Polygamy only one of the Mormon social evils--Their social system _a
system of bondage_--Contrary to natural law--Contrary to the spirit of
the age--PERSONAL BONDAGE of the Mormons--Missionaries _must_ go on
duty--Dictation of the priesthood with regard to boarders and
rents--Immigrants under their control--All members subject to Church
orders--Power of the Church over daily business--Mormon mining
contractors--MENTAL BONDAGE of the Mormons--Converts illiterate--The
Mormon Church the opponent of free education--No independent
thought--Excommunication of Henry Lawrence and others.
If nine tenths of the people of our land were asked to denominate
Mormonism as a social system, the answer that would be given by unanimous
consent would be this: "It is a system of polygamy." And yet, after a
careful study of the social condition existing among the Mormons, it is
evident that _polygamy is only one of the social evils_--one of several
branches from one parent stock, and therefore cannot be said to be
descriptive of their whole social system.
One of the great political parties of our country has denounced slavery
and polygamy as "twin relics of barbarism;" and that is undoubtedly true.
But with regard to _Mormon_ polygamy, it will be seen that _slavery_ and
_polygamy_ do not occupy with reference to each other the relation of twin
sisters, but rather the relation of _mother_ and _daughter_: Slavery is
the mother of Mormon polygamy and of all the other social evils of the
so-called Latter-Day Saints; and therefore the proper denomination of
Mormonism as a social system would be a SYSTEM OF BONDAGE.
It is consequently a system contrary to natural law as well as to the
Christian conscience. According to Rousseau, the great French philosopher,
man is a being by nature loving justice and order. In his opinion, in an
ideal state of society each member would be free and the equal of every
other--_equal_ because no person or family or class would seek for any
rights or privileges of which any other was deprived; and _free_ because
each one would have his share in determining the rule common to all. It
was these doctrines, taking root in the minds and convictions of men, that
gave us our modern state of society, and that gave us our Nation, with its
free thought, free speech, free press, and free Institutions. The first
public official document in which these opinions were clearly set forth
was our "Declaration of Independence," which proclaimed that all men are
"equal" and that "they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness."
The same views also formed the element of strength in the French
Revolution. The first article of the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and
of the Citizen," adopted in 1789, at the beginning of the Revolution,
asserts: "Men are born free and equal, and have the same rights."
Indeed, these doctrines have been the source of all the social reforms of
the past century. They are the guiding-star of modern civilization. They
are the basis, not only of our Government, but also of our social system,
which is one of liberty and equal rights. They are the spring of all noble
thoughts given forth to the world and all the splendid achievements. To be
majestic and ennobling, thought must be unrestrained; to be praiseworthy,
deeds must be uncontrolled.
In England the dominant party at present (June, 1886) is the Liberal
Party, whose able leader is that "Grand Old Man," William E. Gladstone.
Last fall, just before their great election, that party issued a manifesto
of a very unusual character. It took the shape of a book entitled "Why am
I a Liberal?" and contained definitions and confessions of political faith
by the foremost leaders of the party. Among them Robert Browning answered
the question in this characteristic sonnet:
"Why? Because all I haply can and do,
All that I am now, all I hope to be,
Whence comes it, save from fortune setting free
Body and soul, the purpose to pursue
God-traced for both? Of fetters not a few,
Of prejudice, convention, fall from me.
These shall I bid men, each in his degree
Also God-guided, bear, and gayly too?
"_But little do or can the best of us;
That little is achieved through liberty._
Who then dares hold, emancipated thus,
His fellow shall continue bound? Not I,
Who live, love, labor freely, nor discuss
A brother's right to freedom. That is why."
Those are noble words, worthy a noble poet. If he had given no other poem
to the world, that would place him on the list of poets to be remembered
by future generations, who are destined to be, if possible, freer than we.
It is true, as Browning says, that liberty is the source of all
achievements worthy the name. Horace Mann once said: "Enslave a man and
you destroy his ambition, his enterprise, his capacity. In the
constitution of human nature, the desire of bettering one's condition is
the mainspring of effort. The first touch of slavery snaps this spring."
Since, therefore, this century is the century of progress, of grand and
noble achievements, LIBERTY is pre-eminently its watchword, the ruling
spirit of the age. The abolition of the negro-slave traffic, the
progressive obliteration of class distinctions and race distinctions in
law, the liberty of combination among laborers, the extension of the
franchise, the limitations of the powers of riches--in a word, all our
modern popular movements are only recognitions of the principle that each
individual man is born with the right to regulate his conduct and pursue
his ends in his own way, provided that he does not abridge the equal
rights of his fellow-men. The principle of individual liberty has been the
underlying principle of the social policy of the past hundred years.
But to this principle Mormonism is in the most bitter antagonism. It is
true that it does not antagonize it openly. If it did, it would thereby
strike its own death-blow. It claims to be in harmony with the spirit of
freedom, and the official Church organ, the _Deseret News_, has for its
motto, printed in large letters on its title-page, "_Truth and Liberty_."
