Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-02-25
THE MINISTER'S RESOLUTION

THE mlNISIEtS' ittSVhhiiO
Readers OF the Deseret News have
been informed concerning the renewed
attempt OF the Ministerial Association,
IN this city, to agltate the public mind
In the East, and also to bring a pres
sure to bear upon Congress In reference
TO polygamy In Utah. The latest eff
fort of that kind Is a rakng up Of dead
aches Statements made by the Utah
Commission Of the work they claimed
10 rave performed nearly twenty years
ago, have been culled over In order TO
CLEAN some figures which could be, by
deft manipulation, made 20 bear out
the assertion Of that body, that at the
time Of the passage Of the Edmunds
Act about One-thlld Of the Mormon
vo,c. which these reverend gentlemen
place at $4,000, were DISTINGUISHED, and
this they bring forward in opposition 10
the ey 'dence which has been frequently
adduced that comparatively few OF tue
Mormon people ll,Nl IN the practice
OF uolygamy,
observe the craft displayed In this
minie,erIal contention. The small pro-
portion which has been 80 frequently
mentioned, as rs well known was
placed in comparison with the PoPU-
LA1l0N These gentlemen, as they
mny think ingenously but certainly
not Iigenuously, compare the computed
figures Of the Utah Commission, 40
toronsly exaggerated, with the number
of VOTERS, very different PROPOSE
ton.
The report OF the Utah Commission
from which they pretend to quite,
states! "1he total number Of registered
voters is 1896 Of whom 1872 are
males and li,40i are females, and the
Commission simply argued that 1T cp-
pears that about 10000 men and women
were excluded from registration by re1-
son OF polygamy,' The Commission adj
mltted that many "Genties' as well as
"Morons' RETAINED from registration
under the new law and placed the pop
ulation Of the Territory at about 49,,
QUO about 10000 being non Mormons."
The commission furnished the figures
showing the result OF the first etlon
for Delegate to Congress under the
Edmund's Act and their new reglstra.
tion oath, From these we can see
what was the real Mormon vote"
Their report states that John T. CaIne
Mormon received 1909 votes and
Phillip II Van zile, Gentle" 1884
These figures are not quite accurate,
defect TO be found in many statements
made by that body IN official reports
10 Congress. The returns Of the Nov
ember election Of November 7. 1882. AZ
may be seen In the Office OF the Secre-
taray Of State, show a total Of votes
cast November Z 1889 as 2S,l59. The
total vote cast in November 2, 1880 was
1898 Thus there was a considerable
gain instead of a loss at the polls. after
the passage Of the Edmund's Act and
the enforcement Of the test oath formu-
lated by theUtah Commission.
The gentlemen comprising that body
never furnished any definite data on
which they based their opinion that
they had succeeded in DISTINGUISHING
about 1900 men aud women because
OF polygamy There were a number of
persons prevented from voting who
were not at the time Of the election
living in polygamy The theory OF the
Commission was; "Once a polygamist
always polygamlst' A majority
Of that body decided that any person
who, at any time since July /, 1862.
had lived In polygamous relations, was
not entitled to vote Thus men who
were In 1882 without wife. and women
who were widows, were prevented
from voting and were included IN the
guessed-at 1900 Everybody who for
any cause refralned from registering
for the election Of 1889 was counted in
the number said to be disfranchised
because Of polygamy The Supreme
Court Of the United States subsequent.
~ rectifled that wrong
Judge A, b. Carlton a member Of the
Utah Commission for many years, in
his book giving an account Of the Do
ings Of that body, with many interest
ing bits OF information obtained during
n long residence In Utah, states "Of
the whole Mormon population In Utah
only very small per cent are in po-
iygamy, and Of the adult males from
SIS TO 81 per cent are not living In a po-
lygamous relation" The Utah Com
mission. In its report Of October 30.
1888. argued this way: Every married
Mormon who takes but one plural wife
loses three votes for his party. his
own and those Of his two wives.
woman suffrage being establish
ed by law in Utah" II was
On this basis that the calculation was
made, establishing the small percent
age OF poygamlsts TO the population
Al that time. The term polygamlst
was defined by law TO mean. a "per-
son having husband or wife living
who shall marry any other person.
whether married or single in a Terri
tory OF the United States, etc The
law applied in Utah TO men who had
married plural wives women did not
mary plural husbands. The percentage