, 1890-08-28

circumstances, might choose mot 10
be ut all,h but most of us are I'm
sympathy with the sentiments of
Belial:
"Who would lose,
Though. full Of pain, this intellectual
being,
These thoughts that wander through
To perish rather, swallowed up and
In the wide womb Of uncreated night,
Devoid of sense and motionP'
These Mormon women are re-
ligious fanatics and submit to the
horrors of polygamy because they
sincerely believe that 1t is the will
of God.
Professor Swing, OF Chicago, says
In one OF his sermons: I'm India
the most devout fakirs, who live for
nothing but God and the soul, will
once day, roll in the mud or In the
foulest gutter, to show their con-
tempt for the sinful thing called the
body" The professor adds: "Now
what these fakirs need is not an
increase of religion, but an increase
of sense" The thought Is sug'
gestive. Help for the Mormon
come along the line of proper teach
ing and wider enlightenment. 1t
must In some way be burned into
their souls that this so-called Nor
mon revelation Is in fact no revela-
tion, and that God requiring such
holocaust at their hands Is not the
Infinite Father, but an apotheosis OF
Lust, an idol erected by infamous
hands, whom, so far from obeying,
II is their duty to demolish. Free
dom must come to them by the
truth.
THE SITUATION IN IDAHO.
Here now in Idaho we are con-
fronted with 5000 people, one.sixth
of whom are of legal age, whose re-
ligious belief places them into the
hands of the priesthood to be used
at will, makes the church of supreme
authority instead of the state, makes
1t incumbent upon them to kill apos-
tates or other enemies of the institu-
tion ut the bidding of those In au-
thorlty, aud consigns its adherents
to dire punishment In the future,
the women especially to annihila'
ton, unless they violate the laws OF
the state by becoming bigamists OF
'polygamists. What are we to dc
with them?
The Idaho legislature grappled
with this problem for years with
but little success. The, usual laws
against bigamy and polygamy failed
to meet the case. In u Mormon
community and with a Mormon
jury, however clear and convincing
the evidence might be, convictions
could not be obtained. Through
their representatives in the legisla-
ture they impeded legislation
of this evil. With 1000
leaders, the Mormons held the bal
ance of power in Idaho and held II
for years. They voted mostly with
the democratic party, and were
petted and cajoled by it's leaders,
though in fact the Mormons have
no fealty for any party, using first
one and then another as they can to
accomplish their purposes. This lack
of good faith in politics has made
them unpopular even with the
democratic party, so much so that
In 1856 Mormon delegates were re-
fused seats in the democratic terri
torial convention. The younger,
most aggressive and progressive ele-
ment in the democratic party in
Idaho is hostile to the Mormons.
The republican party has been OPP
posed to them all along and has
conducted an active political war
fare against them for years.
THE TEST OATH.
Finally the idea of the test oath
was conceived and 1t bids fair to
prove the death of Mormonism in
Idaho. This oath WAS passed by
the Legislature at its thirteenth ses-
sion. 1t is IA registry law making II
obligatory upon all votes to register,
and requiring them to take rigid
oath as follows:
You do solemnly swear Tor sffirm)
that you are male oiti1Nn of the United
States over the age of 81 years; that you
have actually resided in this territory
for four months last past and in this
county thirty days; that you are not a
bigamist or polygamist; that you are
not member OF any order, organization
or association which teaches, advises,
counsels, or encourages its mem bers, de-
voices, or any other person to commit
the crime of bigamy or polygamy, or
any other crime defined by law, as a
duty arising or resulting from member
ship in such order, Organization, or
association, or which practices
bigamy or polygamy, or plural,
or celestial marriage as u
doctrinal rite of such organization; that
you do not, either publicly or privately,
wise, or encourage any person to COM
nit the crime of bigamy or polygamy
or any other crime defined by law,
either as religious duty or otherwise /,
that you regard the constitution OF the
United States and the laws thereof and
of this territory, as interpreted by the
courts, as the supreme law of the land,
the teachings of any order, organization
or association to tho contrary notwith-
standing, and that you have not pre-.
viousiy voted at this election; so help
you God.
The practical effect of this test
oath is to disfranchise the Mormcns
1t reaches not only to those who
practice plural marriage but those
who belong to any organization that
teaches 1t as part of its faith. No
Mormon can take this oath without
committing perjury. AS result,
in the last territorial election nearly
the whole Mormon voting popula-
tion refrained from registering. In
some ofthe strong Mormon counties =,
a few more fool-hardy than the rest,
polling places and voted,
but the legislature promptly un-
seated all members elected by such
votes, and proceedings were insti-
tuted against the law breakers, re-
sultinv In their conviction. On en-