OCR Text |
Show I Comment on Expulsion of -Senator Cannon, ( The Press of the Country Denounce It as an Out-, Out-, rage Upon Liberty. Judgment Against Him "Without Trial 'or Opportunity of Defcnso Wca .Indefensible. Tho break-up of rfornior.Iam as a polltl-I polltl-I cal fores Is mro to bo tho result .of the various aGltatlor.s, and especially tho rov-I rov-I nations of tcetlzr.ony given' n tho Smoot rase. Cho demand of Tho Ba'.t Lako Trlb-1 Trlb-1 1:0 thct tho authorised of tho church shall set-out of po".Ulcs has been vlnlted r -. ex-Scnatcr Cannon, editor of The Trlb-nr Trlb-nr f.rst through olefeilov.-ahlp by tho !shoj'a court at Ogdcn, and later through exeoTiirnurlcitlon br tho high council of Weber stake. So Frank Can-i Can-i nr. Is cut ofT from 2Ion. At the same time 1 t?icro Is Morchs.nt Smurthwaltc, also of 1 Ojden, summoned before tho bishop's court becauso ho published an outspoken ' address '.o this purport: 1 Ilia 6ppcAl demands tr.at the church retire f-om political dorr.tnatlon of tho Stale ami from cooirr.crclalltni, that an necountlntr at th next General conference In April for all UiO church moneys ha made, and that members mem-bers or tho church obey tho laws of tho land. In conclusion, the appeal domands an nc-ciunllnc nc-ciunllnc of ihn property of Preldent Smith r.lnco ho bec&mo president of tho Mormon church, Tho way hi which tho Dcacrct N'cw., official of-ficial "organ of tho Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," treats tho matter of Cannon's cllsfellowship and ox-1 ox-1 communication la to bo noted. It care fully refrains from mentioning any names: It does not Indlcato what thf-se proceedings were about,, but only corrects crtnln misunderstandings as to tho na-, na-, Hire of tho two judgments, and closes by nvJng: "As the Logan Journal remarks i incoming tho, church. It Is "one of tho most completely organized bodies on c.ith.' " So It 13, een to tho extent of 1 censorship of Its press. The Deseret News j.iso has a leading editorial on tho wlck-I wlck-I rdncss of slander1, evidently aimed nt Gomo lartloular case or cases, but without any j 1 hatactcrlzatlou of their nature or men tioning of names,' but a general warning that tho slanderers have not themselves Impeccable records, and might themselves lift "overwhelmed and crushed Into tho . ivud by exposuro of their own doings." ,. 1 Tho Mormon hierarchy Is not so very easy J In Its mind. Sprlngileld Republican. 11 3Tormonlsm Growing-. Tho Mormons absolutely control .the , government of I'tah. They hold tho bal- 1 ni.oe of power In Idaho and Wyoming, i They arc a strong political force In Ore- J gon and Nevada ainl they are gradually t making themselves felt In several other 3 Western Stales. There Is nothing timid about tho Mormons. They have thrown , aside much of tho secrecy which formerly veiled their actions. Joseph F. Smith, their president, testified under oath before the Senate commlttco that he has llvo wives and forty-two children. Apostlo ' Lyman, head of tho apostolic quorum, who will succeed President Smith If ho outlives him, also testified to living In n polygamous relation. President William Budge, head of the church In Idaho, also testified that ho vra,i living with three wives and had many children recently norn of them. Besides these men, moro than one-half of all tho.apoutlcs and hundreds hun-dreds of laymen are openly living In po-1 po-1 lygamy. When thoso who signed tho plea of amnesty am-nesty and secured tho admission of Utah by Issuing a manifesto ngalnm tho practice prac-tice of plural marriages were questioned about their broach of faith, they defiantly replied by asking what tho Federal Government Gov-ernment was going to do about It. They contend that, as Utah Is now a sovereign Rate It Is freo from all Federal control and Interference. Thus contldent In their 1 security from prosecution by Federal au thority tho Mormons are endeavoring to get possession of tho government In all States which they Inhabit ho they may 1 have complete Immunity to observe every j tenet und practice of their religion. ,, The power tho Mormons havo already secured shows they are gaining In strength and numbers. Prosldent Smith boldly admitted that Ttecd Smoot had to get his consent before ho became a candidate candi-date for Senator. No one dares to prosc-cuto prosc-cuto a Mormon for any Infraction of tho anti-polygamy laws In Utah. J-ast winter the Idaho Legislature elected a Mormon as Speaker and refused to pass tho bills that were Introduced to punish Mormons Ihlng In polygamouc relations In that Statu. In the districts In all tho States and Territories In which they have tho controlling majorities tho Mormons teach their doctrines to. the children In tho pub-I pub-I lie schools. 1 .Tho Mormon religion In npltc of its American origin is un-American. In Its combination of church und state, and In Us outlandish Ideas about marriage and nodal life. It violates thq main principles nr-on which the great Ttcjlubllc Is founded. 