WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
chastity in the unmarried was punishable by a term of ten years in full, or six months at the least. Keepers of immoral houses were subject to a year's imprisonment, and sometimes to a heavy fine also. Publishers of improper literature could be fined four hundred dollars. Three years in gaol was the minimum term for adultery, and twenty years the maximum.
Sir Richard Burton[1] closely investigated Mormon morals during his stay in Utah. He states that the attacks of Mr. Ferris and others upon the community are mainly unmerited and usually false. The "perpetual storm," in which "plurality-families" are said to live, is denied by Burton, who says, "I believe that many a 'happy English home' is far stormier, despite the holy presence of monogamy."
The children of Salt Lake City struck Sir Richard Burton as clean, healthy, well-cared-for and intelligent. Girls marry usually at about the age of sixteen, fifteen years earlier than the average marrying age in England.
Divorce is permitted to women for cruelty, desertion, or neglect on the part of the husband. Men in Utah rarely sue for divorce.
"The Mormons point triumphantly to the austere morals of their community, their superior freedom from
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