OPEN COLUMN.

Thames Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 10354, 1 May 1911, Page 1

OPEN COLUMN.

LETTERS TO EDITOR.

MORMOKISMt-i jM REFUTATION

Sir, -*- Yes, it is certainly a surprise to the Mormon obseiTer to note that intelligent people will still continue to harp upon something kng since dead, andl in the; face, of so- many I evidences which go to prove that they do not violate the Laws of Utah of of the United States. It is true, that plural marriage was practiced 1 by the church, but not as a. whole, three' per cent leing : the highest at any time. It was never taught as a universal principle, all caution being 1 used to keep in-from'becoming] the means of lust and sin, and) a,t the time it was given to the people -.thene was no law enacted 1 by the United States to say thai it was a crime. In the.year 1890,' shortly after Congress forbid plural marriage, the manifest a was issnied and ' accepted by the unanimous vote of the semi-annual conference of tjiie Gmrch of Jesus Christ of Liatter Day Saints, and from thattime to the present there has not been one plural- marriage sanctioned by the clmrcih. This solemn testimony has been gjivem. time and time a^ain, both by iha President of the Church and also iby others. Tlie Gov■crtimeint.. of the United! ■ Spates : have satisfied, tliemselvteisupon this question, amd why should -other nation* concern themselves so much over what they confess is only practised in the State of Uteh. The impression that floats aibrbald is correct. A large flat foot has betem put down on those who violate hen- laws, and Mormons are not the only ones that dame under the pressure. The only thing is that they have bieen men enough to acknowledge their vow. It has always been the disposition of the Latter Day Soin+n to honor thei Jaws of their country as well as the law? of others. They love> their countiy, they Toy her law, and thair record shows they keep ■them as others-have admitted they.keeprtheir'si. The following statistics, ,talk:eii- from a small brochure written by Oiaiies Ellis, a. non-Mlormon, is proof that the Mormons are a law-abiding* peopld In 1876 ' there, were thirteen counties in Utah without saloon, brewery, gambling house, ibrothal, lawyer, doctor, beggar parson, or politician, and the population was exclusii'vely Mormon. In the whiter of 1881-2 there Aver'e 51 prisoner's in the Utah pemitcntiary. Only five were Mormons. From 1877 to 1882 the S'niol of Salt Lake County received only three Mormons. In 1881 there werei 1020 arrests in .Slalt Lake, 103 were Mhrnion men and Ibbys, and sit Ifomion women, 657 non-Mbrman msn, 194 non-Mbrmon women. In 1882 the mvmtoeir of ail-eats in the same city wtei'o 1561, of which 188 were Mormons. These air© only a few of many in favor of the Mormon people!, buti emoiis'h has b?en said to"Eihow that until what some ai'e pleased to call civilisation, oaine to Christianise us poor heathens, social purity was held.as it is now in high esteem. Wo as Mormons feel that it- Is not only a reproach upon us, but also upon 'the officials, to allow not only 555 Elnglish girls to .ba swincrgledl into the United St-.ites.,' but to allow some 1100 plurail mol'ria^jjes to be solemnised in open refellion to these laws. Oh, those Mbii-mons, they must brlioli to afford to pay tlieir way in pi-caching tire Gosrel and in connection eom,e forth with monies sufficient to emigrate such a. number of trirls asi have been entired to leave their happy homes. It appears to me tha.t thoeie wh<,se w,b;ole heart and soul is talken up in grappling for gold sJiould except Mormonisnr from thi« one point of view, onljr. Let iis te fair with one another', and elver have in mind the commandment "tbou shalt not. bear false witness against thy n.eish'biour," but come and heiar for yourself and learn to judge people by their fruits. —I am, et&, BLBEtRi JOJvEPH S. JOHNSON. Thames, April 28-, 1' 1911.