Show Mandates l of the ecclesiastical courts must be obeyed and accepted under penalty of oC excommunication which means a denial of all the cl church social ostracIsm withdrawal withdrawal with with- of patronage and support of oC the Mormon people Is the way that the Utah commis commission lon speaks Of f conditions In iii its ils report to the secretary of the interior for the year 1887 the report says ays that the Mormon church teaches it Its members members' not to enter the territorIal terri tern tonal courts to settle their difficulties and to thIs end it has provided provided pro pro- vided a system of courts within the church These ecclesiastical courts are described and detailed in the report of the tho commission as follows First there is a ward Court known or designated as a bishops bishop's court consisting of the bishop and his two counselors and they are empowered em- em powered to try all mInor cases arising among the people both ofa of ofa 1 a temporal and spiritual nature and to sit in judgment upon trans trans- For 1101 a long period they assumed jurisdIction of questions of marital separation and divorce but says the commissIon wo we are not advised as to whether jurisdiction is still exercised From this court an appeal goes to the stake court courtl consisting of the president of oC the stake and his two counselors and this court also has original jurisdIction The court of last resort possessing appellate orIginal and exclusive jurisdiction Is the first presIdency or the apostles apos- apos tIes quorum as the case may be Payment of tithing and other donations for the support of oC the is urged as a religIous duty says the commIssion and then it quotes from John Taylor a statement made by him in conference confer confer- ence which was You want to pay YOur tithing honestly and squarely or you will find yourselves outside the pale of oC the church of the living God 5 As Asto to to the amount collected from Crom the people at that date the commission corn com mission says The amount which is collected from the people for tithing exceeds eds half a million dol- dol mars lars annually In 1870 continues the report the amount was and in 1880 OO At the October conference of 1880 it was announced that the uncompleted ManU Manti and Logan temples had cost to date respectively and rho rhe amount received for temple building It will vilI therefore therefore there there- fore be seeh is very large The Th building of oC the Salt Lake temple the report was commenced September 6 6 1853 and will not be be finished for years to come It has cost millIons of dol- dol dollars lars It was completed and dedIcated dedicated dedI- dedI on April 6 1893 eighteen beI being g to complete the dedi- dedi catlOn cation Commenting upon the financial affairs of oC the church the report says The church has become quite wealthy In 1880 John Taylor stated that the church held of the paid up capital stock of oC Zions Zion's Cooperative MercantIle Institution which pays large dIvidends I and which was organized by Brigham Brigham Brig Brig- ham Young for the purpose of depriving de- de non non- non Mormons of oC Mormon patronage It owns owns or did own the Deseret telegraph system the Zions Zion's Savings bank the Deseret Evening News the Deseret paper mill a church farm south of oC Salt Lake City of over 1300 acres street stock in the Deseret and other national banks railroad shares and bonds and a large amount of real estate In Salt Lake city and elsewhere of great value The heads of oC the church teach and impress upon the people to be united and submissive in their political action to the will of the leaders of the church This is shown by an utterance of President President dent John Taylor at a general conference conference con con- ference of the church He said Ve lay aside our covetousness cOvetousness cOvetous cOvetous- ness and Our pride and Our ideas that are wrong and be unIted in lour our polItical affairs In our tern tem affairs under the direction of oC the holy priesthood and act as It a mIghty phalanx phalanx under God n carrying out Ills HIs particular purposes pur- pur purposes poses here on earth One great dream of oC the Latter Latter- day Saints was the dream of empire empire em- em pire whIch they hoped to found I and this which has cheered them with Its pleasing sing illusions ot of future power they teach and preach continues the report and apparently apparently believe that portion of the country in which they now reside was set apart tp become the abIding place of the saints where Is to be erected the kingdom of oC God upon earth Their mIssIonaries preach that God has commanded his people peo- peo pIe to gath gather r to the mountains to the Zion of oC the L Lord rd to receive theIr inheritance at the hands of oC His servants |