| Show I PRESTI GEOQCANNON ills Talk With a St Louis Glole Democrat lau TH SITUATION AS H SEESIT The Attitude of the Church In Regard to Polygamy The Infamous Idaho Test Oath WASHINGTON Feb 9Special to the St Louis GlobeDemocrat Mr George Q Cannon first counselor to the president and one of the highest dignitaries of the Mormon church talked freely and interestingly interest-ingly today about the decision I is very sweeping in its conclusions be said and gives the framers of the Idaho test oath all they ask for their proposition to disfranchise our people There is one point however which the court ignored Evidence was presented when the case was tried to show that this man who took the oath and voted was not a polygamist It was further set forth by testimony that the Mormon church is not at J the present time teaching or encouraging polygamy Bishop Budge of Idaho testi fed clearly on that But his evidence was not given any consideration in the lower court The fact that the church had in the i past taught and abetted polygamy was taken as sufficient In the supreme courts decision the present attitude of the church I upon the subject is ignored although counsel coun-sel were careful t emphasize it in the argument ¬ ar-gument The supreme court in it decision de-cision assumed it as established that Mormonism Mor-monism today means polygamy and on that wrong premise declares that Mormons Mor-mons can be disfranchised What will your people do about it I I dont know what we can do Why doesnt the head of your church the first presidency and the twelve apostles issue an official declaration upon the subject Why dont you say as a church that polygamy is no longer taught and is not encouraged by the church Wouldnt that meet the decision of the supreme court and enable your people to C take the test oath hJ Some think it would and advise such a step be taken But a declaration of that kind is open to objections We have already al-ready declared and shown our intention to obey the laws We are trying to live in conformity with the legislation enacted on tIe subject of polygamy Suppose the principal officers of the church put forth the official assertion It has been repeated charged that our people blindly follow a few leaders Will not such a declaration to an admission on our part that the charge is true that the few men control the lives and consciences of the mass of believers It seems to me we are in danger of stultifying ourselves if we go further than we have We bow to the law We obey it outwardly Surely we ought not t be obliged to declare what we be here or dc not believe a the price of suf 4 frage Our consciences are at least our own You must remember that the doc trine of polygamy was accepted many years ago as a revelation from God That revelation stands We cannot wipe it out by a declaration of man We can submit t the laws of our country and that we are doing I seems to me that is as much as can be asked Do you think Mr Cannon that Mormons Mor-mons can take the test oath honestly without with-out committing perjury Most of them can do it without viola tion of conscience Only the small minor ity of our people have lived in polygamy Those who have plural wives living are disfranchised The others in the present attitude of the church can truthfully subscribe sub-scribe to the math And say they do not belong to an organ ization which teaches or advises polyg amyr amrYe There is no question in my mind that we can take this testoath honestly I say we I mean our people Ido not include in-clude myself for I am one of the ultras There are two views of this question of polygamy taken by our people Some of us believe that the revelation is a command I from God to take plural wives I so consider con-sider it I went into the church when I was very young It has al ways been my oelief that the revelation revela-tion commanded polygamy Others and they are in the majority do not regard the revelation as making polygamy obligatory obliga-tory They consider it as permissive I obey the law but I do not acknowledge that I did any wrong in entering into polygamy polyg-amy before tho law was passed I provide for all of my children and treat them precisely cisely alike Since I came out of prison I p have provided for my wives but I have t not lived with any of them I am living the life of a bachelor and sometimes it is pretty hard on an old man like me for I have had a good deal of sickness and there are times when I need home care and attention at-tention at What will the Idaho Mormons do Will they take the oath and try t vote Can they get this question of the present position of the church before the supreme court I dont know what they will do They can take the oath conscientiously but they will probobly be prosecuted for perjury if they do Whether the Idaho courts will continue to stand on the position taken in the Davis case I cant tell I it i assumed sumed by the courts that to be a Mormon i to belong an organization that encourages en-courages polygamy then ail of our people < who take the oath will render themselves liable to punishment by the territorial courts on the charge of perjury I dont perur know what our people in Idaho will do but I dont think they will give up the fight They will keep trying for their rights It is not characteristic of the Mormons to give up They will light on gve in the courts of course Will the admission of Idaho follow the decision sustaining the test oath I canttellbut it looks probable There seems to be a general feeling in Congress favorable to the admission of new states Any other territory or any state can by the adoption of a similar oath disfranchise the Mormons 1 Yes The decision is sweeping enough for any of them to stand upon Do you think the Idaho precedent will be adopted elsewhere No It Is not probable There are some Mormons in Wyoming Colorado 1 New Mexico and Arizona They aro recognized rec-ognized as peaceable industrious and honest citizens So far as I can learn there is no disposition t disfranchise disfran-chise them generally In Arizona a law similar t that of Idaho was passed by the legislature but the leslature governor vetoed it I had a talk the other day with one of the most prominent public men in Colorado He told me that the Mormons were well Wee liked in his state that they were good weI izens In one