The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-19
TYRANNY OF POLYGAMY.
How Female Recruits Are PrOcured-Seerets
of the Endowment House,
Roy ID. i McMilIrn in rleA nln1,d Innher

How Female Recruits Are PrOcured-Secrets
of the Endowment House.
Rev. D. j. Mcmillan. in Cleveland Leader
Missionaries, instructed to secure as many
women converts as possible, are sent from Utah
| to Europe every year. By representing to the
| simple creatures that in going to Utah they Will
| be received into an enlightened community, liv-
ing in the midst Of peace and plenty, whore they
will have unlimited liberty and all the rights of
women IN choosing a husband, their consent is
| gained Without the women knowing it, the
missionaries obtain their photographs and send
them to Utah At the Sunday services in the
| temple, these pictures are displayed from the
pulpit, and all good Mormons who need fresh
wives requested by the bishop to step for
ward and inspect them. Each one has to pay
| the passage to this country of the woman whose
| picture he chooses. He keeps the photo
graph and Identifies his new wife among
! the crowd landed at the railroad station. Right
IN Salt Lake City have seen pure minded young
| girls brought to Utah by the false representa-
| tons OF the missionaries. dragged shrieling and
! struggling from the cars by brutal Mo11nous.
| placed i'll wagons and driven away. What could
! the gentiles do to prevent it, The MormOns
| have supreme control there. The marriage cere-
monies and limitations into the church are per-
! formed at the Endowment House, in the Temple,
| The utmost secresy is maintained but the uyss
! ter1es of the Endowment House have been re
! vealed to me, if to no others. The first step the
converts are obliged TO take is to swear away all
| allegiance to the national government, ana place
! themselves entirely at the disposal of the Nor
mon Church. they are also obliged to
renounce the obligation of all oaths admins
tered III civil courts, making them absolutely
| useless as witnesses or jurors. This Is done
| to protect MOrnonism, with all its institutions
| from conviction in court Converts not
| bound by oaths administered in the Endowment
House, but the most fearful penalties are there
imposed on dlsobedience of the church com
mandments. Much has been sur1nised about the
marriage rites performed at this secret place
know what they are, and say to you that they
are as bad as they can be- that they shame even
the most shocking ceremonies of any of the
former Pacific Islanders; that they are too in
discridably filthy and indecent to be explained
IN words. The women are there Obliged to
suffer severely, and some of them have told me
that the effect of their brutal marriage cermony
were felt by them for weeks The ceremony
lasts from o'clock until o'clock. Several
years ago the anti Mormon women of Utah and
the United States petitioned Congress to crush
| polygamy. Soon afterward petition was sent
women, asking that the institution be
fostered and encouraged l asked some of the
Mormon women why they signed the last peti
ton and was told by them that, though they
prayed to God to remove the curse from them,
they were obliged to sign their names to the
paper or suffer untold penalties Mormon women
are divided into four classes:
First-Those who are low enough to live in
any condition, no matter how degraded
Second-Fanatical women, who have been de
luded into the honest belief that there is no hope
for their souls unless they adhere to the Mormon
Church.
Third-Those who have been seduced and de-
luded, and are victims of polygamy.
Fourth-Women born and reared in the Nor
mon churches
Their condition is sad in the extreme. The
men are constitutionaly opposed to labor of any
kind, and the women are obliged to support
themselves as well as their husbands. They
work in the fields and perform labor for the
gentiles. AT one time a wife of Brigham Young
washed my clothing every week
will tell you another incident which shows
the power of the Mormon Church. About
twenty young men, disaffeeted MOrnons, threw
| Off the yoke of the chnrch in 1915, and pre-empt
ing some government land in the San Pete val
ley. in the southern part of Utah, settled there
with their wives and children. Brigham Young
went down there in June and ordered them to
| surrender the territory they occupied. They re
| fused and a week later tribe of Indians allied
to the Mor1nons surrounded the little settlement,
cutting the horses loose from the plows and
driving the men indoors. A charge was made
on the houses, and they We're captured with but
little bloodshed. The Indians carried all the
women and children away and handed
them over to the MormOns after driving the
men out of the valley The husbands
and fathers were informed that they could not
gain possession of their dear ones until they sur
rendered their land, rejoined the Mormon Church,
and paid all the back fittings due from them.
Holding their wives and little ones dearer than
life, they We're obliged to conform with Brigham
Youngs demands Young took this occasion to
impress lesson on his people. He instructed
them that God had given him all the land in the
| Territory, and that neither the d national
government nor all the powers in hell or on earth
could wrest it from him. He carried his assump
ton OF power SO far that no Mormon can to-day
build a house plant tree without the consent
Of the church, and he said that if he chose
to exercise his authority not IA woman in the
| Territory could darn the heel Of a stocking with
out first obtaining his permission.
no scbo IN, OILS,
ing, all the teachers being obliged to join the
church and pay fittings. There are numerous
instances of children being turned out because
their parents refused to allow them to study the
Book of Mormon. In spite of this 30 per cent.
of all the school taxes in Utah are paid by gen
! tiles. The only schools there worthy of the
name are those established by the missionaries
| These mission schools represent FIVE Christian
denominations. The first Presbyterian school
was opened nine years ago, and there now
thirty eight in Utah and two in Colorado.
| The priests Il class, do not believe in their
own doctrine, the following incident
well illustrates The bishop of Mount Pleasant.
Utah, for period of two months preached VIC
who had established himself within the precinct
of his parish. He said it was an insult to God
to take gentle medicine. and received treatment
from gentle doctors. All good Mormons should
go to the holy priests with their ills and be
cured by the laying on of hands, and the pour
ing of oil. He pronounced the curse of God on
all who should become patients of the Obnoxi-
Gus physician. The day after the bishop deliver
ed his most fanatical sermon on this subject, he
was attacked severely with bilious collie, and
sent at once for the GENTLE doctor, who easily
cured him.
A "Star" Opinion of the Star System.