WOMEN OF MORMONDOM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7782, 30 October 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

WOMEN OF MORMONDOM.

A WIPE'S HEART STORY TOLD BY ONE OP THE FAITH.

Sitter experience of polygamy - WMTiTO Iron Ml Lake City, M dera»te September 8, a correspondent Bays Let no jenon for a moment think that the fonr old Mormon women recently in Washington SKS2L the majority of the women of wiK ll M " fr ? m lt ' There » not OQB Sie ™ if mD ? who has not. from inenfcE ? f ' - heard * boat the Governmeat a determination to suppress polygamy it mioM- 6 ? 0,t80U1 Wißhed * nd hoped that faith Si 1 0ae , ; ,° r this Principle in their fntnr T y> " ndß llke a spectre in the near fci ofer ? w L fe ' OUD B or old * nd aveQ th H^ d " ha PP iness haunted by inn!L ? « a L I PP antlon . which even in the to V / ? re4teßt J°y " always there, to rob her of her faith in her huaband'a constancy and affection. W , A ,woman of determined character, and Who has not muoh faith in the principle as a saving one for herself—though it may be good for her neighbour—is always on the watch, ready to fight it with all her strength ana. power. And these are often considerable, ■ "the comparatively great number of old men , o nave been Mormons and believers in polygamy for thirty years or more, and who fiave I* yet bafc one wife, will show. Such a wife hat had to fight hard and continuously ; out she has oome out of the battle victorious --80 far at least that she has not yet, at the uawn of a better day for the Mormon wife, seen her husband break her restraining power by Hashing into the hateful practice. *HB weak WOMAN DRIVEN TO the wall. Some women will, as above stated, fight polygamy, while others, with a bursting heart, give their consent to it, because they feel they have not the strength to resist the pressure which is brought to bear upon them, and because they, in a vague way, believe it to be right. They have from thence to grapple with the spectre in the tangible form of a woman younger and fresher than themselves, and who generally enters into the combat with all the zest and assurance of a favourite. If the wife complains she is ill-tempered, and if she makes trouble, annoys the husband, or disturbs him 100 much in his new-made happiness, she is Wicked and will surely go to destruction, while the polygamous wife, who has never known What, it is to give up the exclusive right to a husband's company, confidence, and affection, is such a good and lovable woman that in her company he can alone find rest for bis troubled soul. He is, therefore, of course, entirely justified in seeking this company and in withdrawing from the wife—for how can he end living with a devil ? In this manner, then, the fractious wife is chastised. Oh ! the 'Mormons wield a cruel power 1 It would bo but mercy as well as justice to deprive th em of it. At this stage of the soulsaving principle the wife, if she does not repent and become a good girl by being satisfied w'.th the attention the husband can find time and permission to bestow upon her, is little by little entirely pushed to the wall, and becomes a cast-off or discarded wife, is for goo d given over to the devil, and loses her exaltation both in this life and in the life to cc.me, Some poor souls on reaching this s'tage find no more strength in them to fight sor their rights, so they give up in despair j 'and settle down to a living death. j Other wives again, through policy, and for their children's sake, become good girls, and jog along in misery as best they can. But wh en the lord after some time—shorter or longer— becomes somewhat cooled off in his affection for the "second," or perhaps sees another woman who strikes his fancy, he at once feels the necessity of his still iter exaltation in both worlds, and becomes a " three-ply." Now comes the time for the Wife to obtain a little satisfaction for all her Buffering. She feels, she knows, it is now the "second's" turn to drink that cup of bitterness which she has had to drain. And although in most cases the new establishment Will necessitate a retrenchment in her few comfo.vta, and she also keenly feels this new intruiion upon her rights, still she makes hardiy any opposition this time, well knowing from experience that she has no power to hinder it. In many instances the wife will even, in a measure, take kindly to the "third" Inured as she now is to this kind of treatment and to the suppression of her wifely feelings— will often share her home with her if poverty demands it. By this she will also secure to herself more of her husband's society, though well knowing she only secures it through the last acquisition. But she has the satisfaction of knowing that the second now feels all the agony she has felt. Poor soul, she is but human, and the ordeal of fire she has had to go through has not been the means of purifying the dross from off the gold of her sorely-tried soul. And what human being shall sit in judgment upon her ? Has she not done her best in her undignified and difficult position!'

