Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-01
1rnrmonism in Tho South.

\ great deal has been said and written
aboutthe success Of Mormon missionaries
inmaking converts in the Southern States.
tits impossible to ascertain just what
has been accomplished by them, but there
are reasons for believing that the import
anca Of the subject has been con siderabiy
Overestiaated. While they have made
a considerable number perhaps several
hundred of converts. it cannot be doubt
ed that the character of the people who
have accept their doctrines is such that
the Mormon HE -archy will be likely to
lose rather than gain by taking them in
among the thrifty "Latter-Day Saints"
These missionaries have been working
among the most illiterate OF the white
people of the South. Their converts have
been obtained in the mountains and bar
rens, and belong to the most ignorant
people Of the dark corners i'm which they
live. They are, as a rule, a shiftless- law
less set. and their neig hbors viii be great
" the gamers by their emigration.
Whether the converts themselves VIII be
benefited by the change is not a question
in which a great many people viii feel
interested. Perhaps they Will be better
of in every way in the West. They can
hardly do worse than stay in the States
and continue their ola u odes of life.
The success Of the Mormon mission
aries, however, whatever it may have
been. suggests that the education and
religious training of the people among
whom they have been at work has been
sadly neglected, and perhaps the Christian
people of the country ought justly to
share the Responsibility for their condi-
ton. 1t cannot be denied that earnest,
self-sacrifcing missionary work has been
done and is being done by some Of the
Christian denominations in the back
woods and mountains where the Mormons
have gained their converts, but it has,
perhaps, been too spasmodic.
1t takes year after year Of judicious,
we'll sustained and systematic effort to
raise such benighted people from the
depths Of superstition and ignorance in
which they live. Those who think only
of Asia and Africa and the Indian coun-
try as fields for missionary effort forget
that there is much important missionary
ground lEOLu Il UlDllCdl- oySldl anu ptAlLi-
cal point Of view, at our own doors which
is not fully cultivated. More Christian
missionaries are needed in the sections of
North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Ten
nessee in which the Mormon elders are at
work. While it is not likely that theinflu-
ence Of the specious arguments and prom
ises of the agents Of the Mormon church
can be Immediately and altogether cOun-
teracted, there are many ignorant but
we'll intending people in the parts Of the
country infested by them who need only
proper instruction to make them look at
Mormonism in its true light.
1t seems that the law can do little to
check the efforts of the Mormon mission
aries. as they are generally shrewd
enough not to be caught violating it.
This makes imperative the necessity
for more Christian missionaries, the en-
tightening of the people, and the building
up of the sentiment OF opposition to Nor
monism which already exists in the sec
tions where the MOrmons are at work.