Nevertheless, it tramples all freedom under foot. Its spirit is TYRANNY. A
greater despotism the world, perhaps, has never seen. That of the Persian
king in ancient times, and that of the Czar of all the Russias over his
serfs in more modern times, pale in comparison with the absolute despotism
of the Mormon chieftain and his two councillors. The condition of society
in Mormondom is that of bondage, utter and entire. The constituent
elements of man are body, soul, and spirit; and _these are all in slavery_
under the social system of the Mormons.
Let us, therefore, consider this subject under these _three_
heads--_personal bondage_, _mental bondage_, and _moral bondage_.
I. PERSONAL BONDAGE.--Every Mormon goes through the Endowment House, from
which no man emerges with his manhood remaining. He has sunk to be the
slave of the priesthood. In that house an awful oath is administered to
every one, obligating the individual, under fearful penalty, to uphold the
Church at every cost and obey it in all things. That terrible oath unmans
the whole Mormon race and brings them into bondage. The Mormon leaders
claim to be infallible--men inspired, who catch the very thought of God
and pronounce His words. They are the direct vicegerents of the Almighty,
and are at all times endowed by means of revelations with the wisdom to
guide their people aright in all things, temporal as well as spiritual.
This claim is admitted by all their followers. Accordingly, in the most
tyrannical way the priesthood dictates about all the affairs of the
people, telling them what store they must trade at, what newspaper they
must read, what school they must patronize. In fine, Brigham Young claimed
that his people could do nothing without his knowledge and approval, "even
to the ribbons a woman should wear." The control of the Church over all
the temporal affairs of the people is as absolute as their control of
purely spiritual matters. One of their prominent speakers said a few years
ago: "I cannot separate between temporal and spiritual affairs. The
priesthood has as much control over one as the other." Therefore the
Mormons are under _personal bondage_. Their persons, their services, their
property--all are under the control not of themselves individually, but of
their leaders.
At each semi-annual conference missionaries are appointed to go to the
outside world and proclaim the doctrines of their religion. At the least
calculation there are three hundred such missionaries constantly in the
field, going up and down in the States of our own land, and also the
countries of Europe and the isles of the sea. They must go at their own
expense, and are required to stay until recalled by the priesthood. If it
is necessary for a missionary to sell his last cow to get the means to pay
his expenses, he must do so, even though his family should be left
entirely destitute; and he is taught to believe that the greater the
sacrifice, the greater the glory in the next world.
A Presbyterian minister in the southern part of the Territory got the
privilege of boarding in a Mormon family. As soon as the priesthood found
it out this family was required to close its doors against the minister,
although they were greatly in need of the money which he was ready to pay
for his board.
Another minister in the northern part of the Territory hired a building
for a mission school from an old lady connected with the Mormon Church,
and paid a month's rent in advance. As soon as the priesthood found out
what she had done, they brought such pressure to bear upon her that she
went to the minister and urged him to give her back the building, although
in her poverty she greatly needed the rent. Is not that slavery? And yet
President Taylor has stood up in the great Tabernacle at Salt Lake City
and declared that they were in favor of the largest liberty for their own
people and for all mankind.
Thousands of converts to Mormonism are brought from Europe to Utah every
season, and this large immigration is under the complete control of the
Church. It can be sent to any place it is thought best. If a colony is
started in Arizona or Nevada, and it is thought best to enlarge it, the
immigration is sent thither. The persons must go where they are directed,
however much they might prefer to settle somewhere in the beautiful Salt
Lake Valley, the Switzerland of America. Every settlement is made under
the direction of the Church.
Not only is the foreign immigration under the control of the priesthood,
but all members who have already settled either in Utah or elsewhere are
subject to the orders of the Church. If the priesthood think it expedient
to send a thousand or two thousand into Colorado or Arizona or any other
locality, the number is divided out among the different wards, and each
ward must not only furnish its quota of men, but all the means for the
emigration; and the persons selected must go, although it is a great
sacrifice to them to leave their cultivated lands and comfortable homes
and go into the unbroken country of another Territory to again undergo the
trials and sufferings incident to pioneer life.
The power of the Church is also brought to bear on all the daily business
of life. In the mining districts of Southern Utah, the contractors for
furnishing salt, wood, charcoal, etc., are all Mormon bishops. They hire
the persons under them at starvation prices, and pay them in orders on the
co-operative supply stores, in which they are either principals or
partners; and the men so employed never see a dollar of cash. Should one
of the common people undertake to do any hauling, wood-supplying, or other
business with the mines, they would get an intimation that they must
desist. If this hint is disregarded, a meeting of the Council is called,
composed of the bishops and apostles; and as it is shown that some one of
them is being interfered with, the order goes forth from the Church that
this private enterprise must stop; and this no Mormon dare disregard. If
one of the mining companies undertakes to do its business with any except
the bishops, every obstacle possible is thrown in its way. Teams cannot
be hired. The bishop pays wages at about a dollar a day, payable from the
co-operative store; but if a mining superintendent wants men, he must pay
four dollars a day. Thus the Mormon bishops secure all the profits of
contracts from the mines. They take possession of all the woodlands and
cut off the wood, never taking the trouble to comply with the law. They
rule everything with a heavy hand, and woe to the poor man who dares to
try to make his living independently. The serfs of Russia in the olden
time were not more abject slaves than these people under the terrible
power of the Church. Independence of action is entirely taken away from
them. They are in _personal bondage_. Well may we exclaim: "Genius of
America! Spirit of our free institutions! where art thou?"
