Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1883-07-19

THE MORMON QUESTION.
What Member Of the Utah Comrnts
zion has to Say on the Subject.

eton has to Say on the Subject.
DEs MONIES, Ia, July 9.-Colonsl
George L. Godfrey, member of the Utah
Commission, returned last evening, and
in an interview he outlined what, in his
opinion will be the ultimate effect of the
Edmunds bill in accomplishing the pur-
pose for which it Was intended. There
are LOG, 900 people in Utah to-day" .aid
Colonel Godfrey. "Of these, 5000
are Mormons, and only $4,000 of the
Mormons are polygamists. Operation
of the Edmund bill is confined solely to
those who practice polysamy. A pro-
fessor of the Mormon religion, with only
one wife, does not come within the scope
Of the law The work of the commission
has been confined TO disfranchisiAg polyg-
amists The law provides that every cit
izen shall be registered before he shall
have the right to vote, and if his name
does not appear On the register he has no
appeals. As female suffrage is one of
the institutions, a large number of wom-
en-, more women indeed, than men, have
been omitted from the registry lists,
along with their lords and masters So
far as possible the commissioners have
endeavored to keep the name Of every
polygamist from appearing on the lists.
The Mormons are disposed to intcrpose
every obstacle to enforcement of the law
which, to them, is extremely odious
They have
MADE UP TEN TEST CASES.
Which will be submitted to the courts as
soon as possible and the night before |
started for the east, writs were served on
the commissioners While there Is Nc
doubt the courts will affirm the constitu-
tionality Of the law, the Mormoas will
leave no stone unturned to impede its
operation. The suppression of polygamy
is only question Of time. While the
Edmunds bill may not accomplish all that
is claimed for it; regard it Is the enter
ing wedge which isnesigned to divide the
Mormon church. The power of naming
officials has heretofore rested with the
churches, but when the law is enforced
SO that no polygamist can vote, the vot
ing class will determine the candidates to
the exclusion Of those who fail 10 conform
to the letter and the spirit of the law
This itself will Immediately break up po
lygamy. Railroads also accomplish
much in this direction. With railroads
opening up the country
THOUSANDS OF GENTILEs
pour in, who will speedily outnunber The
Mormons and get possession Of the mu
nicipal Offices, which are now held b,
Mormons. When it becomes apparent
that polygamists cannot rise to honor OIL
profit the abridgemeat Of number Of
wives will speedily follow. The Mormon
people are quiet aud orderly, and polio,
regulations are lived up to the same a,
elsewhere. Salt Lake will compare fav,
orably in this respect with any eastern
city Of like population, contrary to the
general impression that licentiou prac-
tices are more prevalent than in gentle
communities. There are many wealthy
Mornons, especially in Sal, Lake, and
they are content for the most part with
one wife. It is due to the more refined
classes to state, that among then poly
gamy is gradually falling into disrepute
Those who will till the barren soil of the
region compose the poorer classes
Among them plurality Of wives is quite
common. Numbers Of proselytes, in
duced BY missionaries to come from Eu-
rope, arrive Oh every train. They hunt
out the little villages between the noun
tains and scratch the reproductive soil
with rude implements, ekiag out mis-
cradle existence. Numbers have en-
tered Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and
Arizona, where they follow the courses
Of streams.