Journal of Discourses/23/7

I am aware of the position that we occupy to-day. I feel that I am surrounded by a large number of intelligent men and women, and while I am addressing you, I am also addressing the world, for the remarks I make will be reported and published to the world. Therefore, I am desirous to advance such sentiments as will be in accord with the enlightenment of the Latter-day Saints, with the intelligence of the 19th century, and with the principles that have emanated from God.

Any intelligence which we may possess and which we may be able to impart, is not of ourselves, but of God. It did not originate with us; it did not originate with Joseph Smith, with Brigham Young, with the Twelve Apostles, nor was it received from any institution of learning, nor of science, either religious, political, or social. Our philosophy is not the philosophy of the world; but of the earth and the heavens, of time and eternity, and proceeds from God.

A message was announced to us by Joseph Smith the Prophet, as a revelation from God, wherein he stated that holy angels had appeared to him and revealed the everlasting Gospel as it existed in former ages; and that God the Father and God the Son had also appeared to him: the Father pointing to the Son, said, "This is my beloved Son, hear ye him." Moroni, a prophet that had lived on this continent, revealed unto Joseph the plates containing the Book of Mormon, and by the gift and power of God he was enabled to translate them into what is known as the Book of Mormon. That book contains a record of the ancient inhabitants who dwelt upon this continent, a part of whom came from the tower of Babel at the time of the confounding of tongues, and another part came from Jerusalem in the time of Zedikiah, king of Judah, 600 years before the advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This book contains a record of the dealings of God with those people; it contains a record of their worship of their wars and commotions, of their righteousness and iniquity, and of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ unto them, and of His preaching unto them the same Gospel that was taught on the continent of Asia, attended by the same ordinances, the same organization and the same principles.

I shall not attempt to bring any proof with regard to these matters to-day; I am simply making statements, the truth of which you Latter-day Saints know, as it would be impossible to enter into all the details in a short discourse. Suffice it to say, that the Father having presented His Son to Joseph Smith, and commanded him to hear Him, Joseph was obedient to the heavenly call, and listened to the various communications made by men holding the Holy Priesthood in the various ages under the direction of the Only Begotten. He and Oliver Cowdery were commanded to baptize each other, which they did. John the Baptist came and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood. Then Peter, James and John, upon whom was conferred, in the Savior's day, the keys of the Melchisedec Priesthood came, and conferred that Priesthood upon them. Then Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Elias, and many

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other leading characters mentioned in the Scriptures, who had operated in the various dispensations, came and conferred upon Joseph the various keys, powers, rights, privileges and immunities which they enjoyed in their times.

Again, Joseph was commanded to preach this Gospel and to bear this testimony to the world. He was taught the same principles that were taught to Adam, the same principles that were taught to Noah, to Enoch, to Abraham, to Moses, to Elijah and other Prophets, the same principles that were taught by Jesus Christ and the Apostles in former times on the continent of Asia, accompanied with the same Priesthood and the same organization, only more fully, because the present dispensation is a combination of the various dispensations that have existed in the different ages of the world, and which is designated in the Scriptures as the dispensation of the fulness of times, in which God would gather together all things in one, whether they be things in heaven or things on earth. Therefore, whatever of knowledge, of intelligence, of Priesthood, of powers, of revelations was conferred upon those men in the different ages, was again restored to the earth by the ministration and through the medium of those who held the holy Priesthood of God in the different dispensations in which they lived.

Under the direction of the Almighty, Joseph organized a church; and when people were called upon to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to repent of their sins, to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and to have hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, those who did believe and obey received the attendant blessings. Then the various offices of the Priesthood began to be conferred upon men who believed, and in due time the quorum of the Twelve was organized, whose commission was to proclaim this Gospel to every people, to every nation, to every kindred, to every tongue. Then a quorum of seventy Elders was selected, known by the name of Seventies; and we now have some 76 times 70 of those Elders.

