Opening the text

The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and ChildrenWaite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)

History

The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and Children

Name: The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and Children
Author: Waite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)

Waite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)

Latter Day Saint churches; Young, Brigham, 1801-1877

The poor in Utah suffer severely from this exaction. You may see
families barefooted, women and children nearly naked, destitute of even
the necessaries of life, the husband making every effort to meet the day
of tithing, fearful of losing his soul's salvation should he fail. Cases
of extreme destitution have not been, in former years, comparatively
numerous; but as the rich become richer and the poor poorer, by the
operation of this system, these cases become more marked and frequent,
and already a rumbling of discontent is heard among the masses, which
occasionally reaches the throne, and which will soon break forth in loud
peals of thunder, demanding justice for a long oppressed and outraged
people.

Again, there is a standing tithing-price which must be paid for flour
and other necessaries, by those who are engaged upon the public works,
or who are obliged to work for their richer brethren. These always pay
their laborers in produce at tithing-prices. But these prices are
usually far beyond the cash value of the same article in the market. In
1862-63, the tithing-office price of flour was $6 per hundred. The wages
of workmen were nominally $2 per day. But if a poor saint worked for his
more affluent brother, as in most cases he was obliged to do, he
uniformly received his pay in flour at $6. It was not uncommon to see a
laboring man going home at night, with his sack of flour, the result of
his day's work, or of the labor of two or three days. At the same time
the market-price of flour did not exceed $3 per hundred. If the poor
man, who was obliged to take all his pay in flour, wished to purchase
some sugar or groceries for his family, he must exchange for the same
his flour, at half the price paid for it. Thus did the dignitaries of
the church "grind the face of the poor."

The masses were induced to submit to this state of things, by the
assurance that flour would rise to a price much greater than $6, and
when it should do so, the balance would be upon the other side, and the
poor would be the gainers, as they should never pay more than that sum.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and ChildrenWaite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)

History

The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and Children

Waite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)

Latter Day Saint churches; Young, Brigham, 1801-1877

The poor in Utah suffer severely from this exaction. You may see
families barefooted, women and children nearly naked, destitute of even
the necessaries of life, the husband making every effort to meet the day
of tithing, fearful of losing his soul's salvation should he fail. Cases
of extreme destitution have not been, in former years, comparatively
numerous; but as the rich become richer and the poor poorer, by the
operation of this system, these cases become more marked and frequent,
and already a rumbling of discontent is heard among the masses, which
occasionally reaches the throne, and which will soon break forth in loud
peals of thunder, demanding justice for a long oppressed and outraged
people.

Again, there is a standing tithing-price which must be paid for flour
and other necessaries, by those who are engaged upon the public works,
or who are obliged to work for their richer brethren. These always pay
their laborers in produce at tithing-prices. But these prices are
usually far beyond the cash value of the same article in the market. In
1862-63, the tithing-office price of flour was $6 per hundred. The wages
of workmen were nominally $2 per day. But if a poor saint worked for his
more affluent brother, as in most cases he was obliged to do, he
uniformly received his pay in flour at $6. It was not uncommon to see a
laboring man going home at night, with his sack of flour, the result of
his day's work, or of the labor of two or three days. At the same time
the market-price of flour did not exceed $3 per hundred. If the poor
man, who was obliged to take all his pay in flour, wished to purchase
some sugar or groceries for his family, he must exchange for the same
his flour, at half the price paid for it. Thus did the dignitaries of
the church "grind the face of the poor."

The masses were induced to submit to this state of things, by the
assurance that flour would rise to a price much greater than $6, and
when it should do so, the balance would be upon the other side, and the
poor would be the gainers, as they should never pay more than that sum.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and Children

The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and Children

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