Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-06-22

whether before the United States Com
missioner or before the District Court,
when some woman is up as witness
and she refuses to answer questions put
to her touching her relations with
the defendant. There have been
many such cases in Utah, and many
women, through a mistaken idea of d8y
and heroism, have preferred disgrace and
incarceration within a penitentiary to
answering questions put to them. Why
do they do this? To shield a man
whom they call husband. To shield a
man? "All are not men who wear the
human FORM" and in the future, if ever,
must the world witness the sight of a
man in Utah Territory, charged with the
crime of polygamy or unlawful cohab-
itation, coming forward and saying:
"She is my wife; do with me as you
choose, but spare her." Behind the
skirts Of woman do the men of Utah
seek safety. It's a most humiliating
thing to contemplate, and must
make all men, whether they be
polygamists or whether they be monoga-
mists, blush to think of it, Are such men
the chosen of the Lord, and are such as
they to give salvation TO woman? Will
no man come forward to save woman
from punishment and disgrace, although
he himself have to fall in the breach?
Human nature at its best is none too good,
but there is a common standard of de-
cency accepted by all men, and when
men sink below this they are rightly |
deemed to have sunk to the level of the |
brute, And yet where is the male brute
that would not protect his female COM
panion? 1t seems reserved for man
alone to surpass the brute in brutal
ity. Is a religion to make towards and
of men rather than to make them
better and elevate their souls? Does the
practice of a religion make women bear
the burdens, while the men, the "lords of
CREATION" only wear the honors? The
humiliation that is seen here whenever a
woman is a recalcitrant witness in cases of
Dolygamy is owing to that system. The
system inculcates ideas in men OF the
of women, and could not posi-
'ly iuculcate any other. 1t is a system
ounded upon the superiority of men and
he inferiority of women. From polyga-
nists women do not receive that consider
.tion that is accorded to women bv the $
)etter classes of civilized nations. Re-
Giving the homage of two or three wives, .
an man have the same respect
or woman that he does where he !
lolds his wife his equal and the G
quail of all women? The small and e
'etty jealousies which exist between I
olygamic wives, can they arouse any t
ther sentiments in mans mind than 4
hose of contempt and disrespect, be he n
ever so unconscious of the sentiment? q
.ings beget this feeling for their subjects i
nd all who are not kings, and why .
lould not men beget this same feeling
r their wives, when they think them
lives kings and their wives subjects?
ow long will this humiliating spectacle
a man hiding himself behind a wife's
,lrts be seen? Just so long as men
'ntinue the practice of polygamy and
lat practice is unlawful. When will
at practice cease? When the men
no are in it become convinced that the
overnment is in earnest about SUD-
essing it, and they recognize
at the Government has the power
I'd will to do it. They have
ver realized this, but they are begin
ng to, and now it remains with the
overnment to say whether polygamv in
e Territories shall continue to exist or
all cease to exist. With the Govern
ent remains this decision, and with no
e else. If the decision is in favor of
ting polygamy continue, with spas
odlc efforts to suppress it, there will
ntnue to be many scenes of humilia-
n; II the decision is to suppress it once
q Tor all, when that shall be done, there
IL be no more scenes of humiliation, in
llch women bear the punishment and
an the stigma