The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-02-12
Mormon Power Declining.

The election in salt Lake City on Mon
dav. the result Of which was published in
our dispatches Yesterday. was a far more
important one than it was generally under
stood, outside Of Utah. to be. The election
was only for municipal officers, but, as q
matter of fact, the question whether Nor.
mons or anti 1Iormons should rule L tab
was involved init. This question was fully
understood, and each party made eKtraor-
binary exertions for victory.
The anti-Morm1as are known as Gentiles,
ana they are the liberal party, and the
Mormons are the peoples party When
the registration was completed it was found
that the Gentiles had slight majority, and
the Mormons at once charged that the Gen
tiles had increased their registration by
fraudulent means. They brought detec ives
from Chicago and other cities to find evi-
dence to sustain their charges. No evidence
was found, and the Mormons were forced to
admit that the registration was an honest
one. They did not give up hope of carry
ing the election, however. Indeed, they re-
doubled their exertions, and so aggressive
were they that there were well-grounded
apprehensons that the election would be
marked by bloodshed and violence.
Happily, however, there were no out
breaks of lawlessness, and the Gentiles were
victorious by over 200 majority. The city
and county are now in the hands of the
Gentiles, and will remain SO. The immi-
grafton of Gentles to Utah is increasing
rapidly, and the Mormons will never be
able to recover their lost power. The control
of Salt Lake City means the control Of Utah
The Gentiles carried Salt Lake county last
August by forty majority, aud their success
awakened the Mormons to the danger which
threatened them of losing control of Salt
Lake City. They began at once to prepare
for the municipal election, and for the
five months Immediately preceding it they
conducted one of the most active political
campaigns ever known in municipal politics.
There are between 40, 600 and $1,000 peo-
pie in Salt Lake City, and about 100000 in
Utah territory. The progress of both the
city and the territory has been retarded
by the knowledge that the Mormons were
in control of the municipal aud territorial
government Now that Salt Lake City has
been wrested from their control it will not DO
long, through Gentle immigration, before
Gentle influence will prevail, and U 5ah,
rich in agricultural and mineral resources,
will have growth that will be simply mar
velous. The influence of the Mormon
church will cease to be felt, and polygamy
in that territory will be a thing Of the past.
The law against polygamyis now bsing
enforced more vigorously than ever before.
In Idaho, where there are many Mormons,
every citizen must take an oath before he
can vote that he neither practices nor
teaches polygamy. The supreme court of
the United States has recently held this
law to be constitutional. There is, there
fore. not much probability that Mormons
will secure control of Idaho, and now that
the Gentiles are in the ascendency in Salt
Lake City it is not at all improbable that
they will have the same kind of test oath
in Utah If they should, the greater part of
the Mormons would be disfranchised.
The fight against polygamy mas been a
long one, but there is no doubt now that il
will be a successful one. Polygamy will
have to go, in fact is going, and within q
quarter of a century it will be unknown in
this country. The Mormons may emigrate
to Mexico or some other country. They
cannot remain in this country unless they
abandon poiygamy.