New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-10-27
I I

When one comes to understand the situation here
he finds himself at complete loss imagine what
The end Will be and how 1t is come about. / have
had many interviews with prominent men of both
sides and they all show the uncomfortable fact that
Mormonsm and Americansm irreconcilablc quail
ties. Mr. c. W. PcnrOse, the Editor Of " The Deserct
News a Church organ, whose attentions
were most useful to me, said, complanlngy: Don't
you see, It isn't polygamy to which our enemies
object We have given that up. In obedience to a
law which we regard as unconstitutional, cruel and
unjust, but stlll In obedience IT, have stopped
living with more than wife, and polygamy IS no
longer a fact in Utah But do their prosecutions
ccasc7 Not in the least On the contrary. not salts
fled with having filed the prisons with men who
have committed. a. we believe crime whatever,
who have done only what they believe God has
ordained and will in Heaven exalt them for-not
content with having despolled of the property we
have dug with a spade from these barren plains and
hills during three generations of toll, tho GenleS
now demand that constitutional government shall be
wholly overthrow, that shall be wholly ruled
from without, that only the minority of Utahs popu-
latlon shall have voice I'm Utahs government. that
our Legislature and municipal councils shall be
stripped of even the meagre functions that belong
to them Territorial bodies, that the control of our
schools shall be placed I'm foreign hands, that all our
electoral machinery shall be cOnfded 10 those who
hate and desplse us, that a foreign Governor and
foreign Commission shall be placed in complete
domination and that sole relation 10 Government
shall DO to pay the taxes and support our
opprcssors What Is all this for2 Are
We not American citzensl Arc not the
most Of us sons Of Revolutionary sres! DO not we
sneak the English tongue2 Have we ever been In
rebellion? What's the troubles Look deeply and SEQ
for yourself 1t IS our religion. They hatc us be-
cause we believe our religion and live it. They do not
fight poygamy They fight our faith"
Mr. Penrose IS right. He has hit the nail exactly
on It's head 1t is his religion which IS Objectionable
The Mormons are. in numbers at least, Americans
They have the American qualities of industry orer'
temperance and general morality. But they teach
the union of Church and state; they teach the SUD
ordination OF temporal to spiritual government they
command their people in all cases TO obey church
counsela without question reservaon-that Is, 10
throw themselves I'm all thor interests ana ahas III
rectlv upon the priesthood, 10 whose superior J"lV
ment they must bow and whose directions they must
follow without hesitation distrlst 1t Is taught
that Almighty God has established them III lher
Rocky Mountain home and ordained them to he hS
own particular people: that these are the latter
dayss the fringe of eternity; that all the rest Oh
the world is in darkness and liable 10 daihna''o''
that they and they only can be sure OF et,rhal happ
ness that It was TO build up temporal klnsdom II
which the people should live IN perlc' Nor
mony with His will that God revealed HIM
self 70 Joseph Smith and gave him
the Book Of Mormon and the mr-
Their revelations by which tho conduct OF 'he oa'"
Is regulated: that God continued this course Of uIe''
communication in His relations with hrlgha" i's
and the later heads Of the Church; that church
counsel is therefore from above ana ori"S' I"
Saint the definite and undoubted VIII OF ''"'' -.
Tbi, means NJ course that their God governs them
I'm all their affairs and that lie has very particular
and important reason for doing 80. They nave %'tcu'
too upon this theory IN all their temporal leglsa'o"
Their church organization provides for every eHcr'
ccncy They have church courts, and all ther per
sonal differences are adjusted, not by an appear
the law Of the land. but By an appear 10 'ho' O'"'p
Their public school system, such as II Is j. NJ,
system wherein the Book Of Mormon and the Doc,I"'S
and Covenants are taught as textbooks '"'''U'""7'
they once did every vote tn The Irrl'o''a' "
aturc. and as they do, twenty three ou' VI
four counties their Territorial laws enacted IN tho
fear Of the Church.
However can it 10 that people who don't pe'eEo
those thing, can oct along comfortably with people
who dol In every other situation people "hP "",''
compromise but how man comp
when he believes that his way is ordlIheu w 'Ho
Almighty II h. comes 10 terms with an 'lhpcI'o''
matter upon what basis he by so mnch IeP"u'''''
God and impcrls his soul. That IS whe'' 'no MY"
comes IN Utah. Mr.. Pcnrosc was right III saS'"S
that the Gcntlles were more opposed to his religion
than polygamy. They opposed 10 the orihclpic
Of which poly is merely an expression Ihey
believe IN common with sixty millions of their country
men, that this revelation business Is a hum0ug' inc
arrant impudent and vicious kind OF impoSlloh'
practised by few clever hnavci to enrich themselves
at the expense OF the communltys happiness progress
and general welfare. They 1t responsible for the
engTaftlng upon the minds of 10000 people, with
whom their lots cast OF theory Of government alb
solutely In conflict with that of this Republic The two
systems cannot work together Theooracy, expressed