The Story of the Mormons:

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The admission of Utah as a state followed naturally the
promulgation by the Mormon church of a policy which was accepted
by the non-Mormons as putting a practical end to the practice of
polygamy. For the seventh time, in 1887, the Mormons had adopted
a state constitution, the one ratified in that year providing
that "bigamy and polygamy, being considered incompatible with 'a
republican form of government,' each of them is hereby forbidden
and declared a misdemeanor." The non-Mormons attacked the
sincerity of this declaration, among other things pointing out
the advice of the Church organ, while the constitution was
before the people, that they be "as wise as serpents and as
harmless as doves." Congress again refused admission.

On January 4, 1893, President Harrison issued a proclamation
granting amnesty and pardon to all persons liable to the penalty
of the Edmunds law "who have, since November 1, 1890, abstained
from such unlawful cohabitation," but on condition that they
should in future obey the laws of the United States. Until the
time of Woodruff's manifesto there had been in Utah only two
political parties, the People's, as the Mormon organization had
always been known, and the Liberal (anti-Mormon). On June 10,
1894, the People's Territorial Central Committee adopted
resolutions reciting the organization of the Republicans and
Democrats of the territory, declaring that the dissensions of the
past should be left behind and that the People's party should
dissolve. The Republican Territorial Committee a few days later
voted that a division of the people on national party lines
would result only in statehood controlled by the Mormon
theocracy. The Democratic committee eight days later took a
directly contrary view. At the territorial election in the
following August the Democrats won, the vote standing:
Democratic, 14,116; Liberal, 7386; Republican, 6613.

It would have been contrary to all political precedent if the
Republicans had maintained their attitude after the Democrats
had expressed their willingness to receive Mormon allies.
Accordingly, in September, 1891, we find the Republicans
adopting a declaration that it would be wise and patriotic to
accept the changes that had occurred, and denying that statehood
was involved in a division of the people on national party
lines.

All parties in the territory now seemed to be manoeuvring for
position. The Morman newspaper organs expressed complete
indifference about securing statehood. In Congress Mr. Caine,
the Utah Delegate, introduced what was known as the "Home Rule
Bill," taking the control of territorial affairs from the
governor and commission. This was known as a Democratic measure,
and great pressure was brought to bear on Republican leaders at
Washington to show them that Utah as a state would in all
probability add to the strength of the Republican column. When,
at the first session of the 53d Congress, J. L. Rawlins, a
Democrat who had succeeded Caine as Delegate, introduced an act
to enable the people of Utah to gain admission for the territory
as a state, it met with no opposition at home, passed the House
of Representatives on December 13, 1893, and the Senate on July
10, 1894 (without a division in either House), and was signed by
the President on July 16. The enabling act required the
constitutional convention to provide "by ordinance irrevocable
without the consent of the United States and the people of that
state, that perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be
secured, and that no inhabitant of said state shall ever be
molested in person or property on account of his or her mode of
religious worship; PROVIDED, that polygamous or plural marriages
are forever prohibited."

The constitutional convention held under this act met in Salt
Lake City on March 4, 1895, and completed its work on May 8,
following. In the election of delegates for this convention the
Democrats cast about 19,000 votes, the Republicans about 21,000
and the Populists about 6500. Of the 107 delegates chosen, 48
were Democrats and 59 Republicans. The constitution adopted
contained the following provisions:--

"Art. 1. Sec. 4. The rights of conscience shall never be
infringed. The state shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; no religious test shall be required as a qualification
for any office of public trust, or for any vote at any election;
nor shall any person be incompetent as a witness or juror on
account of religious belief or the absence thereof. There shall
be no union of church and state, nor shall any church dominate
the state or interfere with its functions. No public money or
property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious
worship, exercise, or instruction, or for the support of any
ecclesiastical establishment.

"Art. 111. The following ordinance shall be irrevocable without
the consent of the United States and the people of this state:
Perfect toleration of religious sentiment is guaranteed. No
inhabitant of this state shall ever be molested in person or
property on account of his or her mode of religious worship; but
polygamous or plural marriages are forever prohibited."