1 But nevertheless Mormonlsm is spreading and stems to bo able to successfully defy interference from State or national authoritiesKansas au-thoritiesKansas City Journal. Hj A Cheerful Spirit ' Editor Cannon of Tho Salt Lako Trlbuno (anti-Mormon) In a reply to certain un- T named correspondents who have begged him to return to tho "true faith," shows a j fairly cheerful spirit under the lnlllctlon 1 of dlsfellowshlp and cxcommuncatlon dc-rrces. dc-rrces. He says, among other thingn: "If It were worth while, one could easily demonstrate that Joseph F. Smith is an' 1 apostato. Why. then, should ho be fol- Hl lowed? Just take away the accident that he became the leader of the church and B ask yourselves, dear letter writers, would Hr.. ou sustnlti as prophet and president any 1 man (call him- John Duo, tor instance), H who had publicly worn that he was 11 v- 1 lug In open defiance of the laws of God 1 J and man?" Now York Evening Post. An Outspoken Mormon. H The expulsion of former Senator Frank H J Cannon from tho Mormon church Is of H especial Interest elnce It indicates a cois- H 'ildorablo division In tho church Itself. H Mr. Cannon Is editor of Tho Salt Lako H Tribune. lift published two articles crltl- B rising President Joseph F. Smith. Theso H articles were the basis of tho actton H against him by the church authorities. H j The purport of the criticism is shown by H ' :sn extract from the examination. Mr, Ht Gannon was asked; "Do you think thai f Joseph F. Smith la a prophet of God or H lo you think that he In worshiping mam-, H 1 : 110:1?" Ills reply was: "1 do not think B I that Joseph F. Smith Is a prophet of God. ,1 I think thai his Idol Is mammon." H j A partial explanation of this bold decla- H ration Is found In Mr. Cannon's analysis H of tho claims of the Mormon church, from H which tho following Is quoted - H This la the dispensation of tho fullness of "1 time. It lu a propnrntory period for tho nc- 1 - Mid comlnz of Christ, who In to return to t cirth and rulo In zlory ovor all nations. l;ln- H. !ri'JH, toncuos ami peoples. Thero liavlnc 1 t'een unlvtrmil upofltasy from tho slmplo ,! nuth as ho left It, It Is necessary to restoro that truth by ie flatten, thnt m-n may ho Imbued with It and lie prrparc-d tv It fur tho advfni of their Plvtno Itulr All nvrts of thn earth, whllo po'--ltiC and lulnjf p.ilhly poma truth, are firtlnc wltlu.ut authority. Thu w have a prophet !r.tr whose hands Is committed tho authority of God to prepare tha world for the Klorlous return of his son. Naturally, Nat-urally, no other government, by church or by mite, is legal. Through the prophet. God haw declared that the powers of this world nhall crumble and that his kingdom In pet up, nnv-cr nnv-cr nioro to be thrown down nor Its power given giv-en to another people. Under the circumstance. circum-stance. 11 Ih ImnoMlble to divide the rplrltual from tho tempo.-nl. nlnce nil the commands of God through- tho prophet aro spiritual, and filr.ee Ills (leere- to hlet followers mutt be both spiritual and temporal. After describing the office of prosldent of tho church- and tho twelvo apostles, Mr. Cannon continues: The president 1m tho only man authorised to deliver God'o word, and his declaration Is absolute. ab-solute. These men. some of them, expect to llvt to &;- the ecmlng of tho Savior, and to tako part In his rule of rlghleousnea upon the earth so noon shall bo the day uf his coming. com-ing. Their authority I boundlcsn and eternal. Even after tho termination of their es.rthly career they aro to have certain celestial power pow-er und place as the. apostles of tho Son of Cod. With such a faith. h6tv little must ncem all tho mero oartlily authorities; how contemptible contempti-ble nil -earthly government, how puerile and paltry, as well as false, must seem all earthly denominational This president, and his two counselor, with the apostolic quorum nnd subordinate official, followed by hundreds of thousands, are merely making preparation for that great nnd awful day of tho I-orxl when ha shall come In his eplendor; when tho wicked nnd the unbelieving unbeliev-ing shall fall or ilee In terror from his faceu and when thes his eleet. shall stand with him to Judgo nnd govern tho whole world under un-der the rule of tho kingdom of God which they liavo established. In the meantime tho prophet and his subordinates subor-dinates receive one-tenth of all tho nnnunl Increase of all the faithful- members of tho church, being a slIghL return to tho work of God for his blessings upon them. All that they posAcee Is a part of hi kingdom, and ho leaves, to their stewardship lilne-tonths . of what their Industry produces each your; and takes but one-tenth for the purposes of his kingdom under direction of his prophet. an To most persons who have Ultle knowledge