RESIGNATION OF BRIGHAM YOUNG.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 152, 25 June 1873, Page 2

RESIGNATION OF BRIGHAM YOUNG.

From that /fertile; Jand oFsurpnse^a^ -^ " sensations," the^ UhitM; States,7cSrhes^ the extremely -sensational 7' intelligence: "7 that Brigham Young,; the prophet, 7p^ie S t, 77? and king of the Mormons, 7b* s resigned^ 'P I? or twenty-seven years this extraordinary P man— without the sligheat 7ad^ahtage7of '? : education, and r with nothing to^aid7hirn*7 ? but natural yshrewdness *,: and perfect^ üb- -"•'-■ scrupulousness— has ruled as ah absbltile ; despot over the minds, the •• souls:^ bodies, and the wealth bf a -set:of ; bebple " : who ma few years increased fro m a ban^ '' --• ful. to a host,- and *who to^dW riuaiberT- *■"'"" more than 100,000 souls. I v j 8 i_ Y%y the head of a few hundred fanatics, tlrive^T ; . from Illinois and Missouri, he set forth into the almost unknown wilderness^ lying -'P between the Missouri River and *the4oot - oftheKocky Mountains, and at the- be^ ginning of the following year planted i^ 7'lithe lovely valley of Salt Lake the city where ho has since ruled as a kingT __d priest, and which he how. abandons, not' Vbecause/any >i val is pushing lifcfrpm 7- 7 power, but simply because he has grown ■''-* -"" weary of the game. The entire -Mbrrabn community since its first/settlement in * U tah has been the sla ve and ser v^n tof this man. For him they have toiled/ aud to him they gave tithes, of all they possessed. The wonderful shrewdness ofrthe man enabled hira to turn eve^Teve^f^no// - matter how apparently adverse, to This * advantage. Wheh,in .1857y he refusedto permit a Governor'appointed by -Presi- - 7 dent Buchanan to exercise authority in Utah, and a large army of United^ Sfetes solaiers was sent agaiust him, hisdverthrow and ruin seemed inevitable*- but he P at first sb skilfully threw obstacles in /the way of the advance of the army,: that it arrived within striking distance only when its supplies of food were exhausted and For remaindtrof news see fourtkXjfage. P~- P~~-

starvation stared it in the face, and he then' with equal skill suggested compromises so tempting that they were accepted, and the army which came to conquer remained to serve the foe—-re-ceiving its supplies from him and paying for them at rates which netted him profits at. the contemplation of which the contractors on this side of the water would faint with envy. So also, when the Pacific Railway Line began to approach him, and it was esultingly proclaimed that " the whistle of the first locomotive •would be ihe dirge of Mormondom," ho •went forward to meet this new danger and turn it to his own aggrandisement. He not only succeeded in persuading the company to choose for their line through his territory a route of his own selection, but he also obtained the contract for the construction of the work, and then employed upon it his own people afc rates of wages •which, prescribed by himself, left him an ample margin of profit. Then, once more, when the discsvories of the vast mineral wealth of Utah began to attract attention, he was before every one else in this new field of wealth. Many of the productive mines were worked for him; maoy of the others, whose wealth was far more problematical, were sold for him by agents, who did not always disclose the name of their principal ; and thousands of honest English sovereigns exchanged for shares in the worthless mines ih Utah are now, in all probability resting in the strong box of this audacious adventurer. The last estimate which we bave seen of his wealth placed it at eighteen -millions sterling; and, making all allowances for exaggeration, there can be no doubt that he possessed, and probably still possesses, in spite of his reported liberality to his sixteen wives aud sixty children, a vast fortune. He is now seventy-two years old. The United States Government may well congratulate themselves on their good fortune. Brigham Young, by his abdication, has probably done that for them which tbey could not do for themselves. Deprived of him, the Mormon community will soon sink into the position of a weak and decaying sect; and through no exertions of its own, the American Government will be rid of a foul and dangerous "* excrescence upon the body politic. Brigham Young has sent by telegraph to the New York Herald a long statement of. his policy. He says: — "For over forty years bave I served my people laboring incessantly. I am now nearly seventy-two years of age, and I need relaxation. My resignation as truetee of the Church, President of the Zion Co-operative Mercantile Institution, and as President of the Deseret National Bank, is-made solely from secular affairs, and does not affect my position as President of the Church.. We intend to establish a settlement in Arizona, in the country of the Apaches, persuaded that if we become acquainted with them we cau influence them beneficially. We hope to assist in the construction of the railway which is to cross that country, and bring a large portion of our emigration that way." Brigham Young abandon's the old Mormon policy of exclusiveness. He invites good citizens to settle in Utah; urges capitalists to invest their money there, and * promises that their property shall be protected and lightly taxed.