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Polygamy

Polygamy image
Parent Issue
Day
15
Month
November
Year
1878
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The following addiess was adopted at a recent meeting of non-Mormon women in fiaJtXake City, Utah : 'J'ó .Mis. RutlierfonI B. Have and the women of tlii DOlteaBtata ; It is more than thirty years slnCc polygamy waq planted on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. During these yeaxs Congress has ntterly failed to enact efficiënt or enforce the eiiating láfrj for the flbolltdoil of this great crime, and we beliëVe that more of these niihnvfu] and unhallowcd aUianCes have been consummatéd in the pust yeni than eter.before In tlie history of the Mormon church. Eudowinent houses luider the name of temples (iré being ereeted in different pnrts of the TeWitöty costing millions. It is inipossible to ascertain the exact number of polygamous marriages, for they are consecrated in these endowment houses, an institution 110 Gen tile is pennitted to enter, where the brotherhood and sisterhood (tre sealed and bound by oaths so strong that even apostates wiii not reveal thein, nnd to nientisn which witnesses on the Witnessstand nnblusliingly perjure themselves, and on tho jury viólate all considerations of natu and duty. Considcring all our surronndings, polygamy lias never taken such degTading and debasing form in any nation ov among any people above conditions of barbarians as in Utah. It is degrading to man and woman, a curse to children, and destruction to the sacred relation of tlie fatnily, upon wliich the civilization of nationsáepends; and therearethingR-whiclicnniiDt Ix-rcjicatcd or printed that reduce the system to the lowcst form of itidceency. ïliat it shtmld be prarticod in tlic name and undér cloak of religión, that an apostle-polygamiBt witn font acknowledged wives is permitted to sit in Congress, only adds' to the enormity of Bhe crime, and niakes it moro revoíting to our comnion Christian iirinciples. Our Legislature is composed ahnost entirely of polygftmïsts and members of the Mormon priesthood, and .they have thrown around iolygamy evéry possible saféguard in theii power, and right of dowcr has been abolished to break down the distinction between lawful wife and concubine. The Mormons are rapidly extending their settlements into AriZ(in::, Iduho, New Mexico, and Wyoi:m nú;. They huvo tho balnnco of power in two Territorios', and are, without doubt, plotting for it in the other. We cali upon the Christian women of thë United States to join us in nrging Congress to empower its courts to arrest fiirfbnr progress of the evil, and to delay the adnnttance of Utah into the sisterhood until this is accomplished, and we ask yon to circuíate and publish our apped, in order to arouse public sentiment, which should be against an abomination that pecuJiarly oppresses and stigmatizes woman. It is our purpose to ask ñames to a petition designed for Congress, and we hope also that every minister of the gospel will commeud it to the wojncn of his congreg;ition, and that all ('liristian associations will do what they can to obtain signatures. With the cordial co-operation and the concerted actiën of theChi-istian women of on r land, we may confidently hope that the great sin of polygamy may be abolished.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus