A CRITICAL TIME FOR THE SAINTS, Part 2 of Chapter 5 of The Church & The Gospe

 A CRITICAL TIME FOR THE SAINTS, Part 2 of Chapter 5 of The Church and The Gospel 

Pages 58 to 65

 President Taylor’s statement that “many of the Saints would apostatize because of this principle” came to pass just a year later. On June 30, 1887, a convention was held for the purpose of creating a constitution in the event Utah became a state. Although not the first effort in this direction, it was significant because of the willingness of the Mormons themselves to forbid polygamy and punish those who lived it.

Orson F. Whitney said that “The movement was especially notable from the fact that it was proposed by the Mormons—the Gentiles refusing to take any part in the proceedings.” (History of Utah 3:583) The convention continued for a week, until July 7th. As a result, a constitution was framed and adopted, including the following provision:

Section 12 (of Article XV). Bigamy and polygamy being considered incompatible with a republican form of government, each of them is hereby forbidden and declared a misdemeanor. Any person who shall violate this section shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, and by imprisonment for a term of not less than six months, nor more than three years, in the discretion of the court. (History of Utah, Whitney, 3:584)

The election occurred on Monday, the 1st of August [1887]. The count of the votes cast showed the following result:

For the Constitution..  13,195

Against the Constitution..   502

(Ibid., p. 585)

The Saints had spoken! John Taylor’s prophecy was already being fulfilled. The vote demonstrated a ratio of 27 to 1 against plural marriage. The Saints had reversed their position in 35 years.