The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-11-24
HONEST OPINIONS.
A Carpet-Bagger's Views on the
Situation.
POLYGAMY AGAINST DIVORCE.
The Long-Headed Views of CardinaLGibbOrs-
Some Very Interest NJ
Statistics.
To the Editor of THE HERALD.


1 am a carpet Dagger; have not been in
Utah two months; heard some little Of the
evils of plural marriages from my brothers,
who formerly resided here; also from nv
wife, who made negotiations, a few wears
ago, to come to this territory, and make an
expose of MOrmonism, but on account of
sickness failed to do so. have not seen
anything of the family life of Mormonism,
but in business circles / have thus far
found the Saints to be straight and not
more c.annish than other sects or bodies.
l am no advocate for polygamy. The
Bible never sanctions plurality of mar
riages; it merely tolerates them. The law
of the land says it is crime, and must
obey that law. The only way to reform
law, is to obey the existing statutes, no
matter whether one believes in them or
not. The authorities 1T Washington say
such must or mist not be done, u and
have 10 obey to be citizen Whilst Weld
ing obedience | must strive to amend those
laws so as TO make them less CALLING. MY
dlsoDedience 10 present laws renders rein
competent to frame new laws.
Polygamy is not the worst of social evils
Cardinal Gibbons, in the North i me- iean
ReUjGC, writes as follows:
I'VE are filed with righteous indignation
at Mormonism: We brand it as a national
disgrace, and Justly demand its suppress
sion. Why: Because, forsOOtb, the Nor
mons are polyga.nists. Do we forget that
there are two species of pOlygamy-simul-
taneoUS and successive! MormOns practice
without legal recognition the first species;
while among us the second species is in
dGlged IN, and with the sanction Of law by
thousands in whose nostrils MOImonism is
u stencil and an denomination. The Christian
press and pulpit of the land denounce the
MOrmons as AN adulterous generation
but too often deal very tenderly with
Christian polygamists. Why! Is Christian
pOlygamy less odlous in the eyes Of God
than Mormon pOlygamyE Among Us, tits
true, the one is looked upon as more re-
spectacle than the other. Yet we know that
the Mormons, as a class, care for their
wives and children; while Christian pOlyga-
mists but too often leave wretched wives
to starve, slave, or sin, and leave miserable
children public charge. % divorced and
much-married Christian says the pOlyga-
nous dweller by Salt Lake, pluck first the
beam from thine own eye, and then shalt
thou see to pluck the mote from the eye of
thy much-married, but undivOrccd. Nor
mon brother"
Of two evils choose the lesser, a. q SONG
how | am inclined to believe that poi, my
country to-day. l think Utah can show as
clean a bill, if not cleaner, for immunity
from crime as any of the western states [
would like to see statistics on this point,
having special reference to Utah. 1t may
not be very fattering to our national pride
to be told that crime is steadily on the ia
crease. The state of Massachusetts, com
prising within its area "culchard Boston,
could some three or four years ago boast of
divorces out of every SO marriages Let
one live in Il small manufacturing town in
the east, where gossip fattens, and he will
be informed that there is scarcely female
above 20 years of age who has not had an
acquaintance directly or indirectly with
that healer of wOes-divorce The ratios
of divorce to marriage in the United States
are sometimes as high as l to 10, to g. or
even little more for single years. Con-
traSt this with Presbyterian Scotland: 80
divorces to 900 marriages, not quite 10
100 marriages, but even in that country
divorces are increasing. The Scots, next
to the Jews and AtheniaDs, according to
numbers, have made deeper impress on
the worlds history than any other nation.
In all countries the marriage rate is de-
CT casing: even in England the rate has
decreased from IL per 1000 for five years,
lS646s, to 1871 for ISIS, whilst the divorce
rate in all European countries, as well as
in our favored land, is steadily increasing.
! have yet to read of nation. either IN
ancient or modern history, Pagan or Chris
tiaa where polygamy has been One-half
such source of corruption as diVOfGe,
hence my desire TO see the statistics OF
crime in Z tab compared with other states
tt FRANK EyILyK,