A First Presidency was also organized to preside over the whole Church in all the world. Then there were High Priests ordained whose office was principally to preside as well as to preach the Gospel. Then there were Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons; and this organization was given by direct revelation, by which the Church has been governed from that time until the present. Bishops were also appointed whose position in the Church was clearly defined by the word of the Lord. Then High Councils were organized for the adjustment of all matters of difficulty, for the correction of incorrect doctrine, for the maintenance of purity and correct principles among the Saints, and for the adjudication of all general matters pertaining to Israel. This was the testimony and this is our testimony to-day to the nations of the earth. The Lord stood at the head as instructor, guide and director; and the Elders were told to go forth and to preach the Gospel to every creature, because confusion, disorder, sectarianism and the theories of men had been substituted for the word and will, and the revelation, law and power of God. These Elders were told that we approached the latter times, when God would have a controversy with the nations, and the message which

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they had to proclaim was that which was described by John when wrapped in prophetic vision upon the Isle of Patmos. Among other great and important events he said "I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come." This was the commission given by the Lord to the Latter-day Saints. This is the mission we have been trying to carry out from that time to the present; and I myself have traveled tens of thousands of miles without purse or scrip, trusting in God, to teach these holy principles, and so have many of my brethren by whom I am surrounded.

When we started we were told that we were not sent to be taught, but to teach. Why? Because the world was not in possession of the principles of life, and therefore could not teach them. We went in obedience to the direct command of God to us through his servant Joseph, and we have spread forth the Gospel among the nations. And is there anything unreasonable about it? No. Is it true? Yes. Is it scriptural? Yes. Is it philosophical? Yes. And I say to-day, not by way of boasting, because we have nothing to boast of (I have no intelligence but what I am indebted to God, my heavenly Father and my brethren for,) that while I have traveled through various parts of the United States and the Canadas, also in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, and different parts of the earth, among the wise and intelligent as well as the poor and ignorant, among all classes of men—I have stood in their halls and talked with their professors, ministers, legislators, rulers, divines, judges and wise men of every class, grade and position in life—but I have never met with a man who could gainsay one principle of the Gospel of the Son of God, and I never expect to; because truth, eternal truth, as it emanates from God, cannot be controverted.

And what is the nature of the Gospel? It is the same as that taught on the day of Pentecost by the Apostles, when they cried out to the multitude, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." That was the testimony which they bore to the people. That is the testimony which the Elders of this Church bear. There is something about this that is reasonable, that is intelligent, and that is susceptible of proof. It was a very fair proposition for the Apostle to make, promising the people who would obey the requirements which the Gospel imposes upon its adherents, that they should receive the Holy Ghost. And what should this do for them? It was to cause their old men to dream dreams and their young men to see visions, it was to make their sons and daughters prophecy, it was to bring things past to their remembrance, to lead them into all truth, and to show them things to come. This proposition was not alone of a religious nature, but it was also strictly philosophical. The farmer sows oats or wheat, or plants corn, and what does he expect? He expects oats, wheat or corn, as the case may be, and nothing else. There are laws and principles in nature, in the vegetable, the animal and the mineral kingdoms, as well as in all

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the works of God, that are true in themselves and they are eternal. There are such metals as gold, silver, copper or iron, each possessing certain distinctive elements which they always did possess; and the different bodies in their chemical relations possess principles that are always true to unchangeable laws. It is so also in regard to all the elements by which we are surrounded, and also in regard to the heavenly bodies. Because of these unchanging laws, we know precisely when the sun will rise and when it will set. We know when certain planets or comets will appear and disappear. All their movements are undeviating, exact and true according to the laws of nature.

Now here is a principle of the Gospel that will admit of as strong evidence as anything in nature. What is it? "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Or in other words, sow wheat and you reap wheat; plant corn and you gather corn. It was a bold position to take. I remember that on these points I questioned the Elder who brought the Gospel to me. I asked, What do you mean by this Holy Ghost? Will it cause your old men to dream dreams and your young men to see visions; will it bring to pass the scripture which saith: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophecy? Yes. Will it give you the permeating influence of the Spirit of the living God, and give you a certain knowledge of the principles that you believe in?

"Yes," he answered, "and if it will not, then I am an impostor." Said I, That is a very fair proposition. Finding the doctrine to be correct, I obeyed, and I received that Spirit through obedience to the Gospel which gave me a knowledge of those principles which I simply believed before, because they were scriptural, reasonable and intelligent, according to that scripture which saith, "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself."

