News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-12-27
TIE ISSUE IN UTAH.
WHAT SHALL WE no ABOUT THE
MORMON QUESTION.
Henry Ward BCccher Has Something to
say on This Great Problem.

Henry Ward Bcccher Has Something to
say on This Great Problem.
My lecture in Salt Lake City, said
Henry Ward Beecher, was advertised
to take place in tine theatre that belongs
to the Church i'll that place President
Taylor, the successor of Brigham Young:
the twelve apostles, and so many of their
wives as could be spared were present at
the lecture. President Taylor called the
next day, in great courtesy, with his
carriage to take my companion and my
self for an inspection of the city, and Il
very fine city it is, with many admirable
residences [ learned some things from
him, and I had also the happiness Of
seeing some intelligent Gentlles, and
learned some things from them. [ had
likewise the privilege of acquaintance
ship with some eX-MOlmons, men of
culture and brains, of deep religious
susceptibility, and [ learned from them
how they went into it and why they
came out of it. [ have no time to go
very largely into this matter as a
psychological mystery. But it is not
! strange to me at all, MOrmonism. Its
ignoble orr III must not lead you to de-
spise it. 1t is one of the great forces of
modern society. l regard it as having
one odious feature-well, twO-maybe
three.
But it is a good, healthy body on
which these cancers are feeding. No
matter what the past was, no matter who
started it, no matter on what false
ground, the question is, There stands
the phenomenon of the nineteenth cen,
fury. " hat is its power? Wherein
does it consist? What is it doing? It
is a spiritual OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. it
is founded on fanaticism and ignorance
absolute 1t IS founded on Il literal
acceptance of the Old Testament. l
don't see how Il man who believes in
verbal inspiration can throw stones at
the Mormons. Are they polygamists :?
! SO is the Old Testament saint. What
sort of fellow was solomon? In all
| his glory he was not arrayed like one of
| these. Mormonism in its religious phil
osophy is simply the attempt to reintro
| duce into modern economy the institu-
| tions and the beliefs Of the Mosaic
period of the Old Testament. They
| have no gorgeous ceremonial There
are very few things that appeal to their
Imagination. And yet it is one of the
most cohesive bodies of men that exist.
In the first place, it brings its follow
ers very largely from the emigrant re-
gions of the globe. These people come
there very ignorant. They are poor.
The organization at once distributes
these men, giving every one of them a
piece of ground. All the agriculture
there is irrigating agriculture. The
Church owns all the machinery through
which the water has to flow, and it is
part of the duty of bishops to look after
the temporal condition of their people,
and if any man will go and look into
that absolute desert region and see the
fields of grain, the vines and fruit trees,
the little farmhouses, redeemed or
erected by the industry of these poor,
ignorant MormOns, he will be amazed
indeed. And it is not without some rea-
son that they point to it and say: sis
this an evidence that the providence of
God is against usf" There can be no
question that the great majority of Nor |
mons who go to Utah rise at once, and |
by their Industry and frugality become |
at once better men and acquire property. |
What if the Church tithes every mans |
products and makes itself a millionaire |
Church, with funds enough TO carry on !
/
The people are so much better off, the |
climate is so delightful, the earth is SO
bounteous that they pay their tithes
willingly, and superabundance still
crowns the year as the fruit OF their in
dustry.
As a general thing the Mormons be
lieve III MormOnism. If our people |
here believed half so much in Chris
tianity as the people Of Utah DO in Nor
monism We would see the globe revolu-
tionized. Then you are to take into ac
count also the use that is made by their |
teachers of heaven and hell. Every |
mothers son of them believes in hell |
Qaughter) and in heaven, and the prom |
Use or the threat in regard TO the futurc |
is the keynote of polygHmy. 1t IS not |
in the nature of Il woman to desire to |
have a multitude Of companion wives
around her, but for the safety of her
soul, for the hope of spiritual salvation,
she may curtail her marital rights in
this world, and it is the promise of life
everlasting on what they consider the
direct testimony of God which leads
them to submit to this unwarrantable
condition. Not half the population are
pOlygamists, but they all believe i'll
pOlvgamy as a divine institution.
Aside from the spiritual question, my
impression is that no more orderly city
exists on this continent than Salt Lake
City. / suggested to an anti Mormon
that the way to reach them was to have
Christian families of refinement and
spiritual force introduced among them,
whose example would be perpetual
testimony to the NMmOns. | received Il
buffet, however, when | was told that
the average Gentle WIS not so high mp.
morally, as the Mormons themselves
were, and that III industry, frugaIity,
truth speaking, temperance and chastity
the contrast was in favor of the Mormon
people. When you consider what vast
numbers of emigrants, and especially
miners, drift down into such camps, Won
can very well understand that the Gen
tile population can furnish no example
that is likely to win Mormons from their
superstitious beliefs and evil courses.
One of the methods of government
that exist IN MormondOm is very pecu-
liar, and exists, L suppose, nowhere else.
Inc Mormon lives on farm that is If
rlgated by water which the Church owns
and controls. The Church has only to
stop the water from his farm and tbesin
tuI or Objectionable Mormon will starve
or repent. No court, no trial, no any
thng-simply shut the gates. [ think
there never was so efficient a govern
ment so simply executed in the world.
They are increasing; they are buyingup
the land that is favorable to culture
under irrigation in all the adjoining
States and Territories, and are con-
stantly spreading. At the Mormon Con
ference held in Salt Lake in October If
this year, the Apostle Cannon presented
statistics of the Church, showing the
membership in Utah to be 1877. 900: the
number of families, 90, 600; new mem
berss admitted, % 600; the Church or
ganlTauon-mark this how thoroughly
lhey are governed. rnt u.. many men T.
there are that have an interest in the
maintenance of this svstem-thp Church F.
organization embraces, first, the presi-
dent, then twelve apostles. then So .
patriarchs, 1886 sentinels, 3. 1913 high .
priests, II, 600 choirs, ], 800 bishops and .
4, 400 deacons-prettv well differed. Tn |
Arizona there is membership Of ,, 2G2; /
in Idaho twice as many. Ei"htv-Onc |
missionaries have been appointed to 90 .
on missions to Europe and the United .
States. Eighteen of this number were .
set apart for missions to the Southern .
States, where the Church is meeting .
with considerable success in increasing |
its membership. The Southern converts .
opp IoipCr aCI,Yival ,1oI,1,r n, T,I,,,,J,