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for nearly twenty years. Were it possible, the Mormon leaders would rid Utah of every "Gentile" and "apostate" within a month by this or other similar means. For the theory and practice of this doctrine reference is made to John D. Lee, pp. 16-18, and 278-287; and "Madame La Tour," p. 305.

4. Polygamy, or "Celestial Marriage."—Carried on secretly at Nauvoo, but publicly proclaimed in 1852, and steadily practiced ever since. It is admitted to be an essential of the Mormon creed, and is persistently taught and practiced in open defiance of United States law. Though it is claimed that only a small per centage of the people are actually in "plurality," yet the number is greatly increasing each year, and the entire body of good (?) Mormons uphold the practice. ("Madame La Tour," p. 324.)

REMEDIES.

If these things be true-and any amount of reliable testimony can be had on that point-there arises the momentous question: "What is to be done about it?"

No doubt many well-meaning people would recommend "letting alone" as the readiest solution of the difficulty; doubtless that would be eminently satisfactory to the Mormon leaders; but unfortunately for the nation it is one of those chronic and troublesome cases which stubbornly refuse to be "let alone." It must be met sooner or later, and perhaps the sooner the better. True, the difficulty and delicacy of the case are greatly increased by the fact that in some sense it is a religious question, and as such impinges closely on the matter of religious liberty and rights of conscience, always, and under few limitations, guaranteed by the Constitution. But the essential doctrines-the unwritten creed of Mormonism-are so repulsive to well-ordered human society, and so inimical to the very existence of national life, as to lie far beyond the bounds of religious toleration, and by revolting practice to place themselves within the category of monstrous crimes against the state, only to be dealt with by condign punishment. With no disposition to persecute any form of religious belief as such, still the decency of the nation demands that the vile practices of this abnormal system should cease, and its crimes be punished. But the curative process may be very slow; however, some possible remedies are suggested for consideration.

1. The Enlightenment of Public Sentiment.-Why is it that the "Mormon Question" has thus far received so little serious attention, or been almost ignored? Simply because the American people have not been brought face to face with the facts, and have considered the matter as too remote for anxious attention. That great agency in forming popular sentiment, the secular press, has, for the most part, been either indifferent, contemptuous, or apologetic, and thus served to minify the importance of a subject which it has little understood. for years our country has been disgraced by a rapidly growing polygamous sect in one of its fairest Territories, by a polyga mous delegate in Congress, and by a polygamous power able by some means to largely prevent repressive legislation.

So.

By pulpit and press, and every other legitimate means, public sentiment needs to be enlightened, quickened, and aroused on this grave subject; then Congress will feel the pressure, and Presidents and statesmen, loyal citizens and suffering women, will no longer plead in vain for vigorous measures of relief. As tending to the attainment of this object must be hailed with satisfaction the gathering protests of various religious bodies, and the appointment of able commissions to promote this desirable end. The recent action of the New York East Conference, in this line, is a notable instance of the inauguration of this movement in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Others are also moving, and this is a hopeful indication of public awakening.

2. Congressional Action.-Doubtless, our eminent jurists could suggest many ways in which this would be of advantage to Utah; but chief of all must be named disfranchisement of all polygamists. "Heroic treatment," undoubtedly, but apparently the only remedy for a most aggravated case. It is one of those suggested by President Hayes in his final message to Congress. Said he: "If deemed best to continue the existing form of local government, I recommend that the right to vote and sit on juries in the Territory of Utah be confined to those who neither practice nor uphold polygamy." Said the lamented President Garfield in his inaugural: "In my judgment it is the duty of Congress, while respecting to the utmost the conscientious convictions and religious scruples of every citizen, to prohibit within its jurisdiction all criminal

practices, especially of that class which destroy the family relation and endanger social order; nor can any ecclesiastical organization be safely permitted to usurp in the smallest" degree the functions and powers of the National Government." Disfranchisement, though severe, seems the only means by which a treasonable priesthood can be prevented from using all the political machinery of the Territory to pervert the ends of good government, and exclusion from the jury-box the only method of securing the ends of justice. Membership in the Mormon Church should be considered prima facie evidence of disqualification to vote or serve as jurors.