I was ordained an Elder by the proper authorities, and I went forth to preach this Gospel. Other Elders went forth as I did to the civilized nations, preaching the same doctrine and holding out the same promises. Some of them were not very learned; some were not very profoundly educated. We send a singular class of people in our Elders. Sometimes a missionary is a merchant, sometimes a legislator, a blacksmith, an adobe maker, a plasterer, a farmer, or common laborer, as the case may be. But all under the same influence and spirit, all going forth as missionaries to preach the Gospel of light, of life and of salvation. They have received the treasures of eternal life, and they are enabled to communicate them to others; and they hold out the same promises. You who hear me this afternoon, as well as thousands upon thousands of others, have listened to those principles, you have had held out unto you those promises; and when you obeyed the Gospel, you received this same spirit; and you are my witnesses of the truth of the things that I now proclaim in your hearing, and of the Spirit and power of God attending the obedience to the Gospel, and you will not deny it. This congregation will not deny it. When you yielded obedience to the laws of God, obeyed

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His commandments, were baptized for the remission of your sins and had hands laid upon you for the reception of the Holy Ghost, you did receive it; and you are living witnesses before God. This is a secret that the world does not comprehend. Its people have not obeyed it and they do not know it; and the things of God, say the scriptures, no man knoweth but by the Spirit of God; and this Spirit has imparted to us that intelligence and that knowledge. This people have in their possession a hope that enters within the vail, whither Christ, our forerunner, has gone. They are living and acting and operating for eternity. God is their Father, and they know it. Some people think we are a set of ignorant boobies, who do not know what we are talking about, and they try to overrun the faith of the Latter-day Saints by sophistry, falsehood and folly. Whilst the fact is, we are in possession of the principles of eternal life, and are operating for eternity; and then we are operating to build up the Zion of God, where righteousness can be taught, and where men can be protected, and where liberty can be proclaimed to all men of every color, of every creed and of every nation.

Being placed in communication with God, the sophistry, nonsense and dogmas of men have no influence upon us. We are built upon the rock of revelation, as Peter was, and on the same principle. Said Jesus to him, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" The answer was: "Some say thou art one of the Prophets; some say thou art the Elias who was to come," etc. "But whom say you that I am?" Peter answered and said: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven; and I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." What rock? The rock of revelation —upon the intelligence communicated by the Holy Ghost to those who obey the Gospel of the Son of God; by this, men shall know for themselves, and stand as the rock of ages, invulnerable, immovable and unchangeable. That is the position which we the Latter-day Saints occupy.

This, then, is the religious part of the question. What do we believe in? We believe in purity, in virtue, in honesty, in integrity, in truthfulness and in not giving way to falsehood; we believe in treating all men justly, uprightly and honorably; we believe in fearing God, observing His laws and keeping His commandments. Do we all do it? No, not quite. I wish we did. But a great majority of the Latter-day Saints are doing this; and if there are those that are not, let them look well to their path, for God will be after them, and their brethren will be after them, for God cannot look upon sin with any degree of allowance. And as we are here for the purpose of building up Zion, He expects that we will be upright and honorable in all our dealings with one another and with all men.

One part of the Gospel is that we should be gathered together to a land that should be called Zion. Have we been doing this? Yes. Some people are very much opposed to it. Have we injured anybody by gathering in this way? Is this indeed the land of the free, the home

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of the brave, and the asylum for the oppressed? Cannot the people of this nation afford to listen to the principles of truth, and allow men who are fearing God to assemble together to worship Him according to the dictates of their own consciences? Have we violated any law of the United States in thus gathering together and in thus worshiping our God? Not that I know of. Have we been opposed to the United States? No! no! no! we never have, and we are at the defiance of all men to prove anything of the kind. There are falsehoods set afoot by low, degraded, unprincipled men. We believe that the Constitution of the United States was given by inspiration of God. And why? Because it is one of those instruments which proclaims liberty throughout the land, and to all the inhabitants thereof. And it was because of those noble sentiments, and the promulgation of those principles which were given by God to man, we believe that it was given by the inspiration of the Almighty. We have always esteemed it in this light, and it was so declared by Joseph Smith. Did we do any wrong in coming here in the way we did? I think not. Did we transgress any of the laws of the United States? I think not. Did we transgress any of the laws of the nations we left? I think not. We gathered together simply because we were told there was a Zion to be built up. And what was that Zion? The term means the pure in heart. In connection with our gathering, I would remark, that a short time ago, at one of our public celebrations, there were twenty-seven nationalities represented. This is in accordance with the scripture which says: I will take them one of a city and two of a family, and bring them to Zion. And I will give them pastors after mine own heart, that shall feed them with knowledge and understanding. This is what we find in the Christian Bible, and there is certainly no harm in believing the Bible. The Christians send their Bible missionaries among us to circulate it, and we are always glad to receive the Bible and be governed by it.