This constitution was submitted to the people on November 5,
1895, and was ratified by a vote of 31,305 to 7687, the
Republicans at the same election electing their entire state
ticket and a majority of the legislature. On January 4, 1896,
President Cleveland issued a proclamation announcing the
admission of Utah as a state. The inauguration of the new state
officers took place at Salt Lake City two days later. The first
governor, Heber M. Wells,* in his inaugural address made this
declaration: "Let us learn to resent the absurd attacks that are
made from time to time upon our sincerity by ignorant and
prejudiced persons outside of Utah, and let us learn to know and
respect each other more, and thus cement and intensify the
fraternal sentiments now so widespread in our community, to the
end that, by a mighty unity of purpose and Christian resolution,
we may be able to insure that domestic tranquillity, promote that
general welfare, and secure those blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity guaranteed by the constitution of
the United States."

* Son of "General" Wells of the Nauvoo Legion.

The vote of Utah since its admission as a state has been cast as
follows:--

************* REPUBLICAN **** DEMOCRAT
1895. Governor 20,833 18,519
1896. President 13,491 64,607
1900. Governor 47,600 44,447
1900. President 47,089 44,949

CHAPTER XXV. The Mormonism Of To-Day

An intelligent examination of the present status of the Mormon
church can be made only after acquaintance with its past
history, and the policy of the men who have given it its present
doctrinal and political position. The Mormon power has ever in
view objects rather than methods. It always keeps those objects
in view, while at times adjusting methods to circumstances, as
was the case in its latest treatment of the doctrine of
polygamy. The casual visitor, making a tour of observation in
Utah, and the would-be student of Mormon policies who satisfies
himself with reading their books of doctrine instead of their
early history, is certain to acquire little knowledge of the
real Mormon character and the practical Mormon ambition, and if
he writes on the subject he will contribute nothing more
authentic than does Schouler in his "History of the United
States" wherein he calls Joseph Smith "a careful organizer," and
says that "it was a part of his creed to manage well the
material concerns of his people, as they fed their flocks and
raised their produce." Brigham Young's constant cry was that all
the Mormons asked was to be left alone. Nothing suits the
purposes of the heads of the church today better than the
decrease of public attention attracted to their organization
since the Woodruff manifesto concerning polygamy. In trying to
arrive at a reasonable decision concerning their future place in
American history, one must constantly bear in mind the arguments
which they have to offer to religious enthusiasts, and the
political and commercial power which they have already attained
and which they are constantly strengthening.

The growth of Utah in population since its settlement by the
Mormons has been as follows, accepting the figures of the United
States census:--

1850 11,380
1860 40,273
1870 86,786
1880 143,963
1890 207,905
1900 276,749

The census of 1890 (the religious statistics of the census of
1900 are not yet available) shows that, of a total church
membership of 128,115 in Utah, the Latter-Day Saints numbered
118,201.

What may be called the Mormon political policy embraces these
objects: to maintain the dictatorial power of the priesthood
over the present church membership; to extend that membership
over the adjoining states so as to acquire in the latter, first
a balance of power, and later complete political control; to
continue the work of proselyting throughout the United States and
in foreign lands with a view to increasing the strength of the
church at home by the immigration to Utah of the converts.

That the power of the Mormon priesthood over their flock has
never been more autocratic than it is to-day is the testimony of
the best witnesses who may be cited. A natural reason for this
may be found in the strength which always comes to a religious
sect with age, if it survives the period of its infancy. We have
seen that in the early days of the church its members apostatized
in scores, intimate acquaintance with Smith and his associates
soon disclosing to men of intelligence and property their real
objects. But the church membership in and around Utah to-day is
made up of the children and the grandchildren of men and women
who remained steadfast in their faith. These younger generations
are therefore influenced in their belief, not only by such
appeals as what is taught to them makes to their reason, but by
the fact that these teachings are the teachings which have been
accepted by their ancestors. It is, therefore, vastly more
difficult to convince a younger Mormon to-day that his belief
rests on a system of fraud than it was to enforce a similar
argument on the minds of men and women who joined the Saints in
Ohio or Illinois. We find, accordingly, that apostasies in Utah
are of comparatively rare occurrence; that men of all classes
accept orders to go on missions to all parts of the world without
question; and that the tithings are paid with greater regularity
than they have been since the days of Brigham Young.

