MORMON AGGRESSION IN CHICAGO.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 6, 8 January 1908, Page 2

MORMON AGGRESSION IN CHICAGO.

Mormonism, according to the TriImne, is spreading rapidly in Chicago. Within the last three years, or since the church was established in its permanent home vat Paulina and We,st Monroe Streets, its active member r ship has increased 50 per cent. This increase, great as it is, does not represent the growing strength of the church, for the reason that many hundreds and even thousands of those who listen to the Mormon teaching willingly accept some, if not all, of the dottrines of the church- To openly announce conversion to the ■belief s of the church involves the risk ostracism by former friends and neighbours, and for that reason the majority of those who lean to the 'teachings of the Mormon* elders and missionaries prefer to have their change of religious sentiment remain a secret until they can move into a new community or perhaps to Utah. The Mormons in Chicago carry on a continual and aggressive campaign of education. Their elders and missionaries never are idle, and as a concrete result of their activities it may be pointed out that 431 copies <A the Book of Mormon were sold from the Chicago mission during the month of June of last year. It is safe to say that no church or denomination in the State, Protestant or Catholic, Baw so many new Bibles disributed among its members in the «ame length of time. Within the last two years the Chicago mission of the Mormon church has sold 47,000 copies of the Book of Mormon. The book is printed on expensive paper, and contains 640 pages of reading matter. Besides these books, there lave been sold 70,000 other books treating of Mormonism. More than a million booklets, averaging 32 pages each, and twice that number pi pamphlets and tracts have been t . V■• In the same length of time 41j87© Chicago families ttaye been visited liy the Mormon missionaries, and of these 6733 families wore revisited. The missionaries spent *22,434 hours in street preaching and gospel conversation, and as a result of this they had 53,000 earnest inquiries about the -church and their work. In the Chi" *Cago church there were 162 meetings last year, and several hundred chQ•dren were baptised into the faith. All of these figures were supplied by the Mormon elder in Chicago, ana may be accepted, therefore, as an accurate statistical extent of Mormonism in that city. The Mormons, to the average mind, .are indelibly associated with polygamy, and the first questions asked 4>f them always are with reference to this subject, and the astonishing fact is that the Mormons of Chicago, like the Mormons of Utah, believe in polygamy. They do not practice it, and they do not preach it, but they -do believe in it, and they always are ready to defend their polygamous beiiefs with arguments. The Mormon elders in Chicago naively will remind.you, if you ask Mm what he thinks' of polygamy, that the civil war failed to stamp out the -belief in slavery from a large number of Southern minds and the thousands of Southern people believe yet -that theirs was the right and just «ause. G. E. Ellsworth, a Mormon «lder, argued for more than an hour with the representative of the Sunday Tribune, trying to convince him that polygamy ha dno end of economic and physiological advantages over Christian marriage idea, and he would have/been arguing yet if there hadn't been the necessity for haste <m the part of the reporter. In their church or street < meetings the Mormon elders and missionaries make no reference to polygamy, and it is only when those ideas are attacked that they will defend them. Always they prefer to waive the topic ■ Aside. They.tell those who. ask them *btfat it that polygamy is a dead issue; that the United States Government has passed laws against it and that there-^ j fore, it mu^%.*B r «v ( il. They' never i «y it is ah efjl.,, £.fyrays they s leave it to their audience to infer that the | United States-Gov«rmneDt would Jfcot! against practices that were *vfl,<, And if ,y<>tt;iwfc,sh<BA *fcgut, the president? iDfrtlwSk' church u+x&st\ with -fiveHwivesL.jUH&ty they will tell jou tHfj'W *»»«'» hm^Y jpf 1"S» ?*«*• ly sons jfehaitV^uta'do credit, to, any -country; ,aiid M ftjs, eons j» proud «Jmm,', Ai t -l«iMft i i;h#t;l areporter,-. - wttgkt4 enlignteri- ! menton the subject. r \ The Mormons, ' are thorough and, painstaking in their campaign of edu- i nation. Their missionaries, for the most part, are young, well educated j men. They begin jbheir street f meet- j ings in the evening, and a group of] -three or four of\them may be seen at- j most any evening along the curb j stones of South Clark Street or on | the north side- ; They attract their audience by song, for they are good ssingers. Their voices ring out on the evening air, and the public, ever -curious, ever willing to listen to a new«fakerj everi willing to be fooled, stops, pauses, and listens. The Mormons use great care m their selection of street talkers. For the most part only young men are used for this purpose. They know that young men are more forceful, and that you^h,,ever pleasing, is^pi to prove more convincing.! The Mormon missionaries preach equality. That suits the persons who gather in the street crowds. Theirs is not a long, loud harangue, ending with a plea for pennies., They do not want help. Rather they want to help those who listen to them. When they -offer prayer it is a short, simple recital, rather than a noisy, senseless 'imprecation.- They ask for strength and truth and divine guidance, and they ask it in- a soft, soothing voice that impresses with its simple earnestness. Theirs is not the loud "God bless this and God bless that" of the average street preacher,. These young Mormons of the Chicago mission' are great actors. They study the moods of their -changing audiences as do the great-expon-' .. of the stage art. They observe the people and study them. A movement of restlessness on the part --of a man in the audience is a signal •for a change of orators, and the man -who steps fresh from the group to <fcake the place of the speaker imine-