knowl-edge of Mormonlsm beyond the fact that It originally fostered polygamy, this statement state-ment of whnt it pretends to bo and of what the present tendency of Its leaders really 13, in Mr. Cannon's opinion, will 1)0 very Interesting. The Inherent antipathy of such an organization to nny worldly government under which It Is living is manifest. It is also apparent that llttlo conlldcncc can bo placed In any professions profes-sions of loyalty or promises to obey tho laws. At tho same time, Mr. Cannon reveals re-veals the eource of future disruption In tho church when he protests against the exorbitant tithes and tho apparent worldly world-ly greed of tho leaders of tho church. Tho most fanath-al followers of a religious movement must in tlmo revolt If they find that tho heavy taxeu which they pay In the namo of religion are being used to In-crease In-crease tho pr-rHonal wealth and power of Individuals. The asertlon of Mr. Cannon that Joseph F. Smith worships mammon strikes a note which cannot fall to appeal ap-peal forcibly to the tithe-payers. That he does not stand alone In his opinions Is shown by tho fact that, Immediately after his expulsion, proceedings were begun against another prominent Mormon who has made similar criticisms of Joseph P. Smith. Buffalo Express. A Mormon Irluddlc. Ex-Senator Frank J. Cannon, on of Georgo Q. Cannon of tho Mormon church, hur. recently becomo the editor of The Salt Lake Tribune, and has also been excommunicated from the Mormon church because of editorials in his paper criticising criticis-ing the leadera of the church for their interference in-terference In matters of a political naturf. A lively time is promised. Cannon is ono of tho most Influential men in Utah and, with The Tribune for a club, ho can certainly cer-tainly pound the MOrmon elders In a manner man-ner that will make thorn cry for help. Recently there has sprung up In Utah a party of great strength that demands that tho Mormonn shall keep their hands off politics? It Is alleged by this party that temporal matters claim the attention of -the Mormon leaders to a greater degrco than spiritual, and that they do not permit per-mit anything to pass their attention und direction. To cut out this political and temporal interference Is the purpose of the party, which now appears to have a staunch advocate In .Mr. Frank Cannon. 'Lnramlo Republican. Two Mormons. In Ihe news from Utah telling of the excommunication ex-communication of ex-United States Senator Sen-ator Frank J. Cannon by the Mormon church, there is lorfcro 'opportunity for thoughtful consideration. Cannon ha been cast out of the church for "apostasy and dlsloyaltv," 1,0th of which may be- regarded 11a serious offenses if proven. The reason lor his condemnation condemna-tion wa3 his criticism of '.he church lead ers for violation of tne laws of State nnd Nation. Ho offered to prove his allegations allega-tions if given the chance, but the opportunity oppor-tunity was denied him, and he was expelled ex-pelled without the opportunity to defend himself. That, the whole world Is Informed, Is tho fate of the Mormon who dares protest when the laws of the Nation arc openly disregarded, nnd who tries to reform his own church from within. That Is tho exemplification ex-emplification of the advisability of following follow-ing the Mormon "Mind your own business" busi-ness" policy, and of defying the National Government to obtain evidence and gain conviction of flagrant violators of the law. Thero Is another Mormon who has taken a course opposite to thnt of the excommunicated excommu-nicated Cannon. This Mormon Is Apostlo Reed Smoot. who tills the seat which Cannon Can-non once held In the United Slates Senate. Far from being ostracized by the church, h Is hopored by It. and stands In tho lino of succession to tho headship of the Mormon Mor-mon church, not only of Utah or America, but of tho whole world. I What has caused these honors to fall on his shoulders? How has his course differed dif-fered from that of the excommunicated Cannon? When President Joseph F. Smith of tho Mormon church appeared before the Sen-ale Sen-ale Committee on Privileges and Elections last spring and defiantly asserted his determination de-termination to continue his violations of the iaws of God and man. Apostlo Smoot wit by, In IiIb role of a Senator, defending his right to his seat. Last fall Senator Smoot, as an apostle, voted to confirm Smith ns the head of tho Mormon church, in splto of all tho latter's dellances of tho Nation, the Senate and tho American people. peo-ple. Ho defeated tho re-election of his colleague, col-league, Kearns, and put in his placo a Gentile of the class known ns Jack-Mormons thoso who seek preference by coddling cod-dling to the church leaders. These two men now represent the Mormon church In tho United States Senate, while the Gen-tilo Gen-tilo population of the State