county he mentioned the Mormons voted the Republican ticket at the late election There is no talk in Colorado Col-orado of disfranchisement How about Utah Dont you think the idea of a test oath may be applied there Well that would have to be done by act of Congress for U h Our people are very largely in the majority there and control L the territorial legislature The test oath could not be introduced as it was in Idaho t where Republicans and Democrats united I iand put it through the legislature Con T grcss could pass a law applying the test 1 oath t Utah that would put the entire control con-trol of affairs in the hands of the nonMor mons There are in Utah about forty or L fifty thousand nonMormons while our people peo-ple number one hundred and sixty thousand thou-sand or more Congress could order that the 50000 should do the voting and hold the offices and that the 100000 should have no voice in the government but pay the taxes This is possible but it is not probable I think I can see a disposition dis-position in both branches of Congress not t legislate further in regard to the Mormons There seems t be a feeling among leading men that the matter is working out gradually and that it had best be left alone So far as polygamy i J concerned there is no call for any legisla ¼ T ton Plural marriages have ceased Y Those of us men and women who went Y into polygamy years ago are dying of A few years will end that issue w And end the Mormon church too The old man shook his head and replied repled No The church is stronger today than it ever was We were talking about the effects of the decision yesterday shortly estrda sborty after we had heard of it I remarked that I had never seen our meetings so well attended at-tended as they are now Our people are firmer in their faith than they were before the adverse legislation began We have had no schisms and no secessions since the persecutions began I i a singular fact that with two or three exceptions the members of the first presidency and of the twelve apostles are natives ot this country George Q Cannon isLiv a most notable exception He was a Liverpool boy but his parents were converted con-verted to the faith when he was only twelve and trained him in it The plain story of Cannons life is stranger than fiction He was a printer on the Time and Sasons at Nauvoo when Joseph Smith was murdered in the jail at Carthage Three ers later when barely of age he went with the advance party of Mormons across the plains and was one of the pioneers of Salt Lake city In 1849 thei i was a gold digger in California In 150 ho was a Mormon missionary on the Sandwich islands acquiring the r Kanaka language in six weeks Four years alter that he was back in California publishing pub-lishing a paper called the Western Standard When the United States troops under General Gen-eral Albert Sidney Johnston marched to I Utah in 1859 to suppress the anticipated I Mormon uprising young Cannon was in charge of the Dtset Xcics and carted thee Li I the-e and presses to a place of safety At I the age of thirtytwo in 1852 Cannon reached the official position than which there was but one higher in the church He was chosen an apostle then he was sent abroad as president of the European mission In 1SG2 the Mormons having resisted all overtures from the south to join the confederacy con-federacy held a constitutional convention and applied to Congress admission as a state That was in the darkest period of the war for the north and quite a strong movement developed at Washington in favor of the admission of Utah The Mormons Mor-mons felt so confident of the support of the Republican party in their petition for admission ad-mission that they organized the state of Deseret as they called it and elected two United States Senators These Senators elect were William H Hooper and George Q Cannon The latter came from Europe to Washington to urge the claim of Utah When the statehood movement Jailed Can non went oacic to ins European mission and in two years forwarded I for-warded 13000 converts to Salt Lake city From Europe he returned to Utah to become private secretary to Brigham Young After holding that position three I years he took charge of the Mormon paper the Dcscrct News and published it until he was elected territorial delegate Congress in 1S72 He held that position nearly ten years In Cannon the Mormons had a strong advocate ad-vocate at Washington He is a man of most remarkable energy but always suave and gentle in manner To show that Mormonism Mormon-ism was not as bad as painted Mr Cannon from time to time brought members of his family to the national capital and permitted his wives t speak for themselves It was respecting Delegate Cannon the witty Gui Hamilton once said that the only difference she could see between him and many of the other public men at Washing ton was that he boldly drove his women abreast while the others drove theirs tandem tan-dem demMr Cannon represented Utah in Congress Con-gress until Sb2 when Governor Eli Murray Mur-ray Defused to issue to him a certificate of election on the ground that he was not a citizen of the United States although he held a certificate of citizenship Cannon had received 1S56S votes and Allen G Campbell had received 1357 votes Governor Gov-ernor Murray the certificate to ernor1urrav gave certifcate t Camp bell Governor Murrays refusal to issue the certificate was based upon the Edmunds act disfranchising polygamists Cannonade m Cannon-ade no secret of the fact that he bad three wives The House refused to seat Campbell and declared a vacancy to fill which John T Caine was elected by the Mormons Then folloved Cannons prosecution for polygamy While out on bond he disappeared disap-peared and for a couple of years his whereabouts where-abouts was a complete mystery One day he reappeared at Salt Lake city went before be-fore the court and received sentence He served his term in jail and now he is back in Washington His hair and whiskers he wears the latter only under the chin are snowy white He has aged some but his figure is still sturdy and his step is brisk There is not a tinge of tin t-in his conversation as he talks of the trials qf the church He says We believe that the Lord means all these persecutions per-secutions for our good and will bring things out right in His own time W B b |
