Alexandria Gazette

MORMON POLYGAMY.—A witness before a Congressional committee on Wednesday, testified as follows:

This (exhibiting another paper to the committee) is a legacy return, the first ever made in that Territory. There is a list of forty-one names, the children of Heber C. Kimball; he had fifty-four children in all, but thirteen died.

I have taken the strong physiological ground—though Young says I "lie like hell"—that the Almighty himself has provided for the drowning out of polygamy though the operation of natural laws. I base the opinion on the fact that out of every hundred children born in polygamy seventy-five are males. I have the statistics of two hundred and fifty-seven families—names picked up here and there, not selected with any reference to this question—and in these two hundred and fifty seven families eighty three out of each hundred of the children are males.

The day before I left, David Cannland, chief clerk of the Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution, told me that he had fifteen little boys under eleven years of age, and six daughters.

The following interesting statements were made by another witness in answer to questions:

"I am quite confident that not over one-sixth of the adult male population of Utah are polygamists. Of course more women are polygamists, practically, than men. Some large estimates are made as to the number of polygamists; but as the numbers of the sexes are equal in Utah, it is manifestly impossible for everybody to have more than one wife. About one-half the population not practically polygamists are in sympathy with it. I think that the entire population of the Territory is from ninety to one hundred thousand. Nearly three thousand of these are Gentiles. If this bill be enforced the Mormons would go to Arizona. It may not be generally known but it is a fact, that the Mormons now own an entire county in Arizona."