"Shall our own brethren drag the chain
Which not even Russia's menials wear?"
But this is not all.
II. The Mormons are not only in personal bondage, but worse than
that--they are in MENTAL BONDAGE.
Such tyranny as has been already alluded to is possible only because
Ignorance and her handmaid, Superstition, are throwing their dark pall
over the mass of the Mormon people. Mormonism grows mainly by imposition
upon the ignorant and the credulous. Joseph Smith, its founder, was
illiterate, and so was Brigham Young; and the mass of Mormons from the
beginning were from a class of people whose education was very limited.
Such also is the character of their converts now. They are gathered from
the very lowest classes of the peasantry of England, Germany, and
Scandinavia; and in our land the poor rural element of the Southern
States, commonly called the "cracker" element, is a favorite and
successful field for Mormon missionary labor, because the elders find as
much ignorance and credulity among the poor whites of Tennessee, Georgia,
and neighboring States, as they do among the low classes of Europe.
If you go into the Tabernacle at Salt Lake City, it is said, one is
reminded, in looking at the faces of the people, of what we can see in
Castle Garden. The marks of ignorance are stamped upon their very
countenances. It has been aptly said: "The illiteracy of the average
Mormon is denser than a London fog." In an article published in the
_Presbyterian Review_, April, 1881, Rev. Dr. McNiece, of Salt Lake City,
said that, so far as he knew, "after three years' observation in Utah,
there are only three persons among the entire body of Mormons who can make
the least claim to scholarship. One of these is a woman of notoriously
immoral character; one of the others is always spoken of as a religious
monomaniac; and the character of the third is such as to compel one to
believe that he supports Mormonism simply because of the lucrative office
which it gives him." According to the teachers engaged in the Christian
schools there, the ignorance met with is simply appalling. In many cases
neither men nor women know how to read. Children are plenty who never
heard of God, and know no more of Christ than a beggar in the city of
Nineveh in the days of Jonah. History and geography are to a great extent
unknown and untaught; even our own country outside of Utah is unknown. The
Mormon leaders take great pains to keep their people in ignorance.
Learning, intelligence, are everywhere at a discount.
The civilized world recognizes the fact that the diffusion of knowledge
elevates humanity. Shakespeare says:
"Ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven."
One of the chief features of this age is the desire for universal
education, and every true reformer seeks to place it within the reach of
all. _But the Mormon Church is the recognized opponent of free education._
Notwithstanding the fact that the Mormon priesthood has had control of
Utah for well-nigh forty years, that Territory is the only one in the
United States that has not a system of free schools, open to the poor as
well as the rich. The teachers with few exceptions are young, untaught,
and without experience; and the schools are scarcely worthy the name. The
main object of the Mormon school system seems to be to prevent the people
from learning to think and acquiring information.
Now, why is this? The only reason is that it is necessary for the Mormon
Church to keep her subjects in ignorance to enable her to control them.
This was the position taken by Brigham Young, and is the position taken by
the hierarchy to-day. The plea of poverty cannot be justified, for the
Church collects over a million dollars annually; but this tax of ten
dollars a year for every man, woman, and child in the Mormon Church is
spent, not for free schools, which would develop manhood and fit the
taxpayer to be an honorable citizen of the commonwealth, but for that
which rivets tighter the chains that bind the people.
The minds of the people are in a condition of slavery. Independent thought
there is none, and consequently free speech cannot exist. This is clearly
proved, when we call to mind one of the brightest spectacles in the
history of Utah. It was in 1869, when Henry Lawrence and his associates
boldly stood up in the "School of the Prophets" and raised their voices in
favor of free speech and free thought. A noble act of heroism that was--a
stand for a righteous principle--a deed which should gain for them
immortal fame, when we consider the real manhood it required for them to
face such a powerful and tyrannical hierarchy. A noble fight it was on
their part, but a losing fight; for they were at once expelled from the
Church, branded with the stigma of apostates, their business was ruined,
and they and their families were completely ostracized. That act of
expulsion by the Mormon leaders is a clear proof of the fact that they are
the bitter opponents of mental freedom. Who ever knew of any proposition
being debated in their conferences, or any nomination voted down by the
people? Who ever knew of any matter of interest being left to the people
to act upon freely and unrestrainedly? _The leaders do the thinking._ They
arrange all things. _The people must acquiesce and think as they do._ IS
THAT LIBERTY?
Milton says:
"This is true liberty, when free-born men,
Having to advise the public, may speak free."
But free thought and free speech are not the prerogatives of the Mormons.
They are MENTAL SLAVES.