The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-11-26
UTAH AND THE M0RM0NS.
Mrs. Newman's Exposition of the
Evils of Mormon Practices.
The Ceremony of Marriage-The Mormon
Idea of Heaven and the Hereafter
Some Prevalent Customs

Mrs Angie c. Newman, of Lincoln, Neb, spoke
yesterday morning at Roberts Park Church on
! Utah and Mormonism," subject with which
she has familiarized herself by the closest inves-
tigation, sounding tine depths of the iniquity in
its stronghold, and observing its ruinous and
blighting effects on the morals Of the people OF
| Utah and it's degradation of woman. She ex-
planned that the Mormon church Was theocra-
cy, built upon an ecclesiastical system more ar
rogant, rigorous and exacting than the Chur CHI
of Rome in the darkest hour Of the middle ages,
/ with a priesthood uEutterably vile and corrupt.
The Mormon Church rules Utah to-day. The
| Territory is divided into thirty states, and the
| chief councillor has his finger on the pulse of
| every one in the Territory, holding in complete
subsection all individual liberty. She held that
| the franchise that has been given to women in
| Utah, exercised as 1t is, serves TO make their
| bondage more complete and to strengthen Nor
mon rule. All Mormon women vote, regardless
| of age. woman arriving from Europe in the
morning can be married the same day and vote
In the afternoon. The ceremony of marriage
| takes place in the endowment house, and lasts
eight hours. If woman is unable to
go to the polls she can be repre-
sented by proxy; and everything is rep
/
in Utah, the child in arms, the idotic, the insane
and the unborn. Even the records of the dead
are taken and the names voted. The enfran-
chisement of women, whatever 1t may mean
| elsewhere, in Utah is a libel upon the govern
| lnent of the United States, and they must be
| disfranchised. The Edmunds bill, of which SO
much was expected, was defeated by Mormon
women. Any laws concerning marriage, against
incest or adultery, are impossible until GENTLE
| Legislature is elected.
| They claim that paradise is an intermediate
| realm, but the celestial realm above it, aud which
| is the highest, is to be the everlasting abode of
| the Mormon saints, where marrying and giving
| In marriage goes on through all eternity, while
those of other scots are to be the hewers of wood
| and drawers of water for the faithful. Marriage
they teach in every thing to wOmab, and with
| out it her soul is denied the opportunity of
hereafter. She can only go to heaven through
| her husband, and Mormon marriage is taught to
| be conservation to divine command. When
| the husband takes second wife twentieth
wife, his first wife must go to the endowment
house and there place the hand of the new wife
! in that of her husband The ceremony there
lasts eight hours, and is a dramatic representa-
| tion of creation, of Adam and Eve, of numerous
incidents in the Bible of Joseph Smith establish
| ing the one true church. st. Peter Is also repre-
sented with book, in which he enters the new
name that is given to the initiate and the num-
Der on the endowment robe. When the Mormon
woman is buried she must be buried in that robe,
| as she is taught that when she arrives at heav-
| ems gate she can not pass If the name and the
| number on the robe do not correspond with St.
\ Peters book. In this ceremony Oaths are taken
with dire penalties for apOstacy, such as having
| the throat cut from ear to ear, and pledge is
| taken to avenge the death of Joseph Smith.
| Their oath binds them co obey the Mormon Church
| above the United States and her laws. AS the
| glory OF a husband when he enters the celestial
realm and the magnitude of the province he will
| govern there depend on the number of his wives
and children, polygamy is incucated here on
earth to augment their power in heaven. No
1 endowment
| house with any of the purity or blessedness OF
the holy covenant that marriage is with u.s.
Baptism fof The dead is practiced, living per-
| son being baptized as the representative for de-
| ceased persons. Mrs. Newman said she had
known of women seventy years old who had
| sent back to England and found the names of
| their relatives and ancestors and gone into the
water and been baptized for them that they
might be released from paradise and saved into
| the Mormon heaven. Baptism is frequently
| done by proxy, men going into the water
when it is cold, as she has seen, four- or five
times at fifty cents a time. Woman's disobedi-
| enee to her husband is one of the sins that can
| not be washed away. Those who dare to aposta-
| tie have before them the fear of the atonement
of blood. Suoh crueties are practiced upon wo-
| men who strive to break away from poygamy
/ as would make heathendom plush. They have
| been chained to logs by the wayside and tied up
to whippin gposts TO whip the devils out of them,
| and in some cases their poor souls have been
| whipped out and freed. II the devil had COM
mitted such crimes RS have been and are now
| being committed in Utah he would shrink back
| TO his hadean chambers and be content to COM
|
have been commeInorating the 4O0th ami
| versary of the birth of Martin Luther Better
we had not done so until we had wiped out the
| iniquity that blackens our country There
should be some one to nail the ninety-five theses
| against the door OF the endowment mouse or to
lay the dynamite OF public opinion under 1t;
| even if he perish in the explosion
A while ago our Congress received delega-
ton of deluded women. who pleaded before the
| committees for the cause of Mormonism in Utah.
Why did these women do sO2 They did 1T at the
| edict of the church. and they dared not resist
| Utah is wonderful land, with wonderful quar-
| ries Of granite aud marble and mines of gold and
silver the richest in the world, but they not
| be developed until MormOnism is abolished As
| some one has said, Utah has salt enough for all
| the earth and sulphur enough for the hereafter
The influx of Mormon immigration goes on. The
minimum number of Mormon missionaries in
proselytes from Europe is 1900 year. From
the South in this land of ours, 1000 women will
go to Utah this year. How is this question to be
dealt withf We must deal with the priest
hood of the Mormon Church Gs with traitors
ana -.nvn we do this we invite the OPP
! pf0brun of European nations OF whom their
missionaries are gathering victims what q
foul spot on the flag of this free country! And
the VolupUuous, debauching hell1sh crimes or
the Mormon priesthood are done in defiance of
| our government. Well may say with Mad
anne Roland, SO, liberty, what crim.s are com
mitted In thy name" Let us hope the storm
that is to sweep away this iniquity will soon be
here. Schuyler Colfax says III Is coming, com
ing, coming"
and womanhood under this vile and Soluting
system9 Shall not the lambs be saved from
| these destroying wolves? And the MormOns
have delegate, himself Mormon, represent
| ing them in Congress! 1t is said of Delegate
| Cannon that on receiving the news of the death
of one of his wives he telegraphed, Bury
her in a pine coffin with little cere-
mony as possible" One poor soul is gone and
| is at rest. Why do not more women come away?
| The women of Utah never have any money-not
| five cents-and escape is almost impossible for
| them, even II they wished. Three plans were
! laid before the convention of the Women's Home
| Missionary Society, at Cincinnati. The first was
the emigration policy, which was a Giro ular for
European circulation, telling what Mormonism
really is the second was to circulate petitions
| asking Congress TO disfranchise wome o. Utah,
III ri rrna th q ilidn n