New-York tribune., 1914-12-22
POLYGAMY ONCE MORE
The Bond Between Mormonism and
Suffrage Is Reasserted

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The sufragette logic in my
observation Of il usually addresses
itself to some other than the point at
issue, and Miss Mary Shaw and Miss
Eva Ward my latest critics furnish
no exception.
Ny contention that the case Of the
Mormon women abundantly proves, II
woman is enslaycd as sutfragists al
firm all voteless women are), the bal
lot cannot free her since hers will be
as slavish as herself, receives naive
confirmation from Miss Shaw (allas
"Bathsheba," I'm "Polygamyo, VINO
rushes TO the defence with the irrele-
want query: "If Gentle men have not
been able TO vote Mormonism out Of
existence, why should Gentle women
be expected 10 do so, with the Nor
mons voting their wives solidly?'
Why. indeed? Certainly not /. nor
any anti-sutfragists ! know. expect the
woman ballot 20 accomplish anything
anywhere, that can't be done as well
or better, by the man-ballot. Hence
our query: Why put in operation a
perfectly useless and wastetul dupll-
cation of energy Why set both sexes
whose interests are identical TO do
what one can do. and where nothing
is TO be gained except TO molllfy toe
peeved vanity of the one who IS told
She mustn't? Il is bad economies, bad
ethics.
am a patient anti, submitting even
10 instruction I'm American history by
an English sutrragette, but | can't
allow her to mislead The Tribune pub
lie, 10 is true, as she says, that Nor
monism and woman suffrage were both
born i'm New York. but both had to
migrate TO "the wild and woolly" IN
older 10 grow up and, as il hap
pens. they have thriven together in
the same commonwealths. A Republ-
can United States Senator from a
Western state who shall be nameless,
by his own request said, in 1910:
"Politically, the Mormon Church
holds Utah in the hollow Of its hand;
it holds the balance Of power III Idaho,
Wyoming. Colorado. Arizona, Nevada,
New Mexico and Montana, and has con
vincing weight in Oregon and Wash
ington State" Last April. in Carnegie
Hall, and again quite recently at the
Labor Temple in this city, ex-senator
Cannon, of Utah. an acknowledged au-
thority on the Mormon question, stated
that eleven Western states are com
pletely dominated by the Mormon
hierarchy, which eleven states, as
named by Senator Cannon. correspond
with the list just cited, plus Califor-
MIA Now call the roll OF the woman
suffrage stItes, and, with the single
exception of Kansas, you will find them
all tucked snugly under the wing Of
"thc Prophet" according TO Senator
Cannon. who should be an irreproach-
able witness for them, since he is a
sufragist SO when studying the
suffrage maps marked "White States
and Free States" don't forget that
trese should be marked Mormon
States" also. II is an interesting and
suggestive parallel nothing more.
Miss Ward is correct in saying
woman suffrage was first established
in Utah Territory by the Gentiles -
some time after the first federal law
against polygamy was passed. in 1862,
in the hope that it would help TO en-
force said law; but when it was oh
served to have the opposite effect, for
obvious reasons. 10 was withdrawn IN
1887. the date Of the "Edmunds Tuck
cr act' still more drastic anti-Mor-
mon law When Utah obtained state
hood in 1896 the Mormon priests, who
dominated the constitutional conven-
tion which framed the organic law, re-
stored the woman suffrage proviso
because they knew il did increase the
proportionate Mormon vote!s How any