With this accomplished there would be some opportunity for the "Gentile" population to secure the benefits of a representative form of government, and frame and execute a system of laws in harmony with the United States Constitution and Statutes. But efficient and immediate as this remedy might be, there is perhaps but the least ground to hope for its application, unless forced upon the country by the Mormon power itself in its overweening arrogance. The United States Government is proverbially slow in the use of severity, and probably will wait until compelled to act in self-defense. Doubtless, advancing civilization will do much to hasten the crisis; Mormonism cannot long endure the light of an enlightened Christian age, and the time must come when the people of the republic will no longer allow their government to be trifled with, and its laws defiantly trampled under foot.

3. Education. And this in all its departments, secular and religious, and most of all in the preaching of a holy law and a pure Gospel. Ignorance is the prolific soil into which Mormonism and kindred systems of darkness strike deep their roots, and thence draw life and power. There can be little question that the masses of the Mormon people are disposed to lead honest, peaceable lives as loyal citizens of a free country. Once emancipated from dense ignorance and from slavish subserviency to a cunning priesthood, and they would be no longer a disgrace to themselves or the country whose benefits they enjoy. Give them and their children the advantages of a decent education; teach them the full import of American citizenship, liberty of conscience, and amenability to civil law, and their emancipation must follow. Nowhere in the nation is there

greater need of governmental aid and supervision of the school system. To accomplish any thing in this line, public education must be taken from the control of the priesthood and placed in charge of loyal teachers under supervision of honest and judicious superintendents, and attendance at the public schools be made compulsory.. Awaiting congressional action in this direction, the Christian denominations can do no better thing than to thoroughly re-enforce and liberally sustain their educational and missionary enterprises already inaugurated in the Territory. Contending with a system more intolerant of true Christianity than any system of pagan lands, that heroic band of missionaries and teachers are deserving of the deepest sympathy and heartiest support. Their work has already been greatly owned of God, and now gives promise of even grander success. The younger generation of Mormons seem to be rapidly breaking away from the grotesque superstitions and repulsive doctrines of the system; for them Christian education must prove invaluable, and through them a noble and honorable future be assured to Utah. Along these lines of treatment, it would seem, we must look for a final, though perhaps tardy, solution of the problem; and so, under the hand of eternal Beneficence, shall at length be secured in this Territory of mighty resources both liberty of conscience and obedience to law.

ART. II.-OUR METHODIST LOCAL PREACHERS.

It is not necessary to remind any reader of the Quarterly that local preachers have done a great work in the founding and upbuilding of Methodism. There is no disposition to stint the honors that are paid to the devoted and heroic men who carried American Methodism through the Revolution and founded more than half of our earlier classes and societies both East and West. And yet there is probably more dissatisfaction with this than with any other feature of the present Methodism; and the dissatisfaction is felt as impressively by the local preachers as by the rest of us. The object of this paper is to review the facts and provoke study of the situation. The time has gone by when this part of our history needed vindication;

but historical honors help us very little in dealing with a piece of Church machinery. We are left, after all laudation or apotheosis, with the practical problem of our day unsolved or unsatisfactorily solved. There are, in all Methodism, more than 89,000 local preachers, while the aggregate number of itinerant ministers is only about 42,500; that is to say, more than half of the Methodists authorized to preach the Gospel are local preachers. There is apparently, also, a presumption to be recognized that we have inadequate room for both arms of the ministry. Of the 42,500 itinerant ministers, a large number are without appointments, and at least two thirds of such ministers are physically able to preach. The annual sessions of Conferences show us each year that, both at home and abroad, we have "more pegs than holes," more qualified itinerants than places for itinerants. If we turn to the local preachers, we have to become familiar with the complaint that these preachers have no work, or insufficient work. Respecting the itinerant ministry, we may, perhaps, more or less confidently believe that the overcrowding of Conferences is only a temporary and self-correcting evil, or no evil at all. The power to select the best ten out of a hundred would always be regarded by a good organizer as an excellent thing; and if such selection obtains in the admission of young men to Conferences the work may gain by the necessary rejection of candidates. But as to the local preachers we have no similar consolations. It cannot be altogether wholesome to have a large body of merely honorary preachers. If half of the 89,000 men in the ranks of the local preachers are without work suited to their calling, they must be more or less a burdensome camp-following rather than a fighting force. If we have twice too many local preachers, the fact ought to be made so conspicuous as to check the licensing of new men by the quarterly or district conferences. No doubt, too, if the overplus were made clear, a large part of those who are now local preachers would cheerfully retire. To the practical mind it seems desirable that we should have either more work for local preachers or fewer local preachers. The process of selection which we apply to the candidates for Annual Conference membership might, if there were easier means of applying it, give us a better local ministry. The effort to find fit work for our local preachers might

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