Now, then, being gathered together, we necessarily required some kind of social relations with each other, for when we came here we brought our bodies with us as well as our religion, and we brought our wives and families with us as well as our religion; and we needed to cultivate the earth and build houses, and plant orchards, and vineyards, and gardens, and attend to the common affairs of life. And then as we began to increase we began to open and build farms, hamlets, villages and cities. Is there anything wrong in this? No. Finally, when we came here we petitioned for a State government, the people held a convention and a constitution was framed, and forwarded to Washington. Congress refused our application for a State, but they gave us a Territorial form of government and named the Territory Utah; and strange to say, how men and nations change, they are trying to interfere with us because of our polygamy, and at that time the government appointed a polygamous governor, Brigham Young. People change in their sentiments and views; I suppose they call it progress. Apostle Orson Pratt, whom you all knew, as soon as that revelation was made public, went down to the city of Washington, and there published the doctrine of plural marriage and also lectured upon it. The paper he published

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was called The Seer, which many of you brethren remember very well. They were not in ignorance in relation to these matters. It was then well understood by the nation that these were our sentiments, and that President Young was a polygamist.

But passing on. Sometime after that, we had some United States officials sent out here, who were not polygamists, but one of them went so far as to show us what beautiful civilization they had where he came from, and he left his wife at home and brought with him a strumpet and took her on to the bench with him, to let the people see how intelligent and enlightened the people were in the United States. However, fortunately for him, there was no Edmunds bill then. Still, we were not much edified. It might be according to some people's system of ethics; it may be considered beautiful or aesthetic by the admirers of this fast and progressive civilization; but we could not appreciate it, and the consequence was, that the people felt indignant, they looked upon him as a profligate, and that he had defiled and disgraced the ermine. These were the sentiments of the people then, and they are yours to-day, for you have never been taught anything else. He and some others went back to Washington, and reported that the "Mormons" were in a state of rebellion; that they were a very wicked people, very corrupt and very depraved, almost as bad as some of our truth-telling ministers make us out to be, for some of them are not very notorious for telling the truth, nobody believes them here; but then they have reverend put before their names and that, of course, covers—what is it? a multitude of sins. And therefore, the mendacious stories that they tell and circulate are received as actual truth by thousands of blind, ignorant, bigoted people, who, doubtless, are far more sincere and far more honest and pure in their lives than these specimens of fallen humanity who, in the garb of sanctity, manufacture falsehoods and prepare them specially for the vitiated taste of the age.

But to return; judges and other officials were sent here, and suffice it to say, we did not like their civilization; and, then, they were not much enamored with ours, because whatever we may be in the estimation of the world generally, we are utterly averse to anything like licentiousness and debauchery; and, if there is any among us, we are indebted to our Christian friends for it, and to our Christian judges for maintaining and protecting it in our midst. We have no affiliation with such things; they cannot exist among us as a people, only by the force, the power and influence of this federal Christianity that has been introduced among us. Until these people came into our midst we had no house of ill-fame; and a lady could travel as safely in our streets at any time of night as in the day; we had no occasion to lock our doors to prevent thieves from preying upon us; we had no drunkenness, ribaldry or blasphemy in our streets; all these things have been introduced among us by our good, kind, pure, pious Christian friends, and in scores of our remote settlements where this civilization has not penetrated, they are free from these vices to-day

Now we will go back to the statement of these men. They were believed in Washington. What did they state? Among other things they said that we had burned the United States library, and the court records, and that a dreadful

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state of anarchy was in existence; and instead of the United States sending out a commission to enquire into these matters, they took the statement of a Lothario and his associates, and sent out an army to destroy us. And these troops were reduced to gnawing mules' legs about the vicinity of Bridger, refusing salt when we sent it to them —for we would have done them good, notwithstanding they came as our enemies. I remember writing a letter to one of the officers who had a letter of introduction to me, and forwarded it by a messenger; I told him that I was very sorry, that as a United States' officer, as an honorable man, he should be placed in the situation he was then in; because he could not help it, as an officer, any more than we could, as he was operating as a servant of the government under military rule and had, therefore, to obey orders. And that while we esteemed him and other officers as patriots and high-minded, honorable men, who had exhibited their patriotism and bravery in Mexico and other places, and while we heard of their excellent military equipments, we did not like the idea of their trying the temper of their steel upon us. I told him that republics which reflected the voice of the people were in many instances excitable and erratic, and that I looked for a reaction in public opinion, and that when that change came I expected the difficulties that the government had placed us in would be done away, and that then I would be glad to extend to him that courtesy in our city that one gentleman should extend to another, and would then be happy to see him. But we could not meet then of course; they could not come to us, and we could not very well go out to them.

