The Mormon Puzzle, And How To Solve It Part 3

In 1847 Brigham and one hundred and forty-two pioneers pushed resolutely westward over the wilderness track for eleven hundred miles; but while they were on their journey they learned that California had been conquered from Mexico, and that the Stars and Stripes were there supreme. They therefore halted on their arrival at the Salt Lake Valley, and Brigham Young, attracted both by the natural beauty and resources of that region, determined to make it the future residence of the Saints.

They arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley July 24th, and, ever since, that day is the great day of celebration for the Mormons, eclipsing the Fourth of July entirely. These pioneers began improvements for domestic comfort and prepared as far as possible for the residence of the Saints who were still at Council Bluffs in sickness, poverty, and discontent.

Getting matters into material shape, Brigham returned to Iowa, where his presence seemed to inspire the expectant Mormons.

In the spring of 1848 they started from Council Bluffs for Salt Lake; and where in the history of our country will you find a more daring act than this of Brigham Young's? And where will you find a more heroic one than this of the Mormon people? Well has it been said: "It was a pilgrimage which has not been paralleled in the history of mankind since Moses led the Israelites from Egypt." They had sickness, weariness, skirmishes with the Indians; but they also had their pleasures and rewards in this extraordinary journey of several months. They were surprised with beautiful scenery, and they languished over dreary wastes. Brigham told them stories, encouraged dancing to make them merry, and had theatrical performances to distract their attention. Children were born, and numbers died and were buried on the route, but they pressed on under their leader's direction for their new home beyond the States and their enemies, and in the autumn of 1848 crossed the Wahsatch Mountains and reached the Salt Lake Valley, their future home, although at that time a wilderness.

Remember that this exodus was undertaken with the express purpose of placing themselves beyond the reach of the statutes with which their faith was in conflict; but while they were journeying toward their land of promise, it was conquered by the United States from Mexico. Nevertheless, they were in a remote and uninhabited portion of the national domain, and where mountain barriers and leagues of wilderness lay between them and those whom they regarded as their persecutors.

Now, it seems to me that the Government and people of Illinois did a most impolitic thing when they drove the Mormons from their State into the wilderness of the West. I firmly believe that if the Mormon Community had been allowed to remain at Nauvoo, free to develop its theories, in so far as they did not involve illegal acts, and in so far as they did, amenable to the law, but without illegal interference, the subsequent results would have been greatly changed.

Undoubtedly the best safeguard against error and its results is the influence of truth; and the magnetic current of truth which mingles with the common-sense of the people in every circle of society in a land like this may be trusted sooner or later, without the aid of means outside the law or extra proceedings within the law, to prevent the propagandists of error, however they may a.s.sociate, from doing serious damage to society.

Had the Mormons remained in Illinois and been treated humanely, in free contact with the healthful currents of the life about them, the irresistible influence of a hostile public sentiment and of laws humanely exercised would undoubtedly have made the Mormon problem a matter of little concern. To a.s.sert the contrary is to a.s.sume that law is inadequate to the protection of a community from overt acts, and that the barriers of religion and morality are insufficient for the protection of an overwhelming majority against the contaminating influence of a generally despised minority. We think we are warranted in making the statement that the people and authorities of Illinois are in great measure responsible for the development of a structure whose abnormal features, destined to sure decay in that State, were driven to deeper root by persecution and to free growth by exile. It is certainly evident that _their treatment of the Mormon organization_, aside from considerations of Christian charity and humanity, was _lamentably wanting in political wisdom_.

But it is said they were a set of cut-throats and libertines, who should have been banished from all civilized society or cast in the depths of the sea. But that idea is doubtless a wrong one, and never had its origin in any mind except one full of prejudice. A picture, which we may unquestionably accept as a fair one, of the Mormon Church in Nauvoo was presented in the diary of the late Josiah Quincy, published in the _Independent_ a few years ago. His dispa.s.sionate judgment did not lead him to the conclusion, so general in those days, that the followers of Joseph Smith were for the most part cut-throats, marauders, and libertines; on the contrary, while finding in their fanatical ardor that which opposition might develop into a disturbing element in society, he credits them with qualities such as temperance, industry, and thrift, which are among the most important essentials of good citizenship.