Is denied representation. rep-resentation. Cannon complained that church officials violated tho supreme law of the land, and Is excommunicated, which mcann In Utah cstraclBm and tho putting In his way every obstacle, even to tho earning of his dally bread, Smoot approved the unlawful deeds of his superior In the church, nnd not only retains his scat In the Senate, but selects his colleague, Sutherland. Is there In these two cases any faint suggestion, to Mormon and Gentile alike, as to the best way to obtain material success suc-cess In Utah? Is It better to obey tho lawmakers law-makers of the Nation or tho lawbreakers of tho Mormon church? Washington Times. A Candid Hevlew. Under theso hendllncs, "Out of the Fold F. J. Cannon Expelled by Mormon Church For Attack on Smith Ho Accused President of Setting up Monarchy Said Ills Idol was Mammon-Former Mammon-Former Senator Makes Open War on Mormon Mor-mon Hierarchy Pledge to'Abandon Polygamy Polyg-amy Was Broken," the Portland Orcgo-r.ian Orcgo-r.ian gives the following review of tho case: SALT LAKE, March C (Special.) Frank J. Cannon, ex-United States Senator, Sen-ator, son of George Q. Cannon, and editor of The Salt Lake Tribune, has been dls-fellowshlpped dls-fellowshlpped by the Mormon church for writing two editorial articles In criticism of President Joseph F, Smith. In tho article; ar-ticle; referred to, President Smith 1b accused ac-cused of encouraging polygamy, of serving serv-ing Mammon rather than God, and charges affecting tho handling of the tithing tith-ing fund arc made. In addition to being excommunicated from tho church, It Is understood great pressure has been put on tho executory of tho will of George Q. Cannon to cut off the Inheritance of Frank J. Cannon In accordance ac-cordance with a clause In the will making that possible In caso of apostasy. Tho first editorial referred to appeared In The Tribune of January 22 and was entitled en-titled "An Analysis of tho Church," the second appeared under the heading "An Address to the Earthly King of the Kingdom King-dom of God." NATURE OF ATTACK ON SMITH. In the latter Mr. Cannon makes a series of charges. He accuses President, Smith of trying to build up his personal power by the sacrlllce of interests of the church; charges violation of ngieernents with tho United Stales Government, and accuse tho president of taking the bodies of tho daughters of his subjects and bestowing them upon his favorites. He also accuses President Smith of having "taiccn tlo property which belonged to tho widow and to the orphan and having absorbed It Into the possession of the crown," and of oppressing poor members of the church to enrich himself, The other editorial charges Smith with "culldlng up an alien monarchy, hostile to the principles of American government Formal charges aKalnst Mr. Cannon were filed by Elder William G. Racklmm, of tho Fifth ward in Ogden. where Mr Cannon's homo Is. The two editorials aro offered In substantiation of churges of unchristian un-christian conduct nnd apostasy A hearing hear-ing was held February 21 In the vestry of the Fifth ward meetlng-houso of Ogden, before th ward blshonrv. Bishop John Watson prosldd. assisted by his first cf-unselor. II. II. Thomas, and by Elder Georgo W. Larkln, who acted In the place of Second Counselor T. A. Shreeve. the latter being held 10 be disqualified because he was a witness. ' Mr. Cannon Hied a comorehenslvo written writ-ten nnswer In whlcn he admitted writing tho editorials, but declined to retract. Ho declared tho course of President Smith, If continued, would ho suro to work great hardship on the Mormon people and maintained main-tained that all his charges against Smith aro true. In his examination, Cnnnon tmld: "I do not think Joseph F. Smith Is a prophet of God; I think his Idol Is Mammon." Mam-mon." Ho also declared his belief that Joseph F. Smith Is falsely lending the Mormon people. A unanimous decision against Cannon was rendered Inst Saturday, but "the fact did not get out until today. CANNON WILL CONTINUE WAR. Mr. Cannon declines to bo quoted In regard re-gard to tho matter, but a friend, speaking for him. said ho was ono of tho men who made tho pledge to the Government on behalf be-half of the church that the latter would abandon polygamy nnd ceaso tb Interfere In politics; that lie knows tho present leaders of tho church havo bee.11 and nro Mrlatlng that pledge; that he felt It his duty to protest against tholr course; that tho action of the church attthorlles In dls-fellowshlpplng dls-fellowshlpplng him Is taken as tn Indication Indica-tion that freo speech Is to bo denied a member of the Mormon church nnd thnt ho will continue his course In opposition to acts of tho authorities, which he believes be-lieves to bo against the best Interests of the Mormon people In genernl nnd In violation vio-lation of tho good faith of tho church. He will not appeal. |