Show A UTAH commissioners perversions A DISPATCH from fort wayne indiana ludi aua to the st louis globe democrat convoys conveys what purports to be an interview with col B R 8 robertson Bo berteon of the utah commission the newspaper interview is so often deceptive and misleading that little confidence confide uce can be placed I 1 in a it prominent persons are alleged to have said things which they never thought of sometimes they have not been bee a seen at all by the veracious reporter and at others their views are so incorrectly stated that the public are deluded when they place any dependence depend ance upon the report however in this 1 interview there are some remarks which were evidently made by the commissioner and we will therefore treat them as genuine he endeavors to throw cold water on the declaration published by president wilford woodruff aud and in a roundabout way attempts to meet the emphatic denial in that document of the asser tion in the commissioner report as to recent plural marria marriages marriage gm much of the interview as reported is wide of the mark and amounts to a very ungentlemanly and coarse insinuation concerning president woodruffs veracity As to that we are perfectly willing to have the reputation of the two individuals for truth and honesty compared and have no BO fears for the result so far as president woodruff is concerned we do not believe there Is an anti and mormon of any prominence in utah who believes that he would publish anything he be believed to tibe be untrue passing this by with the simple comment that such low reflections indicate the sort of person who cast them we reproduce some of the closing remarks of the commissioner as reported in the globe democrat 41 it has been shrewdly suggested to president woodruff concluded commissioner robertson bertson Ko that it would be exceedingly profitable for him to have another revelation declaring that the doctrine of polygamy should be no longer adhered to by the saints such a revelation would greatly assist his case and put him in the lighton light of one willing to abide by the law that seeks the extinction of the horrid crime of which he is the chief apologist but no rev lation has as yet been forth coming probably because without the institution of polygamy the mormon leaders might lose the power which make abject subjects out of thousands of ignorant and bigoted persons and the vast revenues of the church might then be expended in directions not calculated to the monstrous institution of which woodruff to Is the inspired head bead plural marriages are yet entered into be beyond 0 nd a doubt aad and the mormons cormons conten continue ue to ao hold their conferences and hurl defiance at the government and its 1 9 Y agents the suggestion which the commissioner mis eloner thinks is shrewd is neither original nor sensible athas it has been offered many times for several years it is an evidence of the thoughtless and flippant manner mander in which anti cormons mormons Mor mons attempt to regulate the creed of the latter day saints A quotation here from the new testament ought not to be considered out of place especially by persons who profess respect for christianity it is this for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of god as they th ey were moved by the holy ghost revelation whether it relates to the past present or future is not at the command of men if col robertson Ro berteon knows of any means whereby the almighty ean can be compelled to reveal something that will suit him and other persons who make this demand we would like him to use them without delay disbelievers have the right to reject anything purporting to be revelation that does not appeal to their reason or their faith but A they have not the right to expect a revelation to order nor to find fault because such an absurdity is not forthcoming on the other hand believers have the right to their convictions vict ions and to believe that which commends itself to their j judgment or evokes their faith they should be protected in that and not be subjected to the sneers and ribaldry comprehended in col gertsons ert sons 18 stale wit and cheap plagiarism gi gl arism when president woodruff receives anything from a divine source for the church over which he be presides he will be sure to deliver the message and there is no power on earth that can compel him to make a counterfeit or pretend to anything which to him is not as genuine as the pure light of heaven As to what would be profitable table in the sense which seems to appeal to the soul of col robertson we know and so do the whole body of latter day saints that teat such considerations have not ilot the slightest alight eat weight with our venerable president his whole life is proof of his disinterested mad and unselfish nature and motives and before he would put his name to anything untrue or descend to such misrepresentations as appear to be indulged in by some of the utah commission he would endure the bitterest pangs of poverty and drain the cup of adversity to the dregs five thousand or five h hundred u adrea thousand I 1 dollars a year would not tempt him to malign any people or and to retain a profitable position he would never pander for ap instant to the prejudices of the times the abject subjects which exist in the minds eye of colonel robertson or rather in the words of blo bin lips are not to be found foun delfie else where we will not accuse him of uttering anything original the words are but an echo but tibey they embody a falsehood it is one that suits his purpose and is likely to find and favor but it is utterly without foundation in fact whether he be knows it or not the commissioner is not acquainted with the people of utah or dr with their faith or condition he has hag been here he has been told the usual tales he has drawn his salary but he knows no more of the mor conall mons than if he had never seen a mori mormon non and is no more competent to discourse concerning them than of the dwellers in the anti r podes nodes the closing sentence of the re remarks we have quoted contains two positive falsehoods from the obloquy of uttering which we challenge col robertson to free himself if there are any plural plum marriages of recent date of which he is cognizant let him furnish the evidence marshals grand juries prosecuting attorneys and district courts are watching and waiting for such information if def lances of the government are being hurled at conferences they can be quoted and thus proof can be produced if he does not bring forward some cases of polygamy and some citations of defiance of me fhe government he be will stand accused of wilful falsehood we charge him with it here and now we say nothing of his motives we merely deny his words and demand that he produce his proofs it is by just such means as this cinter interview view that the country is 18 deceived in regard to the mormon question there are no words too strong that can be uttered in condemnation dem nation of such a course only politicians using the term in its lowest signification n hirelings of the pulpit and harpies of the press would be guilty of such proceedings when the tone of society is raised they will very soon disappear or be fc utterly condemned against the interested utterances of the utah commissioner we append the following follows this is from the sacramento record union tir president resident woodruff of the mormon church has issued an address in which he advises the church membership to obey the law and cease from pi plural ural marriage he denies warmly that since the affirmation of the constitutionality of the anti polygamy law by the supreme court he and his church have advocated plural marriage or defiance of the law we believe woodruff to be sincere in the advice he gives his followers he is wise enough to understand that it is useless to attempt to defy the united states of america and that submission only is left to the mormons cormons Mor mons he pre fers that it come with peace rather than with force and arms and this from the denver news sp president resident woodruff in the most solemn manner declares that the charges of the utah commission that forty plural marriages have been contracted since june last and that in public bublic discourse the leaders of the 8 hurch church have taught encouraged and urged the continuance of polygamy is false we are not teaching polygamy or plural In marriage arriage he says nor permitting any person to enter into its practice if they were and if such marri marriages aps were solemnized the law makes it the duty of the officers of the united states to arrest and bring such parties to trial and if found guilty to punish them A declaration of innocence cen on the part of the president dept of the church is is sufficient until the contrary is established the burden of proof roof is on the government if the ate totter r cannot establish its charges they must fall to the ground no party can be adjudged guilty until after a air and impartial trial |