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iately conquers the impatient man and holds his attention with perhaps the same argument presented from a different viewpoint. The result of this is that men and women go ,away thinking about religion,, and there is nothing'so enduring as religion oocq it is* succesf ully started. '\ \ The \3VJormon missioharies and .preachers receive^ no i>ay s for th^fc; work. As a matter of fact l ,they support not only themselves, but aid 'in. the support of the church as well. Thi£ tracts and pamphlets which they distribute are purchased at their own f?> pense. In Utah the young Mormon men, as soon as they leave school, begin to save in the hope that they may become missionaries. The missionary period is of two or three years' dura^ tibn, and in that time the young man devotes all his efforts to the dissemination of Mormon teachings. In their churches no collections are taken, .and what expense is involved is paid, by .the elder. ■■' ■'■■-■■ ;v- 'v - -;-" ;r- • In Chicago the Mormons own their cuurch, *aiid, as there are no salaries, the only expense is in heating and lighting the structure. Mr Ellswdrth, who is the elder here, has propetty interests in Utah from which he deVives an income sufficient to support himself and his family. The Mormons support their church by what they call their law of tithing. This consists of giving onetenth of their income to the support [of; the church. This is a matter of conscience, however, and is not required by church law. One day in every 30 is fast day for the Mormons, and the savings of this fast day are given to the poor. Once a month the Chicago Mormons, like those of Utah, eat no food nor drink any water. This they, claim, improves the health and creates a snug fund for charity into the bargain. Mr Elsworth estimates that probably 200dols is distributed among the Chicago; poor every month as a result of the Mofmon fast day* i The Mormon faith is based'on the revelation which Joseph Smith, founder of the church, claimed to have seen when he was a young man. This revelation in what bothers those who become interested in Mormon teachings. They cannot get it through their heads that God came down out of the 1 heavens to talk to Smith, as he claimed, and no amount of preaching, even by trained young missionaries, will convince them that it is true. 1 When the young fellow was preaching in Clark Street a man in the crowd asked him where the Church started, and on what 7it was based. i The missionary told him about Smith's [vision, whereat the questioner asked 'sarcastically what brand of dope < the original-Mormon was in the habit of smoking. After the laugh subsided, the missionary told him all about Smith and his dream, but the man was not convinced. He shuffled away muttering; something about "bunk." It doesn't do any good to make fun of the Mormons or fo ridicule their beliefs. . That seems to, encourage them more^than anything else. o Had not Joseph Smith been mobbed and stoned, and finally shot to death in the Carthage gaol, it is probable that not so many present-day L Mormons would regard him as a true prophet. Td ridicule or berate., them only makes them look" more upon' themselves as martyrs to a just cause, and Elder Ellsworth says' tfiat the Christian Church Bhows its hypocrisy in no' way quite so much as it does in' refusing fellowship with- the Mormons. THe Christian Church does, this, he says, in direct violation of one ortTie first laws of the Bible.