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Show A DENIAL THAT DOESN'T DENY. Willi reference to the report made by the St. Georgo Advocate of the remarks made by President Joseph F. Smith to the Mormon conference at St. George on September 17th, tho Deserct News had the following statement Inst night from President Smith: While on my recent visit In the south I learned that In consequence of hard times many of the people in southern Utah were moving away. At tho conference confer-ence held at St. Georgo I advised them to remain, and encouraged them with tho hope that railroad facilities would aoon reach them and open markets for their produce. I nevor said anything at all about 'Gentiles' or dealing with thorn. I did advlso them not to sell out their homes and lands to their enemies. Property Prop-erty sold some years ago by our pooplo has been repurchased. Our best policy Is to be pormanent settlers, and not roamors from placo to place. That Is. tho whole eubstunco of my remarks on this subject. JOSEPH F. SMITH. Salt Lako City. Utah, Oct. G, 1WI. The report by the Mormon paper of President Smith's remarks are also given on this page. The date of the card quoted should have been the 3rd instead of the Gth. It will be noted that this purported denial refers primarily to tho use of the word "Gentile," but It admits the use of "enemies." But as there are practically practi-cally no Gentiles In St. George, the attempt at-tempt to escape through that loophole will not serve. And besides, the term "Gentile" and "enemy" have the same meaning with Mormon theologists, so that the denial is not important. But why a Mormon paper, a friendly paper, should report him as using a term that he did not use, we are at a loss to understand. un-derstand. We don't believe that It did. Again, he attempts to claim that the advice was merely local. But that won't do for there are no "enemies of God's work" down there. And he has never been tempted with an offer for any of his ,land down there, so that in that connection his bigoted boast has no meaning whatever. And he expressly express-ly said, "The Gentiles are coming among us to buy our homes and lands." That Is something which applies to Salt Lake and other regions hereabout, and not to St. George, where the statement state-ment would not be true. It will be In vain that President Smith, or his friends for him, will attempt at-tempt to break the force of the address as reported: for It was reported by his friends, printed In a friendly paper, and though It Is more than a fortnight since he made1 the address, there was not a wcrd to Indicate that It wasn't an acceptable report, until The Tribune reproduced it from the Advocate's columns. col-umns. The News, with Its usual mendacity, undertakes to make it appear that this report was something of The Tribune's; that It was "a Tribune sensation." Of course, the News Is well aware of the falsity of all that. It knows well that the report was. none of ours; that we took it from the St. George paper, which Is altogether friendly to President Presi-dent Smith, and would not In the slightest degree misrepresent him. It no doubt saw the same report In the Advocate and did pot In any way question ques-tion Its accuracy. But It Is tho News's usual method to meet the truth with lies; only In thlB case the false ascription ascrip-tion of this matter to The Tribune Is unusually bold, Indecent and easy to disprove. |