mons insist that it would be utterly
impossible for the church to dispense with it; and the _Deseret
News_, the church organ in the issue following the President's
Message, declares that "neither commissions, edicts or armies, or any
earthly power can affect plural marriages of the Mormons for they are
'ecclesiastical, perpetual and eternal.'" No doubt there will be a
convulsive effort made to retain the government of the Territory in
their own hands, and they might be forced to abandon polygamy to save
such a catastrophe, but would they do it in good faith?

What would their fanatical followers say if the "absolute command of
God" to Joseph Smith is no longer to be regarded. If polygamy can,
however, be happily abolished, there still remains a solid phalanx of
determined men and women manipulated by the hand of wily priests and
bishops, who do not believe in our institutions, who deny the right of
individual feeling or action, who teach the doctrine that the Latter Day
Saints will rule eventually the whole country and the world. Such
compact power, so guarded, so absolute, is certainly an unparalleled
achievement when the few years of its conception and execution in a
barren desolate waste is considered. A similar case has never been
witnessed before in the heart of any country on the globe, and it is
safe to say that no other civilized nation would have tolerated such an
anomaly in its midst. Germany even has forbidden Mormon missionaries to
come within her borders. England is profuse in condemnation of our
Government for permitting such an institution as polygamy, which she
fosters however by sending one-half the recruits that come yearly to our
shores to practise it. Scandinavia and our own land contribute the
balance, and it is confidently asserted that Massachusetts alone gives
more converts to Mormonism than are converted from it in Utah, Worthy
mechanics and skilled laborers in our manufacturing towns are joining
this standard which holds out temptations of temporal prosperity that
are difficult to resist.

The Mormon church is fast peopling the immediate surrounding
territories. Idaho is dangerously invaded and the balance of power
threatened, while Colorado and Arizona have large, growing settlements.

The first train that passed over the new narrow guage road that runs
through Colorado, carried a load of foreign emigrants to Utah. Railroads
intersect Utah in all directions, and the church is also laying her