So that the Latter-day Saints may know the truth or falsity of the allegations made by Judge Drummond, I will have the official statement of Governor Cumming, who came out with the army, read to this congregation.

It would be unfair and disengenuous [disingenuous] to blame one administration for the acts of another, yet when we see a disposition to listen to the same kind of popular clamor that then existed, we cannot but notice a great similarity of circumstances.

[Elder L. John Nuttall then read the following extracts from the official statement of Governor Cumming, which was dated Great Salt Lake City, April 15th, 1858:]

"Since my arrival I have been employed in examining the records of the Supreme and District Courts, which I am now prepared to report as being perfect and unimpaired. This will, doubtless, be acceptable information to those who have entertained an impression to the contrary.

I have also examined the Legislative Records and other books belonging to the office of Secretary of State, which are in perfect preservation.

The condition of the large and valuable Territorial Library has also commanded my attention: and I am pleased in being able to report that Mr. W. C. Staines, the librarian, has kept the books and records in most excellent condition. I will, at an early day, transmit a catalogue of this library, and schedules of the other public property, with certified copies of the records of the Supreme and District Courts, exhibiting the character and amount of the public business last transacted in them."

Thus it appears that the allegations made by our enemies were

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false, and the army was sent out under false representations, and their own Governor furnishes the evidence for their own refutation. Yet we were subjected to the indignity and outrage of having an army sent among us, predicated upon these false statements.

From the above and other similar actions manifested towards us as a people we have learned in the sad school of experience, and by the things that we have suffered, the excitability of the populace, and the unreasonable, savage and relentless feelings that frequently possess the people in their antagonism towards us, to be very careful, in all our acts among men, not to excite that feeling of hate which seems to be implanted in the human bosom against the principles taught by the servants of the Lord in all ages of the world.

Our mission is and always has been peace on earth and goodwill to man, to all men. We have in our midst Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics and all kinds of "ites." Does anybody interfere with them? Not that I know of. Yet there was a man, a professed minister in Sanpete County—[addressing President Canute Peterson of Sanpete Stake] Brother Peterson, did you not have a man in your Stake who got up a sensation by publishing far and wide that he had to preach the Gospel in Sanpete with a revolver on his desk, to prevent the "Mormons" from interfering with him—was not that the purport of his statement? [President Peterson: Yes, sir.] Do you know the man? [Ans.: Yes, sir.] Is he there yet? [Ans.: No, sir.] [Laughter.] Others have stated lately that we were in a state of sedition, and that in our different counties there were armed bodies of men prepared to fight the United States. The person that made and published this last statement was, as I understand, also a minister, one of these reverend gentlemen. Do any of you know his name? [A voice: Sheldon Jackson.] I am told it was one Sheldon Jackson; a reverend gentleman with a big R, a pious man, of course, and therefore what he says must be true. [Laughter.] We have a set of people that seem to be prowling about; I suppose, however, they are as necessary as anything else; I do not know but what they are. We have a species of birds called buzzards, whose natural tastes are for any kind of nauseous food; nothing suits them better than to gorge on carrion. Like them, these defamers are fond of trying to root up something against our people here. They themselves fabricate all kinds of notions and opinions, similar to the above that I have mentioned, that everybody here knows to be false, and they circulate them, and they have fanned the United States almost into a furore. People generally are ignorant of what these men and women are engaged in. They think these persons are honorable men and women; and they get up a lot of stories about some poor woman or some poor girl who has been crowded upon by her husband, and that in this state of polygamy there is the most abject misery, and the greatest distress that can be found anywhere. Are they true? Some individual cases may be true. Some of our men do not treat their wives right, and then some wives do not treat their husbands right. We do not all do right by a great deal. I wish we all did right. But supposing we were to go down to the places where these people hail from, to the slums of Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York, and other

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cities, beginning, say, in New York, with the gilded palaces of 4th and 5th Avenues, and trace the thing down to Five Points, and then go through other cities in the same way, and what would we find there? Do you not think one could get up something as dirty and filthy as the most foul-minded person can get up about us? A thousand times more so.

