Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-04-03

concerted effort on the part Of those
ladies and gentlemen 10 purity their
own towns and cities and neighbor-
hoods, or to embody In any national
legislation or movement. endeavors To
prohibit and punish those crimes, or to
redeem the victims Of sensuality and
lust who swarm IN every populous
Christian" city.
We shall probably bc met with the
old, fusty sophism that the existence
Of those social vices affords no reason
Why some other irregularlty should not
be destroyed. Also, by the untruth that
We are apologizlng for one wrong by
pointing 10 q greater wrong, and max.
ing kindred the practice Of polygamy
with the social corruptions OF the age
These are the usual eyasions resorted 10
by those who wink at the common So
cal corruptions OF the world. and use
magnifying glasses to search out and
gaze at something which they detest
but IL essentially different to the foul.
ness that they tolerate.
We DO not class Mormon" polygamy
with the denominations that flourish
throughout christendom. There is moth
Ing IN common between them. What
there is left OF the former Is Insignia
cant when contrastcd with the increas.
Ing proportions OF the latter. Neither Is
OF the same origin as the other nor
are It's effects IN any way similar The
need for the restraint or suppressioti OF
the greater Is overwhelming. while tn,
other Is rapidly passing away, and re-
quires no further effort for Its ultimate
extinction Therefore Il Is the height
Of absurdity for the Legislature OF
Stale where social Generalization reeks
to heaven. 20 engage in u violent effor,
TO purify a small community from
something that is ininltesimal In COM
parison with its own gigantic wrongs.
IL may be asked. II what you say
about the decadence of plural marriage
is true, why should YOU be concerned
about constitutional amendment foi
It's prohibition and punishment? The
answer Is, we are not. IL IL only the
non-nccsssIty, absurdlty and hypocrisy
OF the movement to procure II that We
have anything TO protest against, 1t n
like loading "A howitzer TO fire at a
gnat. II IL an effort to magnify In
the ewes Of the ration something that
has nearly disappeared. II is started
IN similar spirit to that which
prompts the sending OF flannels ana
footwear TO the Hottentots. while Ignor-
ing the shIyerlng outcasts and starving
children IN the cities at home 1t Is 4
stigma upon State OF the Union which
deserves no such opprobrium. Tainted
New York says to clearly young Utah.
Il am holer than thou"
The people who are engaged In clam
oring for such an amendment 10 the
Constitution are crying out against an
imaginary evil and Ignoring their own
actual condition. II they are absolute
~ sincere In the pretended moral cru
sade, they would embody IN their reso-
lutlons provision which would strike
AZ the root of all sexual crime, and
would prohibit and punish every viola
ton OF chastity and virtue, and thus
make a clear sweep for the cleansing OF
the nation. the protection OF the home
ana the maintenance of a high moral
| STANDARD.
We have nothing 10 say against the
passage OF such measures as Congress
may deem proper 10 enact, In the inter-
ests % public and individual purity and
the correction OF evils existing in the
Laiion, but We would have more conf
de1ce In the motives of the promoters
OF proposed legislation OF that char
ncter n they would make them 50
comprehensive as to lead to real socia,
| publication.