AMONG THE MORMONS.
Response to the Alleged of Brigham Young, Jr.—The True Condition of Affairs Among the Latter Say Saints.
[CORRESPONDENCE OF THE WORLD.]
SALT LAKE CITY, November 1.
Brigham Young, Jr. (having been interviewed by a reporter of a Philadelphia paper), made a series of statements, many of which are false. The usual Mormon effrontery, so largely possessed by "old Brier" has been inherited by his son, "young Brig" and he unblushingly lies to the reporter of the Phila-delphia paper for the purpose of deceiving the pub-lic, and giving a false impression concerning affairs in Utah. First, this unworthy descendant of an un-worthy sire, says: "The women in poly-gamy are protected by law." Your cor-respondent has been for several years a practising lawyer in this city, but, after a careful examination of the statutes of the Territory has utterly failed to find anything in the shape of a statute regulating marriage. There is no such thing as a law upon the statute book protecting women in polygamy, and if there was, it would be in conflict with the anti-polygamy law and consequently void. Mr. Young, Jr., also says, there are a large number of public schools in Utah. It is well known to Utah that the Mormons have not a single free school in the Territory. True, there is a law upon the statute book providing for the levying of a school tax, and by virtue of that law thousands of dollars have been collected, which went—into Brigham, Sr's, capacious breeches pocket. It was demonstrated during a recent school-tax case in the United States District Court, that the act was one of Brigham's many schemes for fleecing the people, and it was declared null and void. The only free school in the Territory is the one estab-lished by the Episcopal missionaries, in which there are a number of children, of poor Mormon parentage, who are educated gratuitously. Brigham, Jr., talks largely about the gold and silver mines of the Territory, but he does not relate how his father issued secret orders to bis gang of assassins to drive away all prospecters and ''Gentiles" about to work mines. It is only within the past year that the life of a miner has become safe while engaged in following his occupation. Brigham Jr., also tries to throw the Mountain Meadow massacre upon the Indians. This is the old Mormon story, so effectually exploded by Judge Cradlebough when he was Chief Justice of Utah. Fishop John D. Lee and other lead-ing Mormons organized the party of Mor-mons and Indians and planned the whole affair. Affidavit after affidavit has been made, showing that Mormon savages committed the brutal murder of 147 men, women, and children in cold blood, for plunder, and to avenge the death of Parley P. Pratt, who was killed but a short time before in Arkansas by McLane, while abducting his, McLane's, wife and children. It is well known in Utah that Brigham Young, Sr., and other leading Mormons shared in the plunder. Brigham Young, Jr., says the Mormons are not vindictive. The recent murders of Brassfield, Dr. J. K. Robinson, the assaults upon Mr. I. Watters and J. H. Beadle, editor of the Reporter, display a spirit of truly Christian meekness, as the Mormons understand it, and of course cannot be called vlndictiveness. The most ludicrous part of Brigham Young, Jr.'s state-ment is that the Mormons consider Major Hemp-stead, the United States Attorney for the Territory, their enemy because, in the discharge of his duty, he is endeavoring to enforce the anti-polygamy act. In other words, any officer of the government who endeavors conscientiously to do his duty, and enforce the laws of the United States in Utah, is an enemy to the Mormon, if he happens to tread on Mormon corns. Brigham Young, Jr., made an admission, unintentionally no doubt, which shows the animus, felt by the Mormon leaders, against the government, laws, and officers of the United States, which may yet tell with painful weight, when the Mormon ques-tion is handled by Congress. Lack of space prevents your correspondent from noticing other statements equally false, made by Brigham Young, Jr., at present.
The following notice appeared in the Deseret Even-ing News, of October 26.
"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN—This certifies that Wm. S. Godbe, E. L. T. Harrison, and Eli B. Kelsey, were cut off from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on Monday, the 26th day of Oc-tober, 1869, by the High Council of Salt Lake City, for harboring and spreading the spirit of apostacy.
"WM. DUNFORD, Clerk of Council."
The proceedings during the meeting of the "School of the Prophets" are described by a person present, as having been rather stormy. Henry Lawrence, a Mormon merchant, opposed the cutting off of Godbe, Harrison, and Kelsey, for the offence al-leged, and was silenced by Brigham, who will also excommunicate Mr. Lawrence, unless he repents and asks forgiveness.
The following is a synopsis of the objectionable articles which recently appeared in the Utah Magazine, and for the writing and publication of which, Godbe, Harrison, and Kelsey were excommunicated:
"Obedience, considered abstractly, is neither a vir-tue nor a vice. It may be either; there are abun-dance of instances, in different individuals, where it is both. It is a characteristic of the most exalted and the most debased intelligences. It is power-ful for good or evil; a blessing or a curse; an instrument of order and happiness or an engine of oppression and misery, according to the motive whicn prompts it and the power to which it is subject. Obedience is just as possible to Satan as to God; to the leader of a band of highway-men as to a servant of the Most High; but no one would contend that it is praiseworthy in the former cases. Obedience, to be virtuous upon earth and acceptable to heaven, must be the result of the thorough conviction of the soul that the individuals or the principles, or both, asking our obedience, are to accordance with the laws of heaven and of nature, having for their object the highest good of humanity, and, as such, worthy of our implicit confidence. Blind obedience, like blind unbelief, 'is sure to err,' and lead its vo-taries into a thousand errors, inconsistencies, and difficulties. God has never required it of His crea-tures, though men often seek to enforce it from their fellows.****** God has endowed men with certain faculties and powers of mind and body, for the use of which they are held responsi-ble. This responsibility could not exist, were they required to yield obedience without exer-cising their own judgment, and without testing the requisition by the light of their own souls. * * It is quite time mankind understood this distinction—that they should learn wherein righteous obedience consists, and be free from the self-imposed mental tyranny—far worse than African slavery—which compels to a blind, unintelligent obedience at the sac-rifice of conscience and self-respect, through an un-founded fear of incurring the Divine displeasure."
"All countries, before they can become rich, must develop some specialty or product of which they have a great surplus for sale, or remain poor. * * Home consumption brings no money into the Terri-tory, and we imperatively need something that will. And we ask wherein is that some-thing, and the answer comes back from all parts of the Territory that it is in MIN-ERALS! We are one of nature's vast mineral storehouses—a mineral territory, in fact. From one end to the other we walk over worlds of mineral wealth awaiting development. We have mountains of coal, iron, and lead, and enough copper and sil-ver to supply the world, to say nothing of more pre-cious metals."
These articles are a little too liberal for Brig-ham, who excommunicates the editors, and would suppress the magazine if he could. Sten-house is still on the fence, undetermined whether to fall over into Brigham's lap on the one side or the arms of the opposition on the other. Mr. I. Wat-ters, a wealthy jeweller of the Hebrew persuasion, called by the Mormons a "Gentile;" was se-verely beaten by Joseph F. Smith, one of Brigham's apostles, assisted by other Mor-mon ruffians. Mr. Watters is the gentleman who punished Sloan, the Mormon polygamist, for calling the ''Gentiles" thieves, &c., during Mr. Col-fax's speech. Outrages by the Mormons are getting common again. Mr. J. H. Beadle, editor of the Utah Reporter, was nearly beaten to death within the pre-cincts of a Mormon court, and the perpetrators of the outrage are carefully screened by the Mormon authorities. After the first dawn of civilization, Utah is relapsing into barbarism again; and the only light sufficient to penetrate the gross mental dark-ness of the people is that which would, he reflected from two thousand glittering bayonets in the hands of as many boys in blue. Utah murderers should grace the end of a rope, and hang as thickly upon the trees as fruit in autumn. H. W. I.