They say we are an ignorant people. We admit that we are not so very intelligent, and we never boast of our learning or intelligence; but then, they should not boast of theirs either. However, we can compare favorably with them any day; and while they have had millions of the public funds to sustain their educational establishments, we have been despoiled, plundered and robbed over and over again, yet we are prepared to compare notes with them on education, and also on virtue, honesty and morals, any way they can fix it. And I would be ready to say, as one said of old, Thou fool, first take the beam out of thine own eye, that thou mayest see the more clearly to take the mote out of thy brother's eye.

We will have read some figures for the information of the brethren who come from a distance, who may not be acquainted with these matters.

[President Taylor then called upon his secretary, Elder L. John Nuttall, to read some extracts from a work published by an ex-United States official in New York City, which were as follows: ]

Before citing from the still incomplete census reports of 1880, let us take that of 1870 and compare Utah and Massachusetts, the new theocracy with the descendants of an old theocracy—priest-ridden Utah with "cultured" Massachusetts, also adding the District of Columbia, which has the enlightening presence of the American Congress to add to its advantages, and is under its direct government.

Comparative Statistics from Census of United States 1870

School Attendance Utah 35 Mass. 25 District of Colombia 27

Illiteracy-can't read or write, 10 years and upwards Utah 11 Mass. 12 District of Colombia 40

Paupers Utah 6 Mass. 55 District of Colombia 23

Insane and Idiotic Utah 5 Mass. 23 District of Colombia 35

Convicts Utah 3 Mass. 11 District of Colombia 9

Printing and Publishing establishments Utah 14 Mass. 11 District of Colombia 11

Church Edifices Utah 19 Mass. 12 District of Colombia 8

"From statistics contained in the Report of the Commissioners of Education for 1877, it is shown that in the percentage of enrolment of her School population, Utah is in advance of the general average of the United States, while in the percentage in actual daily attendance at school, she still further exceeds the average of the whole Union.

In 1877, when the school population of Utah numbered 30,792, there was invested in the Territory in school property the creditable sum of $568,984, being about eighteen and one-half dollars per capita of the school population.

In contrast with this, take the amount per capita of their school population, which some of the States have invested in school property: North Carolina, less than $0 60; Louisiana, $3 00; Virginia, about $2 00; Oregon, less than $9 00; Wisconsin, less than $11 00; Tennessee, less than $2 50; Delaware, less than $13 00.

In respect to the amount, per capita, of her school population, which Utah has invested in school property, she exceeds several other Southern and Western States, is in advance of the great States of Indiana and Illinois, and I believe in advance of the general average of the entire Union.

Thus, in the matter of education, Utah stands ahead of many old and

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wealthy States, and of the general average of the United States in three very important respects, namely, the enrolment of her school population, the percentage of their daily attendance at school, and the amount per capita invested in school property.

From the census of 1880 I have compiled the following:

COMPARISON OF ILLITERACY.—

The United States & Utah Territory:

United States. Utah.

Total population 50,155,783 143,963

Total over 10 years of age who cannot read 4,923,451 4,851

Percentage who cannot read, 10 years & over 9.82 3.37

Total over 10 years of age who cannot write 6. 239,958 8,826

Percentage who cannot write, 10 yrs. & over 12.14 6.13

Total white population 43,402,970 142,423

Total white population over 10 years of age who cannot write 3,019,080 8,137

Percentage of white population who can- not write, 10 years & over 6.96 5.71

Of all the States and Territories in the Union there are but thirteen showing a lower percentage of total population who cannot read, Connecticut having the same 3.37. The rest range all the way up 32.32. percentage of total population in South Carolina

We will now produce some evidence with regard to crime, etc., drawn from official sources:

The population of Utah by the census of 1880 is about 144,000, divided as follows:

Mormons .............. 120,283

Gentiles ..........14,155

Apostate Mormons. 6,988

Josephites ........820

Doubtful ..........1,717

23,680

Total ........................ 143,963

"It will be seen that the "Gentiles" constitute only ten per cent. of the population, yet from this small minority are taken the incumbents of nearly every position of influence and emolument. They have the Governor, with absolute veto power, Secretary, Judges, Marshals, Prosecuting Attorneys, Land Register, Recorder, Surveyor-General, Clerks of the Courts, Commissioners, principal Post-office Mail Contractors, Postal Agents, Revenue Assessors and Collectors, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Indian Agencies, Indian Supplies, Army Contractors, express, railroad and telegraph lines, the associated press agency, half the jurors in law, but at least three-fourths and always the foreman in practice, in fact, every position not elective.

