The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1904-07-02

as steadfast as you can be; they are
as certain of immortality and a dag
of judgment as you can be; they
al peal to the same God that you
do; they look for an eternal home
in the same heaven that you hope
to dwell in. Their God is your
God, their Christ is your Christ;
their glory is your glory. Their
faith is sufficient unto death. Is
yours any greater or fuller?
Now, good and noble women of
Idaho, you who contemplate cru
SADIE against polygamy, you whose
natures are outraged by this. awful
social evil, you are inspired by
zeal for the emancipation of your
sex and the publication of the
home. But before being over
wrought in zeal, you must try to
realize that polygamous women re-
gard their homes as just as pure as
yours and think that it is you, not
they, who need emancipation. If
given the opportunity, they would
NOT change places with you, be-
cause they believe that, whatever
of trials they may have undergone,
whatever of hardship they may
have suffered, whatever Of sacrifice
they may have made, is all account
ed to them as righteousness before
God, making for eternal life and
eternal glory beyond the glory Of
the stars. But, you say, it is all
wrong. We think so too, but we
need not go about righting the
wrong under the delusion that we
are helping the injured or uplifting
downtrodden women. There is no
occasion for any kind of knight err
rantry in this business. There is
no demand for a crusade. The
acid has been applied and is dis
solving the problem as rapidly as
possible. Nothing but death will
break up the polygamous families
now established, nothing but a re-
lapse of civilization will cause re-
crudesence of the evil. Some of you
demand legislation that will end it
at once. Legislation has already
done all that legislation can do.
You say, if there is in the church
an honest purpose to abandon po-
lygamy, why is it not abandoned?
Good souls, look little deeper and
understand once for all that every
man and every woman now living in
polygamy is doing so because he
and she firmly believe that it is in
compliance with a direct command
of Almighty God. The Prophet of
the Church, the First Presidency,
the Twelve Apostles, cannot coun-
termand that decree. President Jo-
seph Smith, testifying before the
Senate committee, said that God
gave him his wives, so will testify
every polygamous Mormon in Utah,
and every polygamous woman will
testify with equal solemnity that
God gave her to her husband And
moreover, it has all been confirmed
in the endowment house, signed
and sealed for time and eternity.
There is not anywhere in the Nor
mon church power to undo that
thing, and, indeed, there is no pow
er anywhere else.
The act is full and complete.
What woman with a heart in her
breast really wants to interfere with
those polygamous families at this
stage of their affairs? Who wants
to put gray headed old men behind
bars and set adrift aged and bent
old women? Will any one say that
the good and tender women of Ida.
no demand it? We believe that ii
they could see it as it is, could &c
into those homes they want to pur,
lily, could talk face to face with
those women they want to emanci
pate, they would be filed with com.
passion and they would say, 1t is
far better to let polygamy die a
natural death than seek to kill il
by violent measures, and, as it is
diving, it is our dutv as Christians