Part 4 (1/2)
The only political puzzle that we have _now_ to unravel is in connection with _Utah_; and it is caused by _two things_: The _first_ is that _the Mormons are greatly in the majority_, the Gentiles numbering about 30,000, while the Mormons number about 120,000. The _second_ is, that _the Mormons always vote solid_. If only their vote would be divided, as the Roman Catholic vote and the vote of other church organizations, the evil would not be so great; but on account of the completeness of their church organization, the vote of all the Mormons is under the control of the priesthood. One need not study long to note how thoroughly and skilfully organized for power the Mormons are. _One will directs_, and by ecclesiastical communications and telegraphic wires the direction is speedily known unto the utmost limit of the land of their habitation, and promptly the entire ma.s.sed body moves in the line directed. Petty offices abound in the system, and greater offices are rewards. There is, in fact, no organization on earth, unless it be the Jesuit, that is so well fitted as the Mormon to interest and keep loyal the members, to combine their faculties and forces, and to move that combination with efficiency and power whithersoever one master-will dictates. It is a mighty, terrible, solid pyramid, with John Taylor and his two counsellors for its apex; the twelve apostles come next; then the seventy, the patriarchs, high-priests, elders, bishops, priests, teachers, and deacons; then, last of all, the women at the base. Every fourth man is an officer; and as every member is sworn to obedience to the one above him, the result is that the head of the Church always casts the vote of the whole body.
In an article on ”The Mormon Church,” by Victoria Reed, in the _Bay State Monthly_, not long ago, it was stated as an ill.u.s.tration of the despotism of this inst.i.tution that at church conferences there is never a dissenting voice, and at the polls always the same unanimous vote. Every Mormon has a vote to be cast as John Taylor dictates; and while the leaders of the Saints observe the forms of republican polity, their despotism is as absolute in its control as any on earth.
The great political _fact_, then, that we have to deal with is this: One of our Territories is in the control of a despotism, which defies our National Government, pa.s.sively perhaps, nevertheless effectually, and scoffs and spits at its rulers.
THE POLITICAL PUZZLE is how effectually to wrest the Territory from the hands of the Mormon Presidency, and establish there a Republican government in fact as well as in form--a government which will be in harmony with American principles and inst.i.tutions.
Something, surely, should be done. The United States should not yield to this anti-American domination over so large a strip of her territory. She should a.s.sert her authority, and maintain it there as elsewhere throughout our land. Surely, those who say ”_let it be_” are not cognizant of the _vast territory_ which is now governed by the Mormon hierarchy. As Joseph Cook says: ”The State of Vermont can be hidden away in one of the valleys of Utah and be no larger than a babe in a bed of full size.” Utah has 84,476 square miles of territory; Vermont only 10,200 square miles.
Ma.s.sachusetts, with her 7,800 square miles, could be hidden away in one corner of this Mormon kingdom. Utah is larger than all New England, and about equal in size to the Empire State and Keystone State combined.
Besides, its position is central, in the most important mining region on the planet; and also central in a group of undeveloped commonwealths, containing nearly a third of the territory of the United States. No; our Government dare not allow this Territory any longer to be ruled by an authority which is in deadly hostility to it, and sanctions what the law of the land condemns.
CHAPTER VI.
THE POLITICAL PUZZLE (_continued_).
THE POSSIBLE REMEDIES--The military remedy--The Government responsible for the situation in Utah--The disfranchis.e.m.e.nt of polygamists--Federal trustees for the Mormon Church corporation--Confiscation of unlawful funds--False statements about Mormons--Letters from the two Bancrofts--The dissolution of the Emigrating Fund Company--The Federal Commission remedy--The Woodburn bill, or Idaho statute.
The question at once arises, What remedies should we adopt to get rid of this political evil--this _imperium in imperio_. The moral, the legal, and the military are open to our choice.
There are some who think that the evil is so great and the danger to our republican inst.i.tutions so threatening as that there can be no adequate remedy short of THE MILITARY. Such a remedy, they acknowledge, would be severe, but the offence they consider as great beyond parallel, and the exigency most grave.
But for one I am an advocate of peace. If there is any other possible way of overcoming the evil, the use of the military arm should not be advocated, for it would necessarily result in numberless widows and orphans, and involve a heavy expense of blood and treasure. Bullets have no eloquence for the American people. The less gunpowder we can get along with the better. Our old wounds are not yet healed, and we are not hankering after a fresh fray. The order from headquarters which would summon the army to Utah would send a s.h.i.+ver through the heart of the nation. Suppression by force of bayonet is _the very last resort_, and we have not yet reached that point; and G.o.d forbid that we shall ever come to that!
Besides, let us ask the question, Who is responsible for the present state of affairs in Utah? We have already conclusively shown that the people and authorities of Illinois were responsible for their isolation in the West, since they drove them away from the surroundings that were calculated to modify, and finally to change, the drift of sentiment. Yes, it was on account of the un-Christian policy of the Illinoisans that we find the Mormons in a Western domain wide enough for a kingdom, and practically as far from the seat of authority as if responsible to a power beyond the sea.
