SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS IN UTAH. 483 



alone are in natural social conditions, men and women being about 

 equal in numbers; while of the Orthodox there are probably five 

 females to four males. It is of course impossible to be numerically 

 exact ; but my observations in all the towns of the Territory, and in 

 the mining-camps (Gentile), convince me that the following exhibit is 

 very near the exact truth: 



Orthodox Saints males 27,000, females 33,000 



" Hickory Mormons " " 15,000, " 15,000 



Gentiles " 12,000, " 3,000 



Total , " 54,000 " 51,000 



Male excess 3,000 



The census of 1870 showed a male excess of 2,056, but the great 

 Gentile increase since that time will make it 3,000, if not more. The 

 above table includes all ages. 



Observe how unequal are the social conditions. In a purely Mor- 

 mon town there is often an evident surplus of women of a marriage- 

 able age. In a mining town, such as Alta, Bingham, or Ophir, there 

 is a distressing scarcity. In one such town of my acquaintance w T ith 

 1,000 inhabitants there are barely children enough for a small school, 

 and not women enough to form a sewing-circle ! Throughout the 

 Territory the mining towns (Gentile) are some distance up in the 

 mountains, while all the agricultural settlements (Mormon) are neces- 

 sarily in the valleys. Seeing that human nature is what it is, whether 

 the grand passion be regarded from the moral or merely physical 

 standpoint, one might conclude that the mountaineers would descend 

 upon the valley towns and repeat in more modern style the epic of 

 unwived Rome and the Sabines. This has been prevented by the 

 lack of social intercourse between the two classes, and still more by 

 the vast differences in their education, and habits of life and thought. 

 As time softens their prejudices, marriages "across the religion," as 

 our local phrase has it, are becoming more frequent. 



I have laid down certain general principles from which we might, 

 reasoning deductively, expect certain results ; my observation fully 

 confirms those results. I do not know of a man whose condition has 

 been improved by polygamy, while I could name a score it has reduced 

 to poverty. I cite a few cases within my knowledge, giving no names, 

 but assuring the reader that they are well known to all old residents 

 of Utah : 



A has five wives, children by all, and a civil position which gives 

 him $200 per month. In a monogamous community a permanent 

 position of that kind would enable a man of business ability to accumu- 

 late wealth. To A with his five wives it is only what $40 per month 

 would be to a monogamist. Despite the great advance in the value 

 of his real estate, he is to-day on the verge of bankruptcy, and unable 

 to properly care for his families. 



