I here introduce the testimony of a number of non-"Mormon" witnesses to
the character of the "Mormon" people and their religion.
First, I refer to the article by Mr. Barclay, M. P., published in the
_Nineteenth Century_, January, 1884:
"Mormon home-steads have a tidier appearance than is usual in the
West, and the general air of comfort and prosperity which prevails
is the best evidence of the persevering, industrious habits of
the people...There is nothing peculiar in the Mormon creed to
account for the great influence which Mormonism exercises among its
followers.
"The success of Mormonism and its steady progress must therefore be
due either to the manner in which Mormons carry into practice the
religion they profess, or to its organization. In my opinion the
results are due to two influences. First, there is no religious
caste or class. From the president downwards, the office-bearers of
the Church are selected by the voice of the Mormon community; they
require no special qualification, and no one receives any salary or
other emolument; the missionaries dispatched to all parts of the
world do not receive even traveling expenses. And, in the second
place, Mormonism interests itself as much in the temporal as in the
spiritual concerns of its members: Church and State are, in short,
identical.
"The Mormon community is an enlarged family, bound together by
privileges and duties, one principal duty being to care for the
helpless and the needy. At the same time, every individual has full
freedom of action. There is no compulsion on any Mormon beyond the
public opinion of his fellows, and none is possible. Apostasy {179}
even does not appear to be attended with serious consequences to
the apostate's material interests. Some of the largest merchants
in Salt Lake City have apostatized from the Church, and although
the population of Utah is about nine-tenths Mormon, their business
seems to prosper as before....
"In morality, as far as shown by statistics, the Mormons greatly
excel the Gentiles in their midst, and the general population
of the States. In the winter of 1881, a census was taken of the
prisoners in Utah, with the following result:--In the City prison
were twenty-nine convicts, and in the County prison six convicts,
all non-Mormons. In the penitentiary, out of fifty-one prisoners
only five were Mormons, two of whom were for polygamy; and of 125
prisoners in the lock-ups, eleven were Mormons, some for polygamy.
"The arrests in Salt Lake City, from the 1st of January to the 8th
of December, 1881, were classified as follows:
Mormons: Non-Mormons:
Men and boys 163 Men and boys 657
Women 6 Women 194