And, then, we invite you to look upon the thousands who poured over the Wahsatch Mountains and descended into the fair valley below. What think you of the _men_ who have toiled with unmurmuring bravery for months through dangers of ambush and storm and flood on their westward way? Are these all pretenders and knaves, or the willing dupes of such? Does this theory, or the idea of l.u.s.t suggested by the doctrine of polygamy (which was not announced until four years afterward, and has never been practised by more than a small fraction of the Mormon population), afford a sufficient explanation of the spirit which animates this mult.i.tude to espouse a common cause, to accept obloquy and exile, and to meet the perils of the wilderness in the face of approaching winter? In this stubborn adherence to a common purpose, in this fierce battle with adverse circ.u.mstances, in this devotion to wives and children, do we find evidence to warrant the belief that the aged men, the stalwart husbands, and the youth of this great company are moved solely or chiefly by the lowest and basest of aims?

These hundreds of gray-haired _women_, too, in the pa.s.sionless calm of old age; these many mothers with patient endurance bearing their part in the struggles of this strange life and caring tenderly for their babes; these young wives adhering to the fortunes of their husbands; the maidens found in so many groups--are these representatives of womankind unreasoning bond-creatures or depraved women whose chief mission is to minister to the caprices and pa.s.sions of base and brutal men? Is all of this endurance of trial with a devotion approaching heroism the outcome of charlatanism, hypocrisy, and libertinism? He who will answer these questions in the affirmative must be a blind student of nature and human history. No. To account for a movement like that which led 10,000 people into the wilderness, casting themselves upon the future with a wonderful faith and daring, requires an inspiration based upon something deeper and stronger than the altogether grovelling and mercenary motives which suffice to unite the fortunes of those who are only adventurers or knaves? Yes, whatever may be said of the honesty or sincerity of those who moulded the belief of these thousands into its eccentric form, as they enter and take possession of Utah, they present the unmistakable evidences of _a faith founded on sincere conviction_.

Such was the beginning of the history of Mormonism in Utah, or DESERET, "The Land of the Honey-Bee," as the Mormons called it. Imposition upon credulity there doubtless was; ambition, charlatanry, and l.u.s.t, each may be supposed to have had its place; but nothing short of a belief to which men and women gave themselves without reserve could have accomplished the results seen. And only this, taken in connection with the mistaken policy of the Government of the United States, can account for the subsequent marvellous growth of the Mormon organization.

Lands were at once surveyed and placed under careful cultivation, and Salt Lake City was made habitable. Settlements were established in every direction, the soil was subdued and irrigated for cultivation. The people built the city and began the temple and established mills, workshops, and numerous industries under the personal directions of the ever-watchful bishops. Missionary corps were newly organized for foreign lands, and an Immigration Fund established which soon resulted in a swarming influx to Utah from all parts of Europe.

The Mormons have increased in the last thirty years between five and six hundred per cent. The Mormon population of Utah from about 11,000 in 1850 had increased in 1880 to a little over 120,000 out of a total of nearly 144,000. In place of a wilderness we find a vast cultivated domain threaded by highways and railroads. The wild lands of 1846 in 1880 yielded a product in cereals of nearly two million bushels, and in precious metals a value of nearly nine million and a half of dollars.

In the year 1882 the total value of the a.s.sessed property of the Territory was $25,579,000. The public schools of the Territory, from the number of thirteen only in 1850, had increased in 1880 to three hundred and ninety, maintained at a cost of more than $200,000.

All these marvellous results have been chiefly due to the enterprise and thrift of a people expelled as outlaws from Illinois, and under the ban of the law during most of their sojourn in Utah.

This, in brief, is the history of the Mormons. And who will say that it is not wonderful and strangely unique? History, indeed, affords few examples of the growth, from such humble foundations, of a fabric based on a religious idea, so important and enduring as that which originated in the supposed revelations made over thirty-five years ago to Joseph Smith, an obscure resident in a country town of Wayne County, N. Y.

Born in 1830 of fanaticism and superst.i.tion; cast out from the place of its birth immediately after; driven in contumely from its refuge in Kirtland, O.; buffeted in Missouri, and driven to Illinois; baptized in the blood of the Nauvoo riots, and compelled to fly into the wilderness, and there developing into what it is to-day; with whatever contempt we may regard its origin, with whatever loathing we may look upon its accursed doctrines, it seems to me we are compelled to confess that there is something in the Mormon organization which demands for its adherents, in spite of its abhorrent features, a degree of respect and consideration.

