The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-07-17
DEATH6LoW TO PoLYCAMY,
Great Significance OF Last Weeks
Proceedings at Salt Lake City.

1t Is hard to over-estimate the importance
of this weeks doings in Salt Lake City. The
brief telegraphic dispatches enumerate
houses and lands; cattle and securities,
claimed by the Mormon church, now sur
rendered into the hands Of receiver Dyer,
and we look with scant attention at the sig
nifcant words. 1t is in reality the greatest
blow ever received by the Mormon Church,
and one which should be reioiced over by all
right-thinking people. Upon the death of
Joseph Smith in 1s42 the city of Nauyoo. ILL.,,
was broken up, and the Mormons emigrated
under the leadership Of Brigham Young to
Salt Lake City, where city upon the same
plan was begun. The government was en-
tirely In the hands Of the church, body aud
soul; all true believers belonged to it. The
Oaths of obedience were sacred, and under
the command of their leaders all the crimes
of blood atonement' were committed. The
church seized the water and brought it to the
farms and towns which sprang up. In this
way they controlled all the inhabitants, as
any failure in loyalty TO the church could be,
and often was, punished by cutting off the
water supply. Mining lands were taken up,
all sorts OF frauds and iniquities practiced,
until the church became enormously rich.
''Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution"
is one of their fraudulent signs, over great
shop, which is simply joint stock company,
OF which the stockholders are leaders in the
church. Polygamy is not the only question
in Utah. Terrible as are the evils that it en-
tails, the entire renuneiation of manhood
and independent judgment demanded by the
Mormon Church is almost as great a curse,
uniting men for self government and the
duties of citizenship. Missionaries were
sent out by hundreds to preach the doctrines
OF the church, and deluded victims herded in
the tithing yard until some place was pro-
vided for them. How the women were pro-
vided for may be imagined, while the church
farm and the church mines furnished em-
What to do about it has been grave ques-
tiOn. The Edmunds law of 1882 against po-
lygamy resulted in the conviction and I'M
prisonment Of many of the church leaders.
Now the Edmunds-Tucker law of 1857,
whereby the charter Of the Mormon church
was annulled. and the property Of the church
placed in the hands Of a receiver, is going
into effect. The charter was granted to the
Mormon church by the pretended State of
March, 1s49. The Constitution Of this
State, which was to ''ordain and establish a
free and Independent government" claims
all the country west of Utah to the Pacific
Ocean, and south to the borders of Mexico
as belonging to its jurisdiction. Congress
naturally ignored the State Of Deseret, and
IN 1850 organized the Territory of Utah.
Thus the charters given by the Mormons to
the Morm0ns are entirely valueless, and the
act OF 1887 annuls them formally. On Mon
day last the focks and herds of the church
were demanded and surrendered. The
Infamous tithing yard itsolf, the
scene of so much msOry, is given
up. The Temple Square, with the great
buildings, wrung out Of the people, is to be
demanded. Four millions Of dollars, they
say, have been spent upon the temple alone
The tabernacle, endowment house. and As
sembly Hall are also in this square. Thus
it will be seen that the blow is aimed at the
very roots Of the system. Deprived of its
money the Mormon Church will be- compare
lively harmless. New recruits will cease to
be imported, and the whole system of cor
ruption and fraud will tumble about the
heads of the leaders. These may seem harsh
words to apply to any belief, but If the
reader wants to be Mortified let him read T.
B. III. Stenhouse's Rocky Mountain Saints" /"
especially page 4S5, and he will see from
what doctrines the present state OF society
In the Mormon Church has grown. 1t should
be sense of thankfulness to all who love
their country and honor their God, that at
last this plague spot in America, which has
spread into six different States and Terri
tories, is to be cleansed by the strong arm of
the law.