Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-03-26
Lancaster 9nteIlfgenrcr
EVENING. MAR. 40. ,ee4
the Mormons and Their Faith.

The MOrmOns ana Iheir fnttl.
A disinterested and intelligent English
gentleman, travelling in this country,
who contributes some account of his
experience to the Nineteenth Con.
try, was very forcibly impressed with a
community which he found on the west
ern side Of the continent. Its capital
city was the most attractive of the
places OF its size that he had seen rows
OF shade trees beauti1ed the streets and
clear stream Of water, passing through
It's cutters continually, kept them puri
fed. In every hamlet the church and
school house peeped through the foliage
OF clustered shade trees and orchards.
Naturally sterile soil had been reclaimed
by an extensive system Of irrigation, es
tablished by patient industry, until it
had increased In value from 81 to 500
per acre. Railroads and telegraph lines
had been built manufactures estab
lshed and ten thousand land holdings
bloomed with all the signs of agricultu-
raj industry, thrift and neatness. With
asingle exception its religious doctrines
were those of the New Testament and
that exception was the sanction and tol.
erance Of domestic institution borrowed
from Abraham, Solomon and other
patriarchs Of the chosen people of God.
The community is an enlarged family
bound together by privileges and duties,
one of the principal obligations being to
care for the helpless and needy. At the
same time individual freedom of action
Is allowed, and some of the most pros
porous merchants in the community are
apostates from the prevailing faith.
fittings Of their increase in property
are given by the people to religious pur-
poses. Less than third of this popula-
tion are foreign born.
A state constitution, adopted by the
people OF this community seeking admls
sion to the union, provides for relig
ious and civil liberty, impartial public
education and equal political rights,
regardless of sex. The taxes are lighter
than in any other state or territory and
the public debt smaller. In their social
life the people are temperate, peaceable
and industrious; saloons, haunts of vice
and social evils are rare arh are mostly
established and kept up 10y outsiders |;
the pauper and criminal statistics show
state of public morals superior to that
of almost any other part of the country {;
the educational system exhibits better
results than the average of public school
operations, and altogether, this Engl sh
traveller and writer says: " went to
Utah prejudiced against the MOrmons
but, after seeing and investigating for
myself, came to the conclusion that,
apart from polygamy, there is much in
the Mormon organization to admire aud
respect, and that the MOrmons are the
subjects OF greater amount of misrep
resentatiOn and unjust abuse than any
other community with which | am &C
quainted."
1t is notable that this is the report
and the conclusion of nearly every un.
biased investigator into the actual con
dition of the Mormon community anti
pahy toward itabates as one gets nearer
To 1t and in view of all that can be 81 d
III ITO 'aNOib ~ 10 grave question
whether the drastic political measures,
proposed from time TO time fQE-the ey.
Termination OF their sooistsy,t the extiuc
;snsosA'sscn cncir civil rights and The spolia
tion of the property Of these people, afford
the best way to suppress polygamy.
The oppression and injustice which
excite their fanaticsm or appeal To
the sympathy of the public for them
will only strengthen the MOrmons
There are many reasons why, as they
became less isolated, the moral pressure
from the outside aud the assertion of
their rights by the women themselves
who have votes aud perfect freedom and
woman's nature-will abolish polygamy.
The non polyamOus Mormous are al
ready largely in the majority they must
remain 80, seeing that there iS.always a
preponderance of males among them !;
polygamy was not an original article of
their creed and it is not likely to remain
such. The vice can bs cured more ef
fectually, we sincerely believe, than by
delivering whole community to fire
and sword or political plunderer5