The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-06-29

The following is taken.from the WASH
ington Star of the 22d Of June:
A specisl from indianapolis saws: AttOr-
new General HOrd. just returned from
visit 70 Utah, thinks the pre1ent anti ply
gamy laws solidify orm continent
All who are under indictment because o.
these laws are looked upon as martyrs
'sThe Mormon women" he ssys, ARE SIN
cere believers in the alleged revelations 70
Joe Smiih. and they enter into polygamons
matrimOny as p religious &C. Inc only
way. ! be1ev-. tnu MOrnonlsm can ever D.
reached is 70 ensct a law enabling womsn
who has been sealed" TO a Mormon tore
cover q prOpOrtionaie scare OF his posses
siOns aud 10 obtain g divorce whenever he
becomes dissatisfied. Then encourage
few advenfnresses to 20 TO Utah, become
use led" 10 the wealthy Mormons, and In
few weeks as purely CUISINES" transaction
become dissatisfied and demand diyi-
sion"
Every fellow who comes TO Utah and
returns to the States imagines that he
must have something to suggest look
ing towards the suppression Ofsupposed
Mormon evils. We think sometimes
that a determined effort to suggest
something original is what gives birth
20 some OF the more fantastic plans for
INFLATED for the suppression of poly
gamy," OF which the one proposed BY
Attorney-General Hord, of Illinois, is
the most absurd, and not at all worthy
Of consideration.
The conclusions OF Hord, however.
in relation to the effects of the anti
polygamy laws being to sohdify Nor
mon sentiment are correct. And to that
he might have added that they have
awakened and intensified the religious
zeal OF the Mormons. This always has
been the effects OF religious persecution;
it always will be. 1t is useless for Con-
gress and those who execute the laws
passed against this religious and social
institution of the people of Utah to say
that they are not operating against re-
ligion but against crime. In
whatever light others may regard it,
TO the people here it is a prin
ciple of their religion, and though all
the world besides reject it and de-
nounee it as a crime, it will remain a
part OF their religious faith until their
reason is convinced that they have
beec and are deceived in relation
to it, and that the evidenc upon
which their faith in the divinity of the
institution is founded are false. In the
repor; made to the Secretary OF the In
terror, December, 1884. the Utah Com
mission said:
'Three-fourths OF the Mormon adults.
male and female, have never entered
into polygsmic relations, yet every
orthodox Mormon. every member IN
good standing in the church. believes in
polygamy as divine revelation. This
article Of faith is as1lach an essential
and substantially art of their creed as
their belief in b. ,.jsn. repentance for
the forgiveness Of sins. and the like"
We refer to this sim y to show that
intelligent men b--.des the Nor
mon people are .-apable of I'M
Outstanding that IT, plural mar
riage system of the Mormons is a
part o; their religious faith. That being
the case, even though their faith hath
encompassed an error, so long as they
honestly believe it to be true. they will
sling to it as tenaciousiF as If it were
indeed truth. The poet vas right when
be said.
Faith -. once welded fast
To some dear islsehOod, hugs Il 10 the lssti
And though Mormon plural marriage
should prove to be wrong in principle.
for all that, the Mormons will stand by
it with that intense religious zeal which
has characterized all such controversies
in the past, until their reason is convin-
ced that they have, been in error-asd
once so convinced, the people will rid
themselves OF it, and not until then will
il go. harshness on the part OF govern
ment, heavy fines, long terms of i'm
the brutal conduct of Off
GERS inlexecusing Infamous laws are not
the methods most likely to convince the
minds Of the Mormohs that their mar
rage institution is wrong in principle.
Coercion will not succeed and it ought
not TO. There is something grand
about man or people that refuses TO
mind until their cOnsciences approve Of
the action, and 70 that principle Of the
human mind We o6e-al our advance
ment- The dungeon, the pillory and
the scaffoid have been but stages in the
progress Of civil and religious liberty
towards its triumphs in the past, so they I.
promise to be in the future.
THsBE SEEMS TO BE- a perfect mania 1