Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-10-03

clamor is still on, II Is fashionable TO
say mean things and abuse the Nor
mons" A listening ear IS ever ready
for u story II It Is only a. sensational
lie. The truth Is 80 simple and uniu-
terestng.
IN the early history of the church
and In fact up To the present time.
every crime committed by adyenturers
tn the immediate vicinity of the "Mor.
mons was and is laid at their door
II the scoundrcl who had meme
hership or his name ON the books
OF the Church got drunk or Killed %
man howl went up. The horrid Nor
mons did it,
by their fruits ye shall know them
The Mormon people have toilpd ON.
trustful and hopeful and long suffering.
The leaders of the Church have guided
their ship IN comparative safety
through all the storms Of prejudice ana
Ignorance into the isles of peace and
plenty, made out OF barren desert
a beautiful, blooming flower garden.
THE QUESTION OF PoLYGAMY.
The one thing about the Mormon
people ana the Mormon" religion that
the world has heard most about the
thing In which the world Is most inter-
ested when "Mormon~m" ls named is
polygamy, and not infrequcnty they
regard this one phase OF their marriage
system as the sum total of their rcli-
gion. The question Of polyrumy as
taught by the Mormon people has
never been understood 10y the world at
large. Tine MASSES shout ted ou by
shouters and neither leader nor shout
en- Know what they arc shouting about.
"Not understood, we gather false inn
presslons,
And hug them closer as the years SO
by,
TIL virtues often seem to us trans
grcSsIOus,
And thus men rise ana fan and 1.-Two
and die
Not understood
Having lived 50 long i'm Ctah. nat
uraIly the question most often asked
me by the stranger is. what Is the
difference between polygamy and
blgony" This question hriues us face
To face with the ethical side Of one of
the various phases Of The plural sys-
TEN Of wives that obtains I'm the civil
yea world. one has only to glance at
the ecclesiastical warfare wugod
against the so-called social evil to real
. .
wrong with the marriage system of fU-
day ana the reformcra have been un-
aole to suggest practical remedy.
Ihere Us so much left undour. however.
lnaJ one can hardly resist the tampta-
ton when the Mormon system of
marriage Us attacked to- quote the
humeiy saying. Keep your own door
STEP clean before criticlaIng your
neighbors"
am not statistician pertaining 10
New York'5 affairs. but during my re-
cent visit ] was informed that dtrlng
JAe past winter over 10000 fallen
women were wandering about the
streets OF New York homeless and
unprotected. II has been said that n
'eluiIts az least seven men to give
Sd'l OF these poor creatures a nveN-
mood We must estimate before the
crusade was waged which deprivoG
them OF this means there were nj least
seven times their number I'm that cit,
living IN an infinitely worse condition
Oh immortality than that practlsed un-
oer me one-tIme teaching of the Nor
mon" Church
II Is unnecessary to dip deeper into
the Illicit relation of numbers Of mar
rled men all over the world. who have
me means to crafty their baser i'm
pulses without entering into any CON
dillon which binds them 10 shelter and
protect Inc women outcasts they have
made.
THE REASON FOR POLYGAMY.
a man could have hall dozen wives
IN Chicago or New York each bellev-
Ing herself the one and only vie.
Polygamy could not be practieed I'm
This fashion in Utah by a Mormon"
because when polygamy was practlsed
by the 'MormonS' a man vlsh-
lns to take another wife must obtain
me consent OF the first before the
Church would allow him to enter into
this new relationship.
Polygamy Is the cry, but Is their
polygamy as bad az II Is represented
10 be? Is 1t not possible that il may
nave shared the fate Of him whose
name we never mention IN polite So
clelS, out VINO Is conceded sometimes
10 be painted blacker than he is?
Nheh me 'Alomons' introduced the
system OF poiygamy 60 years ago taxi
ing the Bible for their guide they
believed they had solved to some ex-
tent the social problem by making il
possible, under certain rules and recu-
latlons laid down by their faith. for
every woman to become am honured
VIE ana mother because the rights
and privileges of the pclygamous wife
IN Titan Cleft undisturbed by the United
states for 40 years. were equal So
ciully in every way To- the homogeneous
wife. These women We're many of
them cultured and refined and of as
hlgh q spirituality as can be- found I'm
our Christian land. Understand / am
NOT advocating polyglmy personally.
Tor WINE the 'Mormons,' materially
speaking may have been physiological-
~ correct In their point Of view, il we
are 10 recognize the crying evils Of the
social problem, they left out the sentl-
mental side, which TO me is all there
Is 70 live for and IL to he found only
IN the home whore the one man and the
one woman live In their little world
with their children IA mutual live and
sympathy As one looks around at
the many wrecks OF manhood and
Womauhood, 1t seems safe to predict
that the cIvilizlng process has lust
begun and that II will take ano her
10000 years TO convert man to really
believe and practise monogamy
NOT THE CENTRAL IDEA.
1t is hardly possible to give In a
brief article even glimpse of the mar
rlage system and the beliefs pertaining
to 1t OF the Mormon" Church, Let me
assure you that polygamy Is not re-
gDrded as the central idea Of their mar
riage system. IL was never held 10 be
a commandment to an their people.
but rather q permission granted to men
Of approved character and then under
very special circumstances.
II is but just 10 remark here, that
when polygamy was most urged upon
the membership and reached the flood
tide IN practise, according to the gov
eminent official reports. there never
was more than or per cent of the
population OF the Church who could
be- induced 10 accept It's obligation