Last winter there was a census taken of the Utah penitentiary and the Salt Lake City and County prisons, with the following result: In Salt Lake City there are about seventy-five Mormons to twenty-five non-Mormons. In Salt Lake County there are about eighty Mormons to twenty non-Mormons. In the city prison there were twenty-nine convicts, all non-Mormons, in the county prison there were six convicts, all non-Mormons. The jailer stated that the county convicts for the five years past were all anti-Mormons except three.

In Utah we have seen that by the United States Census the proportion of orthodox Mormons to all others is as eighty-three to seventeen. In the Utah penitentiary there were fifty-one prisoners, only five of whom were Mormons, and two of the five were in prison for imitating Father Abraham in their domestic menage, so that the seventeen per cent, "outsiders" had forty-six convicts in the penitentiary, while the eighty-three per cent, Mormons had but five! The total number of Utah

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lockups, including the penitentiary, is fourteen; these aggregated one hundred and twenty-five inmates. Of these one hundred and twenty-five, not over eleven were Mormons, several of whom were incarcerated for minor offences and polygamy; while if all the anti-Mormon thieves, adulterers, black-legs, perjurers, murderers and other criminals who are at large, were sent to prison, the Mormons claim that their prisons could not hold them.

In 1878 a Mormon publication made the following boastful statement:

Out of the twenty counties of the Territory, most of which are populous, thirteen are, to-day, without a dram-shop, brewery, gambling or brothel-house, bowling or billiard-saloon, lawyer, doctor, parson beggar, politician or place-hunter, and almost entirely free from social troubles of every kind; yet these counties are exclusively 'Mormon;' and with the exception of a now and then domestic doctor or lawyer, the entire Territory was free from these adjuncts of civilization (?) till after the advent of the professing Christian element, boastingly here to 'regenerate the Mormons,' and to-day every single disreputable concern in Utah is run and fostered by the very same Christian (?) element. Oaths, imprecations, blasphemies, invectives, expletives, blackguardism, the ordinary dialect of the "anti-Mormon," were not heard in Utah till after his advent, nor till then, did we have litigation, drunkenness, harlotry, political and judicial deviltries, gambling and kindred enormities.

This is what the Mormons assert. Let us see how the case stands today, and what the facts attest.

Out of the two hundred saloon, billiard, bowling alley and pool table keepers, not over a dozen even profess to be Mormons. All of the bagnios and other disreputable concerns in the Territory are run and sustained by anti-Mormons. Ninety-eight per cent. of the gamblers of Utah are of the same element, Ninety-five per cent. of the Utah lawyers are Gentiles, and eighty per cent. of all the litigation there is of outside growth and promotion.

Of the two hundred and fifty towns and villages in Utah, over two hundred have no "gaudy sepulchre of departed virtue," and these two hundred and odd towns are almost exclusively Mormon in population. Of the suicides committed in Utah, ninety odd per cent. are non-Mormon; and of the Utah homicides and infanticides, over eighty per cent. are perpetrated by the seventeen per cent. "outsiders.

The arrests made in Salt Lake City from January 1, 1881, to December 8, 1881, are classified, as follows:

Men ........................................................... 782 Women ...................................................... 200 Boys .......................................................... 38

Total ....................... 1,020

Mormons, Men & Boys ...... 163 " , Women ............... 6 169 Anti-Mormon-Men & Boys- 657 " Women ......... 194 851

Total ........................ 1,020

A number of the Mormon arrests were for chicken, cow and water trespass, petty larceny, etc. The arrests of anti-Mormons were in most cases for prostitution, gambling, exposing of person, drunkenness, unlawful dram selling, assault and battery, attempt to kill, etc.

If the seventy-five per cent. Mormon population of Salt Lake City were as lawless and corrupt as

Journal of Discourses/23/7

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