THE MORMON PROBLEM. 79 



one of the finest mills in this country ; not as large as some in 

 Fall River, but a large mill ; and he came on to buy a hundred 

 thousand dollars' worth of machinery. His credit is good for 

 any amount he wants to buy. But when you touch him on the 

 subject of religion, he is as sensitive as we would be ; he 

 believes in his religion as firmly as you and I do in ours. But 

 while we say and feel that such Mormons as he are wrong in 

 their belief, they are entitled to kind and careful consideration. 

 I have not touched upon many aspects of the Mormon prob- 

 lem that I ordinarily touch upon in my lectures. I have simply 

 referred to those subjects which I think important, and which 

 are worthy of the attention of the members of the Board of 

 Agriculture — the subject of physical geography, the relatione 

 of different parts of our country to each other, and the organ- 

 ization of labor. But in addition to these, there are very 

 many other things which need to be considered by all our peo- 

 ple, and by the legislators of our people, who are dealing with 

 this Mormon problem. They have been misunderstood and 

 belied beyond measure. I have been indignant to hear the 

 talk of men who have been to Salt Lake City a day or two, 

 perhaps, and listened to the stories told around the hotels and 

 stables about those men, stories that I knew were false from 

 beginning to end. Such stories are related and passed on from 

 paper to paper. But these people, who have been so abused, 

 are doing a good work, so far as industry is concerned. They 

 need to reform in regard to their social system. Polygamy 

 ought not to be tolerated in our land. Let it be blotted out. 

 But still, when you have said this, there are many things that 

 can be said in favor of the Mormons, and many things which 

 you can study to advantage among them. 



SECOND DAY. 



Wednesday, November 22. 



The meeting was called to order at 9£ o'clock, by Dr. Dur- 

 fee, who called upon Hon. Richard Goodman, of Lenox, to 

 preside for the day. 



Mr. Goodman introduced as the first speaker, Dr. James R. 

 Nichols, who delivered a lecture on 



