St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-12-21
The Mormon Evil.
A GENTLE OPINION OF ITS CHARACTER
DANGER AND CURE.
From the Salt Lake City Tribune.I

DANGER AND CURE.
From the Salt Lake City Tribune.l
The opinions of the Springfield Re
publican are always candid and gen
orally sound. Much of what it says is
true. 1t is true that the rule of poly
gamy here OvcrShadows every material
interest of this territory; that the
value of all kinds of property is broken
down because of it is true that to
Americanize this territory would be
like Il sudden TRANSMISSION of fresh blood
III every artery of business, Is as mani
fest as the sunlight. But the school
! house cannot alone change this. Those
who reason that way do not. after all,
understand the situation here. They
assume that pOlygamy is the corner
stone of MOrmoniSm when III truth 1t
is only the unclean cement of the fOun-
datiOn on which this sinister structure
is reared. The truth of this can be
shown by single example. Some
wears ago il Young MormOrn boy WAS
sent from here and educated at West
| Point. All intelligent Americans
know what that means. Native allegi-
ance is there impressed with VOWS of
soldierly honor which are SO binding
| that they have never been broken or
questioned, except by the men of the
south. who construed them to mean
allegiance to their native states more
| than to the republic. But this officer
on his return here was asked the ques-
| ton what he would do were he to
receive IA direct command from his
government and II directly opposite
one from John Taylor. His answer
was, II should obey John Taylor"
This shows why, wherever Mormonism
has raised its crest, it has always been
ut once opposed; why it is as at pres
ent conducted perpetual source of
menace and danger, and why it would
he an act of wicked folly, fatal folly
indeed, to ever give any Mormon com
munity statehood.
The remedy then is to take from the
chiefs here their temporal and political
power; to keep it from them until
they please to contine their labors Ia
the legitimate industry of caring foI
the souls of their people, and to con
vince the rank and file of the Mormon
people that there is II power in this re-
public which is superior to the SOW
ereign rule which these high priests
assume to WELD; a rule which they
assume to receive direct from AL
mighty God and which they declare t.
their people there is no power in the
government of the United States which
can set it aside. The way to do this i,
to enforce the laws in the way which
Great Britain or France or Germany
would not hesitate Il moment to pre-
scribe. There need he no injustice
done. 1t is not unjust to take the bal
lot from the people who hold a highel
allegiance to some other government
than to the one which gives or reserve,
the ballot. To say it is religious per
secution for people to take tn,
means necessary to execute its law.
into its own hands, is the talk o
children. We exclude Euglishmen ano
, Norwegians from all the offices ano
withhold the ballot from them, ant
there is no thought of injustice. II
say that these same Englishmen an,
NOrwegianS, so soon as they blnC
, themselves 10y the most binding oath.
to kingdom within this republic, Jane
, kingdom, too, which is hostile il
every way to republican institutions
| should Ice deemed as free American
citizens. and entitled to every RICH
. which any real citizen possesses, i
simply to assume that the men of thi
republic are incapable of self govern
ment, that the government itself is en-
titled to less respect than a centra
| American state. The question at ISSUE
in Utah is not IL question of religion at
all; it is simply a question of the rel
ative power of the government of TIN
United States and the government u
less than 20 men who assume the RICH
| to rule by direct command of God.