The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1911-04-20

ence to, or cancel Of, or the evadins
of, the manifesto forbidding all fr
ther plural marriages that Mormon is
doing his best to secure the destruc
ton OF the Church Those "Mormous"
on the other hand, who occupy the
position you uphold in your letter, and
who insist that the Mormon" church
shall turn its face toward the future,
take position which II generally tax
en- will mean that the Church will be
treated precisely on an equality with
all other churches. The Mormon" has
the same right to his form of relig.
ious belief that the jew and the
Christian have to theirs; but, like
the jew and the Christian, he must
not practise conduct which is in con
travention of the law of the land
| have known homogeneous Nor.
mons" whose standard of domestic
life and morality and whose attitude
toward the relations of men and WON
en- were as high as that of the best
citizens of any other creed; indeed,
among these "Mormons" the standard
of sexual morality was unusually
high. Their children were numerous.
healthy, and well brought up; the
young men were less apt than their
neighbors to indulge in that course OF
vicious sexual dissipation so degrad.
ing to manhood and so brutal in the
degradation 1t inflicts on women; and
they were free from that vice. more
destructive to civilization than any
other can possibly be, the artificial
restriction of families. the practice
of sterile marriage; and which ulti
mately means destruction of the ma.
ton. The loss of the paternal and
maternal instincts among men and
women, the dedication of cold. cal. |
culating selfishness, the failure to
understand that there are no othe,
Joys and no other duties connected |
with the happy family life of father
mother and children-all this repre-. |
sents a far worse evil than even the
worst of purely political evils can be.
The evil of divorce and all kindred
evils are merely subsidiary in wick.
edness and evil results to this great
and central evil. II the average man
Is not most anxious to be good
father. performing his full duty to
his wife and children if the average
woman Is not most anxious to be a
good and happy wife and mother, the
mother of plenty of healthy and happy
and well'trained children; then not
only have the average man and the
average woman missed what is in. |
finitely the highest happiness of life.
but they are bad citizens of the worst |
type; and the nation in which they
represent the average type of citizen
Is doomed to undergo the hopeless
disaster which 1t deserves. In so far
as the "Mormons" will stanu against |
all hideous and degrading tendencies
OF this kind, they will set a good ex- /
ample OF citizenship. II, on the other
hand, the Mormon" Church openly or
secretly endeavors to reintroduce
polygamy. then it has marked itself !
Tor destruction, and has become an
ally of the forces of evil so potent as
to oblige all decent citizens to Join
against 1t, The "Mormons" who real
ize this fact and stand as you do. and
as have every reason to believe
Senator Smoot does, on these matters.
are not only fighting for the best in
terests of the Mormon" Church. but
are performing well the highest duties
of American citizenship. Very sincere.
ly yours, Theodore Roosevelt.