The extension of the membership of the Mormon church over the
states and territories nearest to Utah has been carried on with
intelligent zeal. The census of 1890 gives the following
comparison of members of Latter-Day Saints churches and of "all
bodies" in the states and territories named:--

******* L.D. SAINTS **** ALL BODIES ***
Idaho******* 14,972 **** 24,036
Arizona***** 6,500 **** 26,972
Nevada****** 525 **** 5,877
Wyoming***** 1,336 **** 11,705
Colorado**** 1,762 **** 86,837
New Mexico** 456 **** 105,749

The political influence of the Mormon church in all the states
and territories adjacent to Utah is already great, amounting in
some instances to practical dictation. It is not necessary that
any body of voters should have the actual control of the
politics of a state to insure to them the respect of political
managers. The control of certain counties will insure to them the
subserviency of the local politicians, who will speak a good
word for them at the state capital, and the prospect that they
will have greater influence in the future will be pressed upon
the attention of the powers that be. We have seen how steadily
the politicians of California at Washington stood by the Mormons
in their earlier days, when they were seeking statehood and
opposing any federal control of their affairs. The business
reasons which influenced the Californians are a thousand times
more effective to-day. The Cooperative Institution has a hold on
the Eastern firms from which it buys goods, and every commercial
traveller who visits Utah to sell the goods of his employers to
Mormon merchants learns that a good word for his customers is
always appreciated. The large corporations that are organized
under the laws of Utah (and this includes the Union Pacific
Railroad Company) are always in some way beholden to the Mormon
legislative power. All this sufficiently indicates the measures
quietly taken by the Mormon church to guard itself against any
further federal interference.

The mission work of the Mormon church has always been conducted
with zeal and efficiency, and it is so continued to-day. The
church authorities in Utah no longer give out definite
statistics showing the number of missionaries in the field, and
the number of converts brought to Utah from abroad. The number of

missionaries at work in October, 1901, was stated to me by church
officers at from fourteen hundred to nineteen hundred, the
smaller number being insisted upon as correct by those who gave
it. As nearly as could be ascertained, about one-half this force
is employed in the United States and the rest abroad. The home
field most industriously cultivated has been the rural districts
of the Southern states, whose ignorant population, ever
susceptible to "preaching" of any kind, and quite incapable of
answering the Mormon interpretation of the Scriptures, is most
easily lead to accept the Mormon views. When such people are
offered an opportunity to improve their worldly condition, as
they are told they may do in Utah, at the same time that they
can save their souls, the bait is a tempting one. The number of
missionaries now at work in these Southern states is said to be
much smaller than it was two years ago. Meanwhile the work of
proselyting in the Eastern Atlantic states has become more
active. The Mormons have their headquarters in Brooklyn, New
York, and their missionaries make visits in all parts of Greater
New York. They leave a great many tracts in private houses,
explaining that they will make another call later, and doing so
if they receive the least encouragement. They take great pains to
reach servant girls with their literature and arguments, and the
story has been published* of a Mormon missionary who secured
employment as a butler, and made himself so efficient that his
employer confided to him the engagement of all the house
servants; in time the frequent changes which he made aroused
suspicion, and an investigation disclosed the fact that he was a
Mormon of good education, who used his position as head servant
to perform effective proselyting work. By promise of a husband
and a home of her own on her arrival in Utah, this man was said
to have induced sixty girls to migrate from New York City to that
state since he began his labors.

* New York Sun, January 27, 1901.

