with
this end in view. The idea is to rebuke
what is called the unwarranted inter
ference with the rights and privileges Of
the Mormon people" Much more
! important than the Edmunds
bill Is the amendment 10 the
sundry civil bill, passed just
before the adjournment of congress, va
Il c sttRsaA the Offices in thei territory,
and empowering the governor to I'LL
them, his appointments to be good for
eight months. This was rendered neces-
sary by the dilatoriness of the president
in appointing the commission under The
Edmunds bill, and by the failure of the
commission when appointed to do its
work in time for the election, which
should have occurred on tue first Mon
day in August. There are about five
hundred positions in the territory 10 I'LL,
including judges, clerks, sheritfs, etc,
and the filling of them will give the
governor a magnificent chance la make
himself unpopular-that's all. The
commission ought to have been here in
time and prevented the necessity for the
exercise of any such arbitrary power as
that vested in Governor Murray by this
amendment. But the commissioners
| Were slow in accepting their trust, and
| have been slower in executing ii.aud the
| public interests of Utah have suffered in
consequence, and are likely to suffer still
more in the future.
| But il may be asked if the Edmunds
bill will do so little. what will do more?
/ can conceive of but one way in which
| the power of Mormonism can be broken
| aud the despOtism of its priesthood
brought TO an end. The remedy is u
heroic one. but it is the only one, and
the people must take their cho ce be-
tween the previous evil and the heroic
remedy, The present legislature of
Utah is, like all its predecessors. com
| DOScu CACtublN6ll III
acting under the advice and direction
of Mormon priests. Congress has I'M
| doubleday AS much power over the ter
ritorY OF Utah AS il has over the Dis
| trIct Of Columbia Ii so, it has the I'M
| doubted right to abolish the legislature
of Utah aid provide IN its stead legis-
lative council, tn be selected from the
ciIiZens of the territory, and 10 be
named by the governor OF the territory,
the president Of the United States, or
both acting together. Both Mormons
and Gentiles could be represented in
| this council, and it could be so CON
Quoted rs TO insure the protection nf the
rights of all classes. This or nothing is
the thing To do. The Edmunds bill aud
all other legislation of q kind that deals
with but one OF the many evils nf
this despotic fanaticism may satisfy
popular demand which is based
on popular delusiOn-the delusiOn
that pOlygamy is the head and front of
the Mormon offending. II the snake is
to be scotched just as gently as possible,
that will do; ii the reptile Is To DC
killed, however, it must be attacked at
the source of its vitality. Take the leg
islatiVe power away from the Mormon
priesthood, and MormOnism in its pres
ent form will soon ba q thing of the
past Whether il will live IT thus shOTn
of its power for evil is a matter of indif-
ference. 1t will then be placed on an
equality with other scots and denOmina-
tions, and will have equal rights with
any of them, but no more. At present
it absOrbs all rights and gives none TO
others. The establishment of Il legisla-
tive council TO make laws for the terri
tory would seem like the exercise of arbi-
traTy power on the part of congress, but
il would in fact be no more than a very
slight stretching of the arbitrary power
already exercised in comforting the ar
bitrary veto power upon the governor OF
the territory. The governor now has
the right TO veto any act OF the legisla-
ture, and that veto is final. If congress
can assert the negative in territorial
legislation, why may II not also Ass ert
the pOsitive2
The ready made answer to all suSges-
tiOns against the evils OF MOrmonIsm
is, Look at what these people have done
see how they have made the wilderness
to blossom as the rose look nj the civil
iZation they haYe built up in the midst
of the desert" Undoubtedly the Nor
mons have done much, but undoubtedly,
also, any other people would have done
much more. Taking everything into
consideration, the development Gf Utah
does not compare with the development
Vi Oi SoiplHhtis va u4OhiHAehY
| or of any stale or territory in th'. Tar
| west Twenty-Five ycaas ago the Nor
| mons selected the most fertile valley
west of the Rocky mountains and set
| tied in il. The masses have since raised
enough to cat and 10 pay their tiihes la
| the church, and the priesthood have
since grown rich out of the earnings of
the masses. The Mormons have resisted
every step of progress, and have been
forced into most of the improve
menis of which they now boast
whose mountains concealed untold
wealth-Ihe anathemRs OF this church ear
ly went out against mining enterprises
of all kinds. Brigham Young from his
pulpit denounced mining AS an inspira
| t,op of the deyii, because he feared its
pursuit would scatter his fanatical flock
aud Its rewards would loosen its grip
of his priesthood upon his people. And
| twenty. five years have not made much
change in this respect. The Mormons
still remember Brigham's words. and
the priesthood still repeat them. Every
| thing that legislation can do 10 hinder
the development of the mines Of Utah,
by high taxes and other devices, is done.
| Some of the best buildings in Salt Lake
| and In the territory are owned by Gen.
| tiles and apostles; and is it easy to see
| that in the race OF prOgress-unequa
though il be in point of advantages, and
unfair though all its conditions be Ia
the Gentiles-the MOrmOns are falling
behind. They go rs far as they are
| pushed, but no farther.
| The New York World and other
Democratic organs have had much 10
say in the past about Republican efforts
i to convert Utah intn state for the pur-
l p Halted Tat. San
ators. This is the silliest nonsense.
Every Mormon in the territory of Utah
| is Democrat, not 30 much from SYM
/ pathy or conviction as a sense of hos
| iillty 10 the ruling power of the United
| States. II the Democrats had the pres
| idency and congress, the Mormons
would probably be Republicans. There
is scarcely Gentle 10 the territory who
wants a state government. The Nor
mons all want il though, because they
believe, under the sovereignty which
statehood would confer, they would be
| more secure in the enjoyment of their
peculiar rights, including poiygamy.
They at one time thought of applying for
| admission under the condition that po-
lygamy should not exist. but they believ-
| ed that the supreme court would nulliiy
the condition afterward as unconStitu-
tional, and that they would be evtr
aftarward in the unrestricted enjoyment
of rights which under territorial gov
eminent are constantly imperiled. The
territory of Utah is bad enough, but the
state OF Utah would be simply infamous,
and presume there is no immediate
danger of il TO the Gentiles or pospect of
il for the MOrmons. No political party
in this country can afford To sell itself
TO the Mormon priesthood for the low
price of two votes in the senate and one
in the house, especial y>When these votes
would be very unreliable and always to
be cast where they could do the most
| good for the band of fanatics which they
would represent. Mormonism, as an
"annex" to the political circus, is sufii-
GENTLY vile; as an integral part of the
great show it would be simply abomina-