And what was the policy pursued by the National Government toward them there? In the light of the fires kindled at Nauvoo, it would seem that statesmans.h.i.+p would have discovered a necessity for the adoption of measures calculated to restrain the evil tendencies of Mormonism and prevent it from developing into an organization which must inevitably sooner or later bring it into open conflict with the laws of the land. But where in the records of Congress or upon the statute-books is there any evidence of the really serious and statesmanlike consideration which this movement demanded? There were a people openly seeking a refuge where they would be free to disregard the popular opinion left behind them and to transgress the laws of the Government to which they owed allegiance. Were restrictive influences provided? Did the Government guard against the realization of the boasted dreams of extended domain and self-government entertained by this law-defying people by erecting guards against undue encroachment on the public domain and by providing a government with the necessary machinery for securing the impartial reign of law and order?
Were provisions made which would encourage the immigration into this garden-land of any portion of the law-abiding thousands who were landing upon our sh.o.r.es, and whose presence in Utah would have been a bulwark against and an ultimate cure of the evils of Mormonism?
The facts are the best answers to these questions. There was a total absence of wise legislation at the beginning. Afterward, laws were enacted calculated to suit the use of those whom they should have controlled. Then its laws and authority were nullified with impunity; and now we find a people of law-breakers waxed strong and maintaining an att.i.tude of defiance to authority in the face of anathemas from the pulpit and the press, and a hot fusilade of ineffective enactments from the halls of Congress. This is the outcome of national legislation for Utah during the last thirty-five years.
In view of the facts, we venture to affirm that the responsibility for the present condition of affairs does not wholly lie at the door of the Mormon Church, and much less at the doors of those who const.i.tute the ma.s.s of the Mormon people. Justice demands that the responsibility he laid at the door of the Government and people of the United States.
And, surely, fire and sword are not the instruments with which to cure the evils which our own supineness, want of statecraft, and mis-legislation have permitted to poison the atmosphere. A Government which is itself largely responsible for the evil it seeks to cure is in duty bound to consider well and act wisely in the application of remedies.
But while the responsibility of the Government and people of the United States binds them to the application of a cure for the evils invited which shall not be intolerant or inhuman, it does not forbid the use of _effective remedial measures_ suggested by political expediency and in keeping with Christian charity. Still, it is well for us to remember that we are bound as Americans to deal with this pernicious system on _American principles_, and as Christians to deal with it on _Christian principles_.
The only measure which has yet been enacted looking to the cure of the political evil in Utah was _the disfranchis.e.m.e.nt of the polygamists_ by the Edmunds law of 1882; but although they have been disfranchised and rendered inelegible to office, they are only about 12,000--a very small fraction of the Mormons; and practically the old men, the Mormon leaders, who have controlled the affairs of Utah for thirty years, have simply abdicated in favor of their sons. Consequently the Territory is still under Mormon rule, and the priesthood have it in their iron grasp. This law is good so far as it goes, but does not go far enough to effectually cure the evil.
But other and more radical measures have been _proposed_.
By the new Edmunds Bill, which pa.s.sed the Senate on January 8th, 1886, it is provided that _the President of the United States shall appoint fourteen trustees to administer the property, business affairs, and operations of the Mormon Church corporation_.
There is no doubt that this act strikes at the root of the political evil in Utah, for the vast wealth of the Mormon Church in the control of the priesthood is the foundation of their power. Nevertheless, the wisdom, const.i.tutionality, and effectiveness of the act are very questionable.
In the first place, if that law could be enforced, _it would open wide the door of the meanest kind of political jobbery_. It is the most delicious bit of patronage to which we have been treated for a long time. Fourteen gentlemen are to be rewarded for distinguished party services by the appointment to handle Mormon money. This is a new kind of party plum, and, in my opinion, is simply infamous.
But, in the _second_ place, _there are grave doubts as to its const.i.tutionality_. It is with much hesitation that we call in question the const.i.tutionality of an act which is fathered by so conscientious a const.i.tutionalist as Senator Edmunds and carried by a large majority in so conservative a body as the United States Senate. From _their_ standpoint, perhaps, it is const.i.tutional; but from another standpoint it seems to be plainly unconst.i.tutional. Congress is specifically prohibited from pa.s.sing any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The Mormon Church is a religious organization, no matter how false its religion may be. The Edmunds Bill places it under the care of the Government of the United States, and provides for the administration of all its temporal affairs. Now, if this can be done respecting the Mormon Church, it can be done respecting the Catholic Church or any one of the many Protestant establishments in our land. And who can doubt that if all the vast property, real and personal, of the Catholic Church were taken possession of by the Government, and its management placed in the hands of fourteen trustees appointed by the President--who can doubt that it would prohibit materially the free exercise of that religion by its millions of communicants in this country?