The Mormons estimate the membership of their church throughout
the world at a little over 300,000. The numbers of "souls" in
the church abroad was thus reported for the year ending December
31, 1899, as published in the Millennial Star:--

Great Britain 4,588
Scandinavia 5,438
Germany 1,198
Switzerland 1,078
Netherlands 1,556

These figures indicate a great falling off in the church
constituency in Europe as compared with the year 1851, when the
number of Mormons in Great Britain and Ireland was reported at
more than thirty thousand. Many influences have contributed to
decrease the membership of the church abroad and the number of
converts which the church machinery has been able to bring to
Utah. We have seen that the announcement of polygamy as a
necessary belief of the church was a blow to the organization in
Europe. The misrepresentation made to converts abroad to induce
them to migrate to Utah, as illustrated in the earlier years of
the church, has always been continued, and naturally many of the
deceived immigrants have sent home accounts of their deception.
A book could be filled with stories of the experiences of men
and women who have gone to Utah, accepting the promises held out
to them by the missionaries,--such as productive farms, paying
business enterprises; or remunerative employment,--only to find
their expectations disappointed, and themselves stranded in a
country where they must perform the hardest labor in order to
support themselves, if they had not the means with which to
return home. The effect of such revelations has made some parts
of Europe an unpleasant field for the visits of Mormon
missionaries.

The government at Washington, during the operation of the
Perpetual Emigration Fund organization, realized the evil of the
introduction of so many Mormon converts from abroad. On August
9, 1879, Secretary of State William M. Evarts sent out a
circular to the diplomatic officers of the United States
throughout the world, calling their attention to the fact that
the organized shipment of immigrants intended to add to the
number of law-defying polygamists in Utah was "a deliberate and
systematic attempt to bring persons to the United States with
the intent of violating their laws and committing crimes
expressly punishable under the statute as penitentiary
offences," and instructing them to call the attention of the
governments to which they were accredited to this matter, in
order that those governments might take such steps as were
compatible with their laws and usages "to check the organization
of these criminal enterprises by agents who are thus operating
beyond the reach of the law of the United States, and to prevent
the departure of those proposing to come hither as violators of
the law by engaging in such criminal enterprises, by whomsoever
instigated." President Cleveland, in his first message,
recommended the passage of a law to prevent the importation of
Mormons into the United States. The Edmunds-Tucker law contained
a provision dissolving the Perpetual Emigration Company, and
forbidding the Utah legislature to pass any law to bring persons
into the territory. Mormon authorities have informed me that
there has been no systematic immigration work since the
prosecutions under the Edmunds law. But as it is conceded that
the Mormons make practically no proselytes among then Gentile
neighbors, they must still look largely to other fields for that
increase of their number which they have in view.

As a part of their system of colonizing the neighboring states
and territories, they have made settlements in the Dominion of
Canada and in Mexico. Their Canadian settlement is situated in
Alberta. A report to the Superintendent of Immigration at
Ottawa, dated December 30, 1899, stated that the Mormon colony
there comprised 1700 souls, all coming from Utah; and that "they
are a very progressive people, with good schools and churches."
When they first made their settlement they gave a pledge to the
Dominion government that they would refrain from the practice of
polygamy while in that country. In 1889 the Department of the
Interior at Ottawa was informed that the Mormons were not
observing this pledge, but investigation convinced the
department that this accusation was not true. However, in
1890, an amendment to the criminal law of the Dominion was
enacted (clause 11, 53 Victoria, Chap. 37), making any person
guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to imprisonment for five
years and a fine of $500, who practises any form of polygamy or
spiritual marriage, or celebrates or assists in any such
marriage ceremony.

The Secretario de Fomento of Mexico, under date of May 4,
1901, informed me that the number of Mormon colonists in that
country was then 2319, located in seven places in Chihuahua and
Sonora. He added: "The laws of this country do not permit
polygamy. The government has never encouraged the immigration of
Mormons, only that of foreigners of good character, working
people who may be useful to the republic. And in the contracts
made for the establishment of those Mormon colonies it was
stipulated that they should be formed only of foreigners
embodying all the aforesaid conditions."

