Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1885-11-05
rHE ULCER.
FL. Gov. Ramsey speaks Enthusiasticahy
on the Success of the EdmundsL Law
Ia E~radicatipg Poiygamy.

Ex-Seeretary Ramsay presented the re-
port Of the Utah commission to the sec.
rotary OF the interior. II contains a review
OF the work Tor the year, description oithe
workings OF the Edmunds law and makes
some recommendations as 70 further lesis'
lation by congress tomakeit more elective
III proves 10 be the most effective
legislation ever directed at the Nor,
mon evil" said Mr.. Ramsey, ana
the fact that John Taylor, cannon
and Joseph w Smith. the three presidents
of the church, are fugitiyes, is the best evil
dence OF this Nor are they the only men
who are trying TO escape from its clutches
About fifty of the bishops and apostles,
have skipped by the light Of the moon,
thirty or forty more are under in-
dictment, and about twenty-five or
thirty more are playing martyrs behind
the bars 81 the prison. While | can
not say that this Law viii destroy
Mormonism, it has already crippled 1t,
and il supplemented with additional legls-
Lation to cover the points il did not reach,
u will go far to wipe out the curse. But II
will be Il long time before the evil Is extinct.
We have allowed il to grow unmolcsted for
nearly hall q century, and the church IL
become such "a powerful and thorough organ
ization, that it cannot be pulled up by the
roots We can only patiently work TO
lop off the branches, girdle the
trunk and kill the tree by slow
degrees. Nobody can study Mormon-
isn without being inspired with ~ pro-
found admiration for the genius that has
framed and the energy and the industry
which has built up the great structure that
has polygamy for it's corner stone, nor eau
-, aNstl gaaistE tt.a Il aaUnF which flTp4t-
ems this nation from itseoutinUance. Like
the nerves and siness 81 the human body,
tho faith Oi the people il interviewer into
every incident OF their daily lives, and the
ears Of the curse lies in the education OF the
next generation to respect the laws and ac-
knowledge obedience to the government.
The day is past when we can wipe out such
things by force. 1t can only now be killed
by the appliances oflaw and moral suasion.
THE ENDOWMENT HOUSE.
L. the endowment house stiil runuing?
Il cannot say. | suppose polygamous
marriages still are being contracted; but
the seeresy preserved is sometimes remark
able. | do not believe there is another
community in the world where such a
mystery could be sustained as IL ia in Utah,
but emigration il falling oil and the NUM-
Der OF apostles are increasing.
Then the church Is In n state OF decay
mo, that cannot be said, The action Ofthe
government, which the state calls peTsecu'
tion, bring those who come under the law
closer together, and in way strengthens the
ties that unite them, as a commOndanger al
ways does; but it has the effect OF dis
couraging those Who havonot entered polyg'
amoms relations, and il it continues, the
Mormons Will soon become weary OF re-
sistance and. yield to the inevitable. Just
now they are Up in arms and united in their
commOn defense. Very soon they will see
that this is useless and bes for quarter,
Their is no danger 81 an uprising
Not the slightest. There may be an oc-
casional attempt to resist arrest, but it
will not amount to muCh.'