same spirit. Thus, to give employment to the unemployed he caused a high wall to be erected around the Temple Block, and another high wall, built of cobble stones and concrete, around the tithing office and his own premises. A wall intended to encompass the city, which, while intended as a protection against Indians, was undertaken with a view to create labor.

The building of Saltair as a great bathing resort on the Great Salt Lake is another enterprise which has given employment to many people, and it could not have come into existence at the time it did if the Church with its means and credit had not backed the enterprise. This famous resort was built in 1893.

In view of the facts mentioned above, even the smallest, as last given, it would take no very great insight to discern the fact that the Mormon Church has set itself to the very laudable task of actually abolishing poverty, or, at the least helpless indigence. That this is a very desirable end in our present civilization cannot be denied; that it is, also, quite in the line of what Christ evidently had in view, no matter how much his pretended followers may have ignored and neutralized his teachings, is too evident to need discussion of any kind. Apart, however, from consideration of the teachings of Christ, or of the claims of any organization whatsoever, it is clear that poverty and indigence, as well as the vices causing them - extravagance, indifference, hypocrisy, on the one hand, and intemperance, shiftlessness and ignorance, on the other must be done away with, if civilization is to continue. That the Mormon Church recognizes this fact, and acts accordingly, while all other professed religious bodies have stupidly and culpably ignored it, is decidedly to the credit of its founders and leaders, and a rebuke to its opponents, who, while busying themselves with criticisms and fault-seeking, have contrived no effectual rivalry to its practical methods, leaving really humanitarian souls no alternatives other than socialism, or some other schemes of so-called sociology or economics, which are both non-religious and non-Christian.

CHAPTER XII

THE MORAL RECORD OF THE MORMON PEOPLE

IN the discussion of any other social and religious system, similarly well organized, the moral and ethical benefits of close association would be cheerfully admitted, and appreciatively discussed. In the case of the Mormon Church, however, the wall of prejudice is so high and the clouds of downright misrepresentation so thick, that it will be necessary to give figures and examples to demonstrate the fact that, in this case of close association, also, the rule operates normally.

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In our study of the institution of plural marriage, which has so terribly inflamed our preacher-folk, in spite of the fact that it was a recognized institution among God's people of ancient times, and was not forbidden or condemned by Christ in any unmistakable terms, we shall find that the women of Mormondom, while highly independent, individual and self-reliant, as a rule, are, at the same time, nobly womanly, holding the begetting and rearing of offspring as their highest prerogative. While the much-mooted right of female suffrage was first granted under Mormon rule, and the equality of the sexes first openly advocated by Joseph Smith, there was never a woman movement " among these people, nor any of the degenerate spirit of "sexantagonism," so disgustingly rampant in England, and, to a great extent, in America. Any person informed in sociology, let alone morals, cannot help but recognize that, in this particular, at least, the Mormon influence has been wholly on the side of right, decency, justice and of intelligent and normal sentiment. If the Christian public in England and America can view the exasperated reaction, known as the woman movement," as a "phase of evolutionary development," or as an "incident" in the life of nations, it is a sad comment on the sufficiency of the ideals and spiritual influences under which they have been reared. Whatever they may think of their own case, they have no just ground of criticism of a people who have accomplished grand results with none of these grievous and pathological "labor pains." Nearly the most important and typical phase of public morality lies in the matter of temperance; which is usually understood to connote moderation in the use of alcoholic drinks. The

Mormons claim considerable immunity from the ravages of this social disease of "gin-guzzling," because of their belief in the Word of Wisdom, an accepted revelation condemning the practice, along with the use of tobacco, tea, and coffee, and gluttony in meat eating. This claim by itself is, of course, no argument in favor of their practical consistency; since the world has seen a sufficiency of high professions and low practices, and is inclined to discount the former, except in the case of itself and friends. There is one good reason, however, for assuming the probability, at least, of the consistency of Mormon claims in this particular: this is, again, the fact of the strong and close association of the members of the Church. Among the loosely organized sects of Protestantism, or in the other-worldly Catholic Church, hypocrisy and inconsistency in religious and moral professions may be long maintained, without fear of detection as a matter of experience, this is evidently true-but where people are constantly associated in their religion, social life, amusements and business employments, as are the Mormons, there is always a liability to discovery and condemnation. No one can deny that some of these people, at least, are sincerely consistent in their professions: and such are always liable to "run amuck" and really denounce hypocrisy. We may understand, therefore, that the principle of strong and close organization is undoubtedly justified as a moral safeguard, as well as an effective engine for social and religious benefits to the people included in its "quorums."

In the matter of indulgence in alcoholic drinks, which all agree is undesirable, and all are allowed to condemn seriously, except Mormons, the following from a seasoned traveler and keen observer is significant:

"The Mormons drunken! Now what, for instance, can be the conclusion of any honest thinker from this fact that though I mixed constantly with Mormons, all of them anxious to show me every hospitality and courtesy, I was never at any time asked to take a glass of strong drink? If I wanted a horse to ride or to drive I had a choice at once offered me. If I wanted someone to go with me to some point of interest, his time was mine. Yet it never occurred to them to show a courtesy by suggesting a drink.'

Then, seriously, how can any one have respect for the literature or the men who, without knowing anything of the lives of Mormons, stigmatize them as profane, adulterous, and drunken? As a community I know them, from personal advantages of observation such as no non-Mormon writer has ever previously possessed, to be at any rate exceptionally careful in maintaining the appearance of piety and sobriety; and I leave it to my readers to judge whether such solid hypocrisy as this, that tries to abolish all swearing and all strong drink both by precept from the pulpit and example in the household, is not, after all, nearly as admirable as the real thing itself.

