The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-20

I
had for years said to them that thi
thing had been commanded by tn
Almighty, and that they would b,
protected if only they would conform
to this tenet or doctrine of their faith
In spite OF all the propagandism O
! pOlygamy that was brought to bea
among the Mormon people from it
establishment in 1852 down to the ces
sation of its teaching in 1887, it ever
having been urged that this practic,
was essential to the salvation of tn,
! members of the church, there wa;
never but small percentage of thos,
people who practiced this doctrine, a;
is shown by official reports which have
/ been made from time to time to The
! president or TO the secretary of the in
terror.
Representative of All People.
I say that the former applications fol
the admission of Utah into the Unior
have been largely made on the part o.
the Mormon people or the representa-
lives Of the Mormon people. 1 come
not here as the representative of the
Mormon Church or any other church
come not here as an advocate of the
practice of polygamy, for I believe it is
vicious and ought to have been sup
pressed, as 1t has been, But / do come
here, l am proud to say, as the repre-
sentative of the people of Utah, ire
spective of religion, creed, or politics
and if there is any opposition in thai
territory now to the admission OF Utah
into the Union l have been unable tC
discover it.
In 1888. as shown by the minority
report of the committee on territories
we found here advocating the admis.
sion Of Utah into the Union Hon. John
T. Caine, at that time delegate from
Utah, Mr.. f. S. Richards, Hon. Mark
A. Smith, delegate from Arizona, and
Mr.. Wilson of Washington. Those
who opposed admission were Governor
West, of Utah, e. p Ferry, of Park
City, Judges Baskin and Mcbride of
Utah, Hon. Fred T. Dubois, delegate
from Idaho.
AS it has been intimated by the gen
tleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
Morse that the present delegate from
Utah has some sinister motive in adj
vocating the admission of Utah under
the bill favorably reported by the COM
mittee. l would like to invite his atten-
ton to the fact that it is very cheap
and easy to stand up and denounce a
thing which all around you condemn,
when you are in the popular current,
you say; but the highest evidence of
sincerity is that when the current of
popular sympathy is against you, you
are outSpoken in your convictions
was born in the territory of Utah /
have witnessed all the stages Of its
progress and development. And l did
not wait until it became popular to say
that polygamy ought to be discon-
tinued and that the church ought to
take its hand out of politics.
In 1885, at a public meeting in the
theatre in Salt Lake city, said to the
Mormon people themselves that polyg-
amy must and should be given up.
that it would be suppressed. and that
they would save themselves much
misfortune and suffering if they would
acquiesce in the sentiment which so
thoroughly prevailed in the nation that
it would not be baked or thwarted. I
said to those people then and there
that the union of church and state
in so far as it had existed must cease
to exist. And In 1884, when l was in
vited to participate in the consutu-
tional convention as the chairman of
d Democratic club, L said that that
club was in favor of the admission
Of Utah upon these conditions thai
the sentiment of the people of the
territory should become predominant
in favor of obedience to the law and
the cessation of the practice of polyg-
amy, and that the church cease its
in political and civil mat
ters L stated that when I was con-
WINGED that this condition existed in
the public sentiment of the territory,
would gladly cooperate and do what I
could to procure for the territory ad-
mission into the Union.
Now, when those utterances were
made they were made in sincerity. In
1885 many of those with whom [ had
been associated believed differently. I
was subjected to some criticism. T
recur to that occasion to make this
allusion. When any gentleman init
mates or hints to me that 1 have any
covert purpose here in advocating the
admission Of the territory of Utah in
order that polygamy may be revived,
l ask him to read the history on this
subject. | Will compare records with
him or anyone.
Previous Delegates.
Mr.. Morse-Will the gentleman allow
me to ask question right there?
Mr.. RaWlinS-YeS, sir.
Mr.. Morse-Is it not fact that prior
to the election of the gentleman, the
territory of Utah sent here as their rep
Mr.. Cannon, man who
had six wives?
Mr.. Rawlins-No, sir.
Mr.. Morse-How many wives did he
have?
Mr.. Rawlins-You mean George Q.
Cannon?
Mr. Morse-Yes, sir. He was a polyg-
amist, was he not?
Mr.. Rawlins-That is ancient history.
my friend. Mr.. Caine has represented
Utah here; he was my predecessor
as the delegate from the territory. He
served here ten years. Mr. Game is
not a polygamist. In 1882 Mr. Cannon,
the polygamist you speak of, was ex-
Guided from his seat in Congress on ac-
count of his polygamy.
Mr.. Morse-But he represented the
sentiment of those people all the same.
because they elected and sent him
here.
Mr. Rawlins-They elected him in
years gone by. / am not denying, my
dear friend. that in 1853 or 1860 or 1875
or 1880 polygamy was practiced in
pie Of that territory elected polygam-
SITS to office in those old days. But
he gentleman does not seem to know
that the world does progress. lap
1lausel There is nothing under the
sun that is not changeable and subject
10 alteration. And that being so, the
gentleman himself had better be care
'ul.
Who was responsible for the educa-
ion of the men who established poIyg-
lmy in Utah2 l tell you, Mr.. Chair
nan, the men who are responsible for
t originally were born, we're bred, were
educated under the system and civil
cation of New England. [Applause.l
Light on Massachusetts.
1 tell the gentleman now that the
moral sentiment which led to its adop
on in Utah. which led to that feature
which is obnoxious. and. in my opin-
on, ought never to prevail. was the
of that puritanical senti-
nent which in some of its excrescences
n the older days burnt witches, sperse-
,uted Quakers, drove out from the com
i11ced the