The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-09-24

gentleman with whom we were u iisiHes
was acquainted III, Il general way With tho
people Of that section, and sud That tileS
were plain, but fairly Intelligent and ci IN
itcntly respectable people, ana that con N i
siderable number OF Their, had adopted inc
Mormon faith, and Joined the church. ZIG
y said further, that the church had sprung
up through the neglect of,the ministers OF
other denominations IA that section. OF
that we know not, butt the church IS
there, ana every church has Its Influence.
1T may be related III passing that several
young men iii tho liclghhorhood disturbed
worship at this Mormon church some time
ngo and their counsel made the plen that
they had not Violated the statute, becn'so
the Mornlons were not recognized IN VI
gina as Il religious denomination. The
court sustained tho plea and dismissed inc
case, but In spite of this severe blow the
church continues TO flourish. we are
very tolerant towards all religious crccds
bit ;Mormonls,n Is a menace to society
and government, and Is, therefore, to be
discouraged iii nil parts Of the l]nton',NHe
hope It viii never get a foothold IN Y,li1 r-
glnin. E5s
Senator S. NJ Cullom, Of Illinois, con-
tributes to the September number Of tho
North American Review an article on the the
Menace Of Mormonlsm, which takes
n somewhat more liberal view than might
DO expected from man IN his posi- ton,
yet he Is satisfied that there are two ever
present dangers iii that doctrine. Two
Of the cardinal features Of Its promulga-
ton" says he, were Il disgrace and
danger ito the integrity Of any comnl'i-s
nity in which there were politics. refer,
OF course to poygamy and hierarchy as
perpetrated in the emily Mormon Church,
which. with their national outgrowth.
constituted the menace of iMorinonis'im n
Flo Is ready to accept the statements that
aside from these influences, there Is much
that Is vigorous, enorgizlng and com
5mcndnble Nj the church conditions en-
gcndercd by the Mormon Church but
adds that SO far ns these two cmonts
exist to-day Mormonsn is the same me- ne
mace to this country ns 1T was In the be-
ginning. He says that statistical evil
dence shows that the practice OF poly
'gany is decreasing but 1t has been freely
admitted that toifa limited extent at
least polygamous lives arc still lived
among tho Mormons,S obviously Justified
by the church since the first president
acknowledges himself as an active poly
gamist; winked at by society and Ignored
by courts Of Justice on y account OF Ger
tain extenuatlng circumstances
In the Utah schoolSexhibit booth at the
ST Louis Exposition, there was an in
tellgenr woman who tnllsed freely about
the Mormon faith, and while ashe said
that her father was not a polyganist,
wo were convinced from. what she SAID
on the subject that she herself firmly
believed in 1t as the most beautiful doc-
trine or the Mormon Church. She justl-
fled 1t OH the ground that 1t developed
the perfection Of 5unselfishness, which,
she claimed, was the sund DERIVING principle
Of the Christian religion We doubt not
that devout Morrlons as consciously bo-
liove in polygamy to-day as they ever be-
lIeved in 1t, and II they do not practice It,
1t is because they fear the law.
'The other menace, says Senator Gull
lom clos In the spirit OF hierarchy and
the extent to which it's Influence IS pos
sihle, publicly or privately controverting
o ~ nd nj handing them
To its purposes, ssa,y3-s III 4. (, 81 ,.y.
"If the hierarchy ofsthe Mormon Church
exists as It once existed :gsif = spenetrates
as 1t once penetrate ,%tlnto tic, affairs Of
citizenship; If 1t dictates. as It once die
totcd courses OF conduct at variance with
tho laws Of the land under whose flag
It claims projections and priyilege--then,1 1t
is a menace, and It is high tlmetthat we
demanded reformation. We can never
too earnestly dcnouncc and$,combnt the
tendency Of church hierarchy, or any
hierarchy, to dominate Law .'''s''.,5ts NJ
We have long contondcd that this
feature OF ,Mormonsm Is really more dan
gerous than polygumy. We can prevent
polygany by the strong arm OF the law,
but we cannot prevent In the heart OF an
Individual dsloynlty to our form of gov
eminent. It is n cardinal doctrine Of our
republic that church and State must DO
separated, and that the church must NOT
undertake to NEEDLE in affairs OF govern
ment, nor even With the OWL rights OF It's
members. That there need be no conflict
between these two has been abundant!y
onstrated since our government was
founded, but when any so-called churoh
sets Itself up as a law unto ITSELF IN de-
finnce OF the laws OF tho land and teaches
Its members that their first duty IS 70
their church rather than to their gov-
ernment. such m organization becomes q
menace SO great that 81 Is not to DO toll
Grated, The church has It's recognized
functions, and make rules and regulations
for its members, but all Its rules must
conform to the laws of the land Inc
church which teaches otherwise Is a rev.
olutonary organization as surely so as