SILLY WOMEN WHO SCFFEB NOWHERE,

. Some women of lighter natures and with nttle or no love for their husbands are more fortunate, especially if the hnaband is well off and can satisfy them with the pleasing things of this world. Young girls of fifteen or sixteen years of age will, on accoant of polygamy, marry into polygamy and bind tnemaelreo to old men of sixty or seventy years, wb.o perhaps already have five or six wives. In that way they fortify their feelngß against suffering, as they cannot love these men as husbands. Such a young girl B"d to the writer that she thought she had done very wisely in marrying such an old man., "because you know," said she, "if I n*a married a young man whom I could love 1 would not have been happy long anyhow, for De would soon have had to go into polygamy, «Jd then I would only fee! so much the worse S * , don 6 ? re '" This girl's husband, though he was old, was rich, and had already given her so many fine things that she seemed quite delighted with heir bargain. Ihea there »re again some women who, When their husbands enter into polygamy lose their rights as wives, and become hencelortb nothing more than mere women, even whe-ahe takes the "second" home to live wit his first wife. This is adding cruelty to insult But the writer knows of several eiion families. In one of these the husband ceased living with his wife from the very dav ie brought the plural wife home to her. ■J-iie wife was allowed to keep her place at the table and to attend to the household affairs, bat her rights as wife and the confi. tience of her husband were entirely withdrawn. This was exceptionally hard in this particular case, for, to use her own words, She said: "I cannot tell yon how I have loved that man. For his sake I left my ""•tivea, country, and everything that was uarar to me, and have gone through untold troubles and hardships here." But she Durer expostulated with him. She was too proud and too deeply hurt. She was an exoeUent woman, and worked hard to build op her husband's temporal affairs—as he was » poor man-and did all B he could for the pomfors of him and his plural families— two in number— in the same house. All this ■he could do, because she was truly religious, hari'jg become converted before she became a A/.ormon ; and she sincerely believed that pol ygamy was commanded by God. Besides, «J e was a woman of character, and in the possession of great energy and a strong will to do what she thought to be right. But tnere *■ not one such woman in a thousand an polygamous Utah. They are all, more or less, of common clay, and above all, they tave not spiritual strength to support them, though many are, in a certain way, religious, and try sincerely to do what they think is ngut. And they are as good and upright 88 you can find anywhere in the

SHE DIED OF A BROKEN HEART. But * great many die from broken hearts. Ihs L r dayß , 6ince such a poor soul left this, to her cruel world. She was the wife «nd maa who faas several polygamous wives, ana who is now serving a term in the Penitentiary for unlawful cohabitation. He was under indictment when she lay on her deathi«f J.- ha , Tin i uat brought another child into si 118 COd world. She called him to her wnnU o £ nd il egged that he in the future would obey the law. She asked him to wmember how happy they had been in the first years of their married life. They were KJR, ? n ' v° be aure and Bhe had had leather of his old boots to make shoes for their little children, but how happy »d contented she was then She spoke to hi? h*iJ U °thr gent v,' 10 , v r in « wa y tba he tore calW £ w w kimself on the floor, and Jeili " mself a . b .™ te and 4 beast, who dethat ha Rf n 'u ent i and promised her fcb£ he would ° bey the law. She -begged -4.° heTchSS . 0 - ah ° nld have to die wife am? children to live with the second we, and, throwing her arms around his JHe Lft L""t 1 1,1 love you 8tU1 » John!" ° «° to hia trial - Ijater the , ?" me into her room and told '.Her, triumphantly, that he had promised her

(the second) that he would not obey the law. ihe elders also came in and prayed for him, Br .. j *n»ght have strength to resist the United States law, and to become a martyr tor hi# faith. Of course all this was too much for her, in her critioal condition, and without another itruggle she silently passed away from this wicked world and all her troubles, Her aching heart at last found rest. At the funeral there were, of course, vehicles for the conveyance of the plurai wives and their families, but for the dead wife's children no fluoh thing was thought necessary, and the chief mourners had to find themselves places with the neighbours and friends as best they could. SOME OLD WOMEN BECOME PANDERKRS,

Now we come to yet another kind of women iD Mormondom, especially among the plural wives. These, when they become old and lose their attractions in the eyes of their husbands, manage to keep their positions, and in a measure their influence over their lords, by becoming their helpmates in securing other and jounger "wires." By so doing they become apostles and champions of polygamy. It is so nice, you know, when they have no more hope of keeping their positions as wives, to become in their old age pillars of the Church by upholding and preaching polygamy and driving their younger sisters into the practice through which they have themselves emerged, like dry sticks, void of all sympathy for their own sex. They feel that inasmuch as they have had to endure the misery of polygamy, it is but fair that others should also go through j the same misery. For the smarter individuals of these apostles then commences an especially good time. They are present here and there and everywhere, to show the world what a happy lot theirs is. How | satisfied they feel in this peculiar system, and what liars some people are who say that the women of Mormondom are sad and downtrodden I They come to the front and say to the world, " Look at us! We are women in polygamy! There is no sadness about us ; we are emancipated and not in thraldom, as some people will have you believe. Are we not honoured ? Do you not see that our Church send us as its delegates even to this great capital of yours ? What greater honour can you bestow on your women?" The world looks on and says, "Oh, it is all nonsense, this cry over the Mormons and polygamy. Let them alone. If the women are satisfied what more do you want? May be their system is better than ours, for all we can tell "