Bisbee daily review., 1912-10-20


 On the hot Sunday morning of Aug ust 18th, while the deyout were seek ing their places of worship in the many beaUtiful church ediices of Fl Paso, the writer boarded an electric ear at the junction and proceeded to the Cotton addition where he viewed the camp Of the Mexican Mormon refugees and talked with several intelligent members thereof. While it appeared that the camp was fairly comfortable, as camps go. the material needs Of the unfortunate people being faithfully administered to from the eyer-geneRous treasury Of our good government. by a small de- tachment of United States soldiers. yet hardship and fear were written large in the faces Of the men, the women and even the little children.
 The story those people told the wis. itor-of homes abandoned on an hours notice, after years Of toll in their establishment; Of crops tram pied almost at the harvest; loved animals stolen; insults endured: and at last the weary trek from the mael- storm of revolution to a temporary haven of peace and security north of the Rio Grande-was pitiful to the point of tears. But ' knew that the lines which marked the rather heavy faces of those people, the weary droop of the women, the listless play of the children, were not the product alone of the Mexican revolution. They dated back generation after generation. to the early tribulations of Joseph Smith and his little band of followers in Ohio, during the ear lv part of the last century: to old Nauvoo. in Illinois; to Independence, Mo: and to that remarkable exodus Of 1S46 and 1S47. which resolved it. self Into a tragedy stretching from the Mississippi river to the shores of the Great Salt Lake. For the his tory of rhe Mormon peoples of the United States is a history Of warfare; for many years a warfare with so- ciety, always a warfare with nature.
 Less than two weeks before the writer had stood in the shadow Of the great Mormon temple at Salt Lake City and there viewed the show side. the beauty-spot Of Mormonism Round about were wonders of ar chitecture unequaled on the Ameri- can continent: heroic monuments. telling of the greatness of departed patriarchs; a marvellous pipeorgan. the history of which sounds like fairy tale: a spacious park. crowded with evidences Of splendid achieve ments: all eneompassed about by subtle, indefnable atmosphere of mysterious spirituality. Outside, the 1ss Q beyond. :he mighty desert reclaimed all the york of those incomparable pioneers, ,he Mormons.
 Thus, it fell out, that had the privilege Of viewing the extremes Of MOrmonism as it exists on the American continent today Reflect ing thereon, it seemed almost as though one had enjoyed the tinsel and trapEings Of tho stage from a box seat, and later. by chance, ob- tained a look at the sordid proper ties behind the scenes.
 Salt Lake City, the headquarters ot one of the greatest organizations Cf the world, reposes sleek. wellEed. seif-satisfed. It is like the capital of monarchy, whose dependencies extend in every portion of the world and into whose treasury pOurs a con stant golden stream of revenue. No existing empire or republic has sub iects as loyal and self-sacrificing. Within the trade radius of Fl Paso there are probably 10000 of them, and the number is constantly in- creasing
 Twice each year a monster con clave of the church assemblies at Salt Lake City, and there in a vast tabernacle (not the famous temple. as some supposed). which. seating 5000 people, iS still utterly unable to admit the multitUdes who desire to pledge anew their allegiance to this church monarchy. The faithful journey from every part Of the United States, from the countries of Europe and from the islands of the sea to attend these semi-annual confer ences
 What unseen tie binds these people together and to the church and com mands their loyalty and obedience in the face of every sacrifice and hardship? While at Salt Lake City I sought to delye into the mystery but learned, that while the church off, cials are extremely courteous and engagingIy frank up to a certain point. which is virtually the door of the temple, they do not proceed very far. their explanations and informa tion becoming more and more vague and indefinite. Still there is prob ably much less of the hidden and weird in the ceremonies and creed of the Mormon church Of today, espe'