No student of the question of polygamy, as a doctrine and
practice of the Mormon church, can reach any other conclusion
than that it is simply held in abeyance at the present time,
with an expectation of a removal of the check now placed upon
it. The impression, which undoubtedly prevails throughout other
parts of the United States, that polygamy was finally abolished
by the Woodruff manifesto and the terms of statehood, is founded
on an ignorance of the compulsory character of the doctrine of
polygamy, of the narrowness of President Woodruff's decree, and
of the part which polygamous marriages have been given, by the
church doctrinal teachings, in the plan of salvation. The sketch
of the various steps leading up to the Woodruff manifesto shows
that even that slight concession to public opinion was made, not
because of any change of view by the church itself concerning
polygamy, but simply to protect the church members from the loss
of every privilege of citizenship. That manifesto did not in any
way condemn the polygamous doctrine; it simply advised the
Saints to submit to the United States law against polygamy, with
the easily understood but unexpressed explanation that it was to
their temporal advantage to do so. How strictly this advice has
since been lived up to--to what extent polygamous practices have
since been continued in Utah--it is not necessary, in a work of
this kind, to try to ascertain. The most intelligent non-Mormon
testimony obtainable in the territory must be discarded if we
are to believe that polygamous relations have not been continued
in many instances. This, too, would be only what might naturally
be expected among a people who had so long been taught that
plural marriages were a religious duty, and that the check to
them was applied, not by their church authorities, but by an
outside government, hostility to which had long been inculcated
in them.

It must be remembered that it is a part of the doctrine of
polygamy that woman can enter heaven only as sealed to some
devout member of the Mormon church "for time and eternity," and
that the space around the earth is filled with spirits seeking
some "tabernacles of clay" by means of which they may attain
salvation. Through the teaching of this doctrine, which is
accepted as explicitly by the membership of the Mormon church at
large as is any doctrine by a Protestant denomination, the
Mormon women believe that the salvation of their sex depends on
"sealed" marriages, and that the more children they can bring
into the world the more spirits they assist on the road to
salvation. In the earlier days of the church, as Brigham Young
himself testified, the bringing in of new wives into a family
produced discord and heartburnings, and many pictures have been
drawn of the agony endured by a wife number one when her husband
became a polygamist. All the testimony I can obtain in regard to
the Mormonism of today shows that the Mormon women are now the
most earnest advocates of polygamous marriages. Said one
competent observer in Salt Lake City to me, "As the women of the
South, during the war, were the rankest rebels, so the women of
Mormondom are to-day the most zealous advocates of polygamy."

By precisely what steps the church may remove the existing
prohibition of polygamous marriages I shall not attempt to
decide. It is easy, however, to state the one enactment which
would prevent the success of any such effort. This would be the
adoption by Congress and ratification by the necessary number of
states of a constitutional amendment making the practice of
polygamy an offence under the federal law, and giving the
federal courts jurisdiction to punish any violators of this law.
The Mormon church recognizes this fact, and whenever such an
amendment comes before Congress all its energies will be directed
to prevent its ratification. Governor Wells's warning in his
message vetoing the Utah Act of March, 1901, concerning
prosecutions for adultery, that its enactment would be the
signal for a general demand for the passage of a constitutional
amendment against polygamy, showed how far the executive thought
it necessary to go to prevent even the possibility of such an
amendment. One of the main reasons why the Mormons are so
constantly increasing their numbers in the neighboring states is
that they may secure the vote of those states against an
anti-polygamy amendment. Whenever such an amendment is
introduced at Washington it will be found that every Mormon
influence--political, mercantile, and railroad--will be arrayed
against it, and its passage is unlikely unless the church shall
make some misstep which will again direct public attention to it
in a hostile manner.

The devout Mormon has no more doubt that his church will dominate
this nation eventually than he has in the divine character of
his prophet's revelations. Absurd as such a claim appears to all
non-Mormon citizens, in these days when Mormonism has succeeded
in turning public attention away from the sect, it is
interesting to trace the church view of this matter, along with
the impression which the Mormon power has made on some of its
close observers. The early leaders made no concealment of their
claim that Mormonism was to be a world religion. "What the world
calls 'Mormonism' will rule every nation," said Orson Hyde. "God
has decreed it, and his own right arm will accomplish it."*
Brigham Young, in a sermon in the Tabernacle on February 15,
1856, told his people that their expulsion from Missouri was
revealed to him in advance, as well as the course of their
migrations, and he added: "Mark my words. Write them down. This
people as a church and kingdom will go from the west to the
east."