THE PRESENT STATUS OF MORMON POLYGAMY.
By Mrs. A. G. Paddock
TRANS-CONTINENTAL tourists who stop over at Salt Lake for a day or two, express the utmost surprise when we tell them that polygamy, instead of being on the decline, is not only entrenching itself in Utah, but spreading into adjoining States and Territories. It seems to be a generally received opinion throughout the United States, that polygamy in its worst form is a thing of the past; but a few months' residence in Utah, and, above all, a trip through the outlying settlements, will convince any one that the contrary is true. Even in Salt Lake, where we have a non-Mormon population of five thousand souls, six Christian churches, and as many mission schools, a court presided over by Federal judges, in session during the greater part of the year, and a large number of Government officials resident among us, polygamous marriages are constantly taking place. It is probably true that Mormon wives make more opposition now than formerly to the introduction of plurals into the household, but their opposition avails nothing. In the "Revelation on Celestial Marriage," the following paragraph occurs:— “It shall be the duty of a woman to give other wives to her husband, even as Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham, but if she refuse, it shall be lawful for him to take other wives without her consent, and she shall be destroyed for her disobedience.” In former days it was an easy matter to “destroy” a first wife who manifested a rebellious spirit. The ministers of Blood Atonement were swift and sure, and as the people were publicly instructed from the pulpit that if they saw one of their neighbors lying dead beside the way as they went home, they were to pass on and not concern themselves about the matter, no questions were asked when a disobedient wife was missing. At present the residence of Federal officials among us, the handful of troops at Fort Douglas, and the fact that we have railroad communication with the civilized portions of the country, make it less easy to dispose summarily of a woman who refuses to give other wives to her husband. Still, there are many ways in which she can be punished. No right of dower exists in Utah; consequently when a woman displeases her husband, he can sell the house over her head and turn her into the street. A friend of mine, a woman who refused her consent to her husband's second marriage, was turned into the street in this manner when sick and helpless. The purchaser of the home, a relative of her husband, procured a writ of ejectment from a court presided over by a United States judge, and a United States marshal, not a Mormon, put her out of the house. A neighbor of ours, a young man, himself the offspring of a polygamous marriage, made up his mind last fall that it was his duty to take a second wife. His first wife, though reared in the Mormon faith, is an intelligent and loveable woman, and bitterly opposed to polygamy. She has done everything in her power to prevent the desecration of her home, but without avail. A few weeks ago the husband was “sealed” to another woman, and it is probable that he wrung a reluctant consent from his wife, for she still occupies the home and is receiving a comfortable support, which would be withheld if she proved rebellious. In this instance the wife has two little children, one of them a babe a few months old, and knowing that she could not prevent the second marriage, she doubtless thought it better to say she consented than to be deprived of a home and of the means of providing for her little ones. A few Mormon women really believe that God has enjoined polygamy, and that if they rebelled against it, they would bring his curse upon themselves and their children. Others, not quite so strong in the faith, say that they fear the teachings of the priesthood on this subject may be true, and therefore they dare not oppose them; but by far the greater number are coerced into submission by their surroundings and by their own necessities and those of their children. Our local laws are framed and administered by polygamists, and as a matter of course are made to bear heavily upon those who oppose polygamy. Our Territory is supposed to be a ward of Congress, and under the immediate supervision of that body, but the significant commentary upon the legislation of Congress in our behalf is furnished by the fact that out of the thousands of polygamists in this Territory only one has suffered the penalty of the law, and the evidence that secured his conviction was obtained almost by accident. On the block on which I live there is a family which represents polygamy three generations deep—father, children, and grandchildren all living in polygamy—and none of the family have ever been called to account for their infractions of the law, though the grandfather took some of his polygamous wives in Illinois nearly forty years ago. Under existing laws the second marriage ceremony, which takes place in the secret chambers of the Endowment House, constitutes the crime of bigamy. It is impossible to obtain proof of this crime, because it is witnessed only by Mormons who are bound to secrecy by their Endowment oaths. If the law could be so amended as to make the crime to consist in living in polygamy, it would be possible to convict and punish offenders—at least that is my opinion, though some of our Federal officials say it is impossible to execute laws which are opposed by nine-tenths of the population.—Mrs. A. G. Paddock, in Christian at Work.