They should be given as much respect, at least, as we would give the honest Brahmin, Buddhist, or Mohammedan. Yea, more; for many even of their latest converts have been taken from our Southern and Western States.

They have had four HEGIRAS, or exoduses, in their history thus far; and many think they see indications, in the strong pressure of the law that is now brought to bear upon them and the temporary flight of some of their leaders, that they will soon enter upon another pilgrimage. And it is supposed that Mexico will be their next resting-place. But the Mormons are too strongly intrenched in Utah to be easily uprooted. They have too much at stake there to leave unless driven out by the point of the bayonet, as they were from Missouri and Illinois. But G.o.d forbid that this nation should do anything which would drive them beyond the borders of our land to infect the atmosphere of another! We can overcome this great evil in this land of light and liberty far sooner and easier than it can be overcome in any other land under the broad canopy of heaven. Nay, more; we are responsible for it. It was bred and born in our country. Yes, this iniquitous system sprang out of the bosom of the American nation; and _the American nation is in honor bound to grapple with it and throttle it_. The honor of the nation demands that it should be uprooted as speedily as possible.

But the fact is, that we are confronted with a powerful organization, a gigantic evil. And let no one suppose that a few words written on paper sent out from Government headquarters at Washington would destroy this system any more than a few words spoken authoritatively by Congress would destroy Romanism or Presbyterianism in our land. Many years will be required at the least for the effectual stamping out of the iniquities of the Mormon system. The great PUZZLE to solve is this: What remedies will be _effective_ and accomplish the object in _the shortest period of time_?

In endeavoring to find the solution of this puzzle, we must regard this system in its THREEFOLD CHARACTER--viz.: as a _political_ system, as a _social_ system, and as a _religious_ system. This we will endeavor to do in the chapters that will follow.

PART II.

THE POLITICAL PUZZLE.

"The strange spectacle presented of a community, protected by a republican form of government, to which they owe allegiance, sustaining by their suffrages a principle and a belief which sets at naught that obligation of absolute obedience to the law of the land, which lies at the foundation of republican inst.i.tutions."--PRESIDENT CLEVELAND.

CHAPTER V.

Mormonism a Theocracy--Manoeuvring for office the cause of the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri and Nauvoo--The "State of Deseret" formed--Lands illegally obtained--Brigham's movable house--Government officials compelled to flee--Federal troops sent--The oath of disloyalty--The Endowment rites--The American flag at half-mast--The control of the nation their aim--The political puzzle stated--Its causes--Necessity of Government action.

The American nation seems to be slow to understand, and to all appearance is unwilling to believe, that the Mormon Church is A POLITICAL SYSTEM as well as a religious system, cherishing ideas and aims utterly alien and inimical to Democracy.

But, in the first place, it is _essentially_ a political organization, its president being acknowledged as the supreme pontiff of the world, with both temporal and spiritual jurisdiction; and as such he is ent.i.tled to the implicit personal and unquestioning obedience of all Mormons.

Mormonism is first and foremost a theocracy, and claims to exercise the only legitimate civil authority under the sun. It has no feature more characteristic and no purpose more fundamental or fixed than that of entire and undisputed temporal authority. In short, in its very nature and genius it is an organization transfused and overflowing with the virus of disloyalty and treason.

As early as 1833 Joseph Smith was openly accused of "aiming at monarchical power and authority," and in Missouri his followers inaugurated the practice, which has always since been followed, of voting solid; and this idiosyncrasy I have already stated was largely the cause of their expulsion from that State.

Then, crossing to Illinois and wild with schemes for kingdom-building, Smith's manoeuvring for votes and offices was amazing. By trickery he secured a charter which made the city of Nauvoo independent of the Commonwealth. He was determined to be civil head of Nauvoo from the first, soon of the county also, erelong of the State, and eventually of the nation. His political game was played so recklessly for years that at length the fear and hatred of both political parties were incurred, and they united to crush the office-seeking hierarch and expel his followers.

Then they made their enforced exodus westward for the express purpose that, going beyond mountains and deserts, they might forever escape all interference from the wicked rulers of this world, and could set up the kingdom of G.o.d, with all its external forms. When they started westward Utah was not a part of the United States, and there they expected to be beyond the detested Stars and Stripes; but when they arrived there, much to their chagrin and disappointment, the flag of the free was supreme over all that region, it having been wrested in the mean time from Mexico.

Their plans, therefore, were completely shattered. Still they thought something could be done by energy and resolution; and so they made haste to set up a free and independent government, named "The State of Deseret,"

hoping that they would be received at once into the Union as a sovereign State. The modest (?) limits they fixed for their State included an area of about 700 miles square, or one tenth of the national domain. Deseret would extend from Oregon to the Mexican boundary, and from the Rockies to the Pacific, or over the whole, or large parts, of nine of our largest Territories.

Brigham Young was elected governor of this illegal Mormon State, some of whose illegal legislative ordinances were afterward incorporated into the Territorial statute-book; and for many years after Congress organized the Territorial government, this unlawful "State of Deseret" organization was maintained, collision between the two being prevented by the fact that Brigham Young was governor of both. The bogus State organization was the controlling power. Under its influence all sorts of arbitrary anti-American laws were pa.s.sed by which leading members of the priesthood became the virtual owners of the mountain streams, the timbers, and the best part of the public lands. The right of the American people to these lands was ignored, and through the incorporation of some thirty-seven little villages in the rich valleys of Utah, more than 400,000 acres of the public lands were arbitrarily withdrawn from the control of the laws of Congress and appropriated by these priestly leaders. This was done for the express purpose of preventing those who were not Mormons from securing any of the public lands in Utah.

There is a block of 18,000 acres lying in the southern part of the rich and productive Cache Valley north of Salt Lake City, which Brigham Young secured by trampling the laws of the United States under foot. It is said that he had a four-roomed house built on runners. Hauling it to the centre of a section of land, each one of the four quarters would have a room on its corner. Four men would sleep there one night, each occupying a separate room; and the next day they would make pre-emption filings at the land-office, while four other men would perform a similar act the next day and night; and so on, until most of the beautiful Cache Valley was thus entered. Soon afterward the men appeared at the land-office, paid over $1.25 per acre, and then they deeded the land to Brigham Young.

When the Government of the United States first undertook to establish a surveyor-general's office in Salt Lake City for the sake of surveying the public lands and disposing of them in accordance with the laws of Congress, the surveyor-general was given to understand that that country belonged to the Mormons, and he had to fly for his life. In 1856 all the representatives of the Government without exception had to escape from the Territory to save their lives, and were plainly shown that Americans had no rights in Utah.

And when, with a new body of Federal representatives, there soon came a military force under General Sidney Johnston sufficient to compel respect and obedience, Brigham Young cursed the Government, the troops, and the Gentiles, and in his usual coa.r.s.e and emphatic style declared that he would "send them all to h.e.l.l on wooden legs," and that they had better supply themselves then, when lumber was cheap. I mention these facts simply to show that the main object of the Mormon leaders from the very first was to establish a separate and independent government of their own, whose authority should be considered by the Mormon people superior to the authority of the Federal Government. And this accounts for the conflict which has existed between the Mormon authorities and the United States Government for the past thirty-five years, and which is still going on.

But not only does this hostility to our Government arise out of the fundamental idea of their religion as a THEOCRACY and hence opposed to _democracy_; but also, and in great part, _because of their early persecutions in the States of Missouri and Illinois, and the unavenged murder of their chief, Joseph Smith, whom they regarded as G.o.d's greatest prophet_. The inhumanity, barbarity, and injustice that was meted out to them in their early history I have already mentioned; and in considering this perplexing puzzle, we must recollect that the Mormons have some cause for their enmity to our Government. _On account of wrongs done them, they are the sworn enemies of the Government and people of our land._

They practise certain secret and mysterious ordinances known as "ENDOWMENTS." To the faithful Mormon these are made to seem precious initiatory rites whereby he is advanced in his knowledge of the true faith and exalted by the possession of new privileges. In reality they are a sort of crudely-acted religious drama, not unlike the miracle plays of the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. G.o.d and Satan, Adam and Eve, and others are persons in the drama. In its course there is a jumble of washings and anointings, of grips, and key-words and new names, and the invest.i.ture of each of the initiated in an Endowment robe. This sacred undergarment is always thereafter to be worn next to the person, carefully shrouding it at the last for its burial. There are also prayers and solemn promises and awful oaths, with penalties more awful, appended. It has been charged against these rites that they are scenes of indecency and licentiousness; but probably the charge is false. Absurd, irreverent, and even blasphemous they doubtless are, but it is to be believed not indecent.

