Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-07-28
THE MOTHER OF VICES.
Some of the Beauties" of POlygamy
Clearly Pictured.
Judge Dickson's Eloquent Speech at
the Pavilion Last Night.
Cases That Have Come Under the
Prosecutors Personal Notice.

The speech delivered by Judge Dick
son at the Pavilion last evening has
caused so much comment, and excited
so much interest in the subject upon
which he spoke, that the DEMOCRAT de- |
cided 10 print it verbatim, as taken by u
reporter OF this paper. The address was
delivered in a clear, flowing and eloquent
manner, and was frequently interrupted
by loud bursts OF applause, and when
the speaker finished, the clapping of
hands continued for several minutes:
JUDGE DrCKsoN's SPEECH.
M. Chairman, Members Of The Grand
1tmy and Ladies' Of u'c Relief Co,ps-I
can assure you that wherever you halt on
YOUR Journey to the Pacific Coast, through
every town and hamlet that you pass, you
will be received with the glad welcome that
you are entitled to. And l wish to assure
you that nowhere can you receive heartier
welcome than the loyal citizens of Utah wish
to extend TO you. Indeed, l think, perhaps
that here they are more earnest than else
where, because we daily feel that we need
the support and assistance of the loyal
citizens of the United States everywhere.
We are greatly encouraged, assure you, by
your presence here among us, because we
feel that you will not forget us when you re-
turn to YOUR homes in the East and as you
may get to understand something of the
situation here, we hope that your voice will
be heard on your return, demanding from
your Senators and Representatives, in Con-
gress, redress for the mighty evils that curse
this Territory.
CANNOT LET THIS OPPORTUNITY PASS
| think no loyal citizen ought TO let it pass
without saying something to you loyal peo-
pie of the East of the grievous wrongs we
have to complain of. The story of Utah's
shame, the depth and breadth of the infamy
here the mighty wrongs and great crime that
have held high carnival here for 10! these
many years, cannot be told in an hour, nor
in day. The most we can do is to touch
upon the salient points, and we ask you,
when you 60 back to your homes, to say to
your neighbors in the East that measures
are sadly needed to right these wrongs.
What am apt to say will be largely of mat
ters that have come under my own personal
observation. i have no intention of indulg
ing in exaggerations, nor shall undertake
to palliate any of the wrongs and crimes
so-called Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints is stepped in dis
loyalty to the Government of the
United States. We say, again, that
the Church in Utah has usurped civil author
ity throughout the Territory. We say, more
than that, that the purpose of this Church
here, one of its particular purposes, is to
overthrow the American home and oyerturn
the family altar in this country. We say
that the Church, the people who are the ad-
herents of that Church, are stepped in dis
loyalty. Gentlemen, could you expect any
thing else, when the truth is that every week
every Sunday since the first settlement of
the Territory it has been preached from the
pulpit that the Government of the United
States was the enemy of the Mormon Church
np6 ,,nppla and IA that 0pctrinn has haan
instilled into the minds of the youth of this
country for the last thirty years, could we
expect any other outcome when they reached
the age of discretion, then that the masses
WOULD BE HOSTILE To THE GOVERNMENT?
As evidence of the disloyalty which reigns
here, may say that when the great Lincoln
was assassinated, and when the news of his
ham Young, then the President of this
Church, could not and did not repress his
exultation over it. In 1882, when the So
called Edmunds bill was passed. which
struck at the practice of polygamy and
aimed to suppress the polygamous house,
hold in this Territory, that command of the
Government was met by q challenge issued
from the head of the Church here, and the
order went forth, given by President Taylor
and George q. Cannon and Joseph f. Smith
calling upon the people to live their religion
and enforced it by the threat that every
man in the Church who held an office, and
who had not more wives than one, should
be forced to yield up his office unless he
took another wife in violation of the laws
of his country, and that no man--such was
the order-could hope for preferment in the
Church unless he took unto himself more
wives than one, and from the day that law
was passed until the present time it has
been steadily preached to the people here
that it was their duty to live their religion
to
VIOLATE THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES
And TO take unto themselves more wives
than one, and since that time it had been
more generally, earnestly and vigorously
pressed upon the adherents of this Church
than it ever was before. And it has come tc
this pass-I speak of what / know and what
| have seen here-that member of this
Church who has been arraigned at the bal
of this court for his violation cf the laws oi
his country, who has been indicted, tried
and convicted when he has been called upor
TO answer if he has anything to say why the
Judgment of thS law should not be pro
nounced against him, every man who has
dared to say that from this time forth it il
his intention to respect and obey the laws oi
his country, has been anathematized by the
Church, and visited with social ostracisn
by the dominant authorities. Why, it il
but q few months since-I can appeal fol
proof of this to one of your members, Judge
Mckay, since the conversation took place in
his presence-that man indicted for viola
tlOu Oh tnt lulTu SECTION OF tLe fuHluIluS law
and who knew he was guilty and it woulC
be no use to stand trial, because the evi
dence of his guilt was palpable and within
the reach of the prosecution, made a state
ment to me, the substance of which was
"I|have obeyed the law for the past 81,
months, as the courts of the Territory have
construed it; it is my desire to live within
the law in the future, but
DARE NOT STAND UP IN COURT
And promise to obey the laws of this coun
try. | am wealthy man, it is true, but al
my capital is invested in business in thii
city, and should make that promise in the
presence of the court, would be utterl,
ruined and destroyed i'll my business here.
speak of this in order that you may bettel
understand something of the power thai
this Church wields over Its people here. IC
promise obedience to the laws of the land
is regarded by the Church as apostacy, and
results i'll plying the whip and the scourgc
in socia! ostracism and a boycott in business
until even a man of wealth in this Territory
as Dinwoodey says, knows that his business
will be destroyed by the Church that rules
here.
say to you that the teaching and preach
ing here for many years has been that the
Government of this country is the enemy OF
this Church, and have alluded to it because
il was necessary, in order to show what thu
natural outcome of such teachings must be
When they come to years of manhood anl
discretion, what else can they be but rebel
that the Fourth of July, 1885, when over thu
County Courthouse in this city, over tn,
City Hall in this city, over the Salt LAX
tntTe i-s-ef ,rnnrnf hYiown 1s-7,r
Do-operative Mercantile Institution, owe
the Gardo House, where the invisible pres