"This, at all events, is beyond doubt that the Mormons have al

ways struggled hard to prevent the sale of liquors in Salt Lake City, except under strict regulations and supervision. But the fight has gone against them. The courts uphold the right of publicans to sell when and what they choose; and the Mormons, who could at one time boast — and visitors without number have borne evidence to the fact that a drunkard was never to be seen, an oath never to be heard, in the streets of their city, have now to confess that, thanks to the example of Gentiles, they have both drunkards and profane men among them. But the general attitude of the Church toward these delinquents, and the sorrow that their weakness causes in the family circle, are in themselves proofs of the sincerity in sobriety which distinguishes the Mormons. Nor is it any secret that if the Mormons had the power they would to-morrow close all the saloons and bars, except those under Church regulation, and then, they say, 'we might hope to see the old days back when we never thought of locking our doors at night, and when our wives and girls, let them be out ever so late, needed no escort in the streets.'"- Phil Robinson (Sinners and Saints, pp. 239-240).

At another page, Mr. Robinson gives figures to bolster up such contentions as are made above. Speaking of the results of a canvass made in the year of his visit to Utah (1882), he says:

"Last winter there was a census taken of the Utah Penitentiary and the Salt Lake City and county prisons with the following result: - In Salt Lake City there are about 75 Mormons to 25 non-Mormons: in Salt Lake County there are about 80 Mormons to 20 non-Mormons. Yet in the city prison there were 29 convicts, all non-Mormons; in the county prison there were 6 convicts, all non-Mormons. The jailer stated that the county convicts for the five years past were all anti-Mormons except three!

"In Utah the proportion of Mormons to all others is as 83 to 17. In the Utah Penitentiary at the date of the census there were 51 prisoners, only 5 of whom were Mormons, and 2 of the 5 were in prison for polygamy, so that the 17 per cent. 'outsiders' had 46 convicts in the penitentiary, while the 83 per cent. Mormons had but 5!

"Out of the 200 saloon, billiard, bowling alley and pool-table keepers not over a dozen even profess to be Mormons. All of the bagnios and other disreputable concerns in the territory are run and sustained by nonMormons. Ninety-eight per cent. of the gamblers in Utah are of the same element. Ninety-five per cent. of the Utah lawyers are Gentiles, and 98 per cent. of all the litigation there is of outside growth and promotion. Of the 250 towns and villages in Utah, over 200 have no gaudy sepulchre of departed virtue,' and these two hundred and odd towns are almost exclusively Mormon in population. Of the suicides committed in Utah ninety odd per cent. are non-Mormon, and of the Utah homicides and infanticides over 80 per cent. are perpetrated by the 17 per cent. of 'outsiders.'-Ibid., p. 72.

Mr. Robinson's testimony is quotable; first, because he was a careful and unprejudiced observer, as keen to notice the defects of Mormon character as its excellencies this anyone may understand from reading his book; second, because he quotes correctly figures gathered authoritatively, and to be found in other printed records of the times. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that the Mormon professions of opposition to the traffic in intoxicants is perfectly sincere, the consequences, as

noted by Robinson, are precisely those one would expect to find. Beyond doubt, the greater proportion of crimes flows from indulgence in alcohol, which degrades the physical system and weakens the sense of right and wrong, along with the strength of will to resist temptation. It is also a well recognized fact that the initial step in the path of drunkenness, and eventual ruin and disgrace, is to be traced to bad influences in youth, or to no effective influences at all. If, therefore, one is brought up in an atmosphere in which moral influences repel, rather than excite respect, and allow the notion to grow in the mind that carelessness in speech and act, and indulgence, to any extent in forbidden pastimes, is either "manly" or "smart," the fault is quite as certainly to be found in the method of presenting moral teachings, as in the native depravity of the delinquent himself. If, on the other hand, one is reared and educated in a society, in which he is brought into constant association with men who make a public boast that they eschew all the vices, against which youth are warned, and lead such lives as excite respect and emulation, instead of half-hearted and womanish attitudes toward the world, the result cannot fail to keep a large percentage of young men in the strait way, until they are old enough, at least, to be wicked clandestinely, as we are informed. This is, in brief, the antithesis between the impracticable, other-worldly attitude of current influences, and the well-organized, practical, "thisworld" attitude, as embodied in the Mormon Church.

So far as concerns the influence of this organization on the moral of its young men, the record of the Deseret Gymnasium, in Salt Lake City, is significant. Of 1,100 applicants for admission, examined in three years, the physical director, William R. Day, reports a clean record so far as any evidence of personal immoralities are concerned. The attitude of the people toward the liquor traffic is even more satisfactory. The table on following page shows the number of liquor saloons in the regularly organized stakes of the Church, during two record years. As is explained in place, a stake is a section of territory, either in the country or in a city, analogous to the diocese or see of a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. As such, it is merely an ecclesiastical jurisdiction, without reference to the religious or racial affiliations of the inhabitants included in its confines. Thus, there are four stakes in the city limits of Salt Lake City, which, at the present time, are known as the Salt Lake, Ensign, Liberty, and Pioneer stakes. As in this city in 1910, the Mormons numbered about 40,000 out of a total population of about 93,000, they cannot be blamed either for the existence of all the 130 saloons, nor for the failure to close them. The figures