Now, among the oaths there taken is one of resentful hostility to the American nation for not avenging the death of Joseph Smith or righting the persecutions of the Saints; and thus the secret endowment ceremonies act as a powerful agency in ministering an unpatriotic, if not treasonable, bent to the Mormon system. Every Mormon who pa.s.ses through the Endowment House takes an oath of eternal enmity against the people and Government of this land.

Yes, the fact is that there are 130,000 people in Utah cursing the American flag! And this was clearly seen on the Fourth of July last (1885), when the Stars and Stripes were hung at half mast on the Mormon buildings of Salt Lake City. Thus did they insult the whole American nation, and show their disloyalty in an unmistakable manner.

They are taught to be traitors to the Government. The children do not know the name of our President, and are told that John Taylor is their President. Many of the Mormons are scarcely conscious that there is a world outside of Utah. Salt Lake City is their Mecca, and John Taylor is greater than all the kings of the earth. They all believe him to be at the head of the Government, and that the laws are broken when his commands are not obeyed. It is flatly denied that the State has any authority over them, and it is expected that all Mormons will, if required, shed their blood in resisting the civil power if it interferes with their laws and customs.

The country at large seems blindly ignorant of the dangerous character of this inst.i.tution that rears its insolent crest in the very heart of our country. The truth is, that in Mormonism we are confronted with an organized treason against our Government and our laws. Its spirit is that of rebellion. It will not down; on the contrary, it is growing and spreading daily. The Mormons are penetrating Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Washington Territory. The income of the Church is about $3,000,000 annually, and is used in propagating the faith.

Emissaries are sent to England, Sweden, and Denmark, proselyting the ignorant, and bringing them to our sh.o.r.es at the rate of about two thousand every year, to swell the number in their kingdom. One of the probable objects to be attained by the promulgation of the doctrine of polygamy was the speedier increase of their numbers than could be obtained in the ordinary Christian way. Their number in our land at the present time is about 150,000, and they openly boast of their power in politics.

Recently Bishop Lunt, of Cedar City, Utah, in addressing a gathering of the Saints, declared: "We look forward with perfect confidence to the day when we will hold the reins of the United States Government. That is our present temporal aim; after that we expect to control the Continent." And, after speaking of how rapidly the Mormons are spreading in the Territories and in Nevada, he said: "All this will in time help us to build up a political power which will, sooner or later, compel the homage of the demagogues of the country. Then, in some great political crisis, the two political parties will bid for our support. Utah will be admitted as a polygamous State, the other Territories we have peacefully subjugated will be admitted also, and then we will hold the balance of power and will dictate to the country. In time our sacred principles will spread throughout the United States."

That is their confessed plan, and in its execution they are shrewd and far-seeing politicians. No men better understand how to run "the machine."

If any one takes the Mormon leaders to be fools, he is wonderfully mistaken as to their capacity. But while this is a shrewd plan from the Mormon standpoint, it seems to me that a great deal of alarming talk has been needlessly uttered about the fact that the Mormons are no longer staying in Utah exclusively, but are going into other Territories also and trying to subjugate them. The scattering of the Mormons would be the very best way to break up the evil which would result from their political power. If only the Mormons were to divide up, and companies of them go to every Territory, their political power would be broken; for they would be but a small minority of the people of any Territory, and their votes would be neutralized. The only danger is in their being so ma.s.sed together as to control by their votes the State or the Territory wherein they dwell; and the United States and the Territories should be on their guard so as to prevent their becoming a majority or even a large minority of the people in any one State or Territory where there are Mormon colonies at present.

But it is not very probable that the Mormons will in the near future become the controlling element in any Territory or State outside of Utah.