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Show A RECORD OF BRAZEN DECEIT. Ante-election denials from tho Dcsc-rot Dcsc-rot News arc coming thick and fast these days. But what, do they amount to? In order to make plain its meaning, mean-ing, Tho Tribuno will briefly mview some historic truths. Yo will present a few of tho assertions and donials of Mormon church oflicinls and their au-thoritativo au-thoritativo organs, and will also cito subsequent confessions, proofs, and acts which have branded these assertions and denials as thc most vicious of falsehoods. false-hoods. This presentation is especially timely in view of tho deceitful attempt at-tempt in last night's News to claim that tho legal succession to thc leadership leader-ship of tho Mormon church is no longer open to debate, but is an established or historical fact. But tho vory point at isuo is tho fraudulent and illegal nature of that succession. And so tho Nows is guilty of brazen deceit and J ot. begging tho question in attempting to forestall argument by 6aying that tho question is already settled. In tho days of Illinois, the Nauvoo Times and Seasons (tho official church organ) teemed with denials of thc fact that tho doctrine and practice of polygamy polyg-amy were- recognized by thc church. Somo of theso wore made editorially; others ovor the official signatures of Joseph and llyrum Smith; still others were in tho form of authoritative notices no-tices from thc Smiths to thc effect that certain Mormon preachers were excom- I municatod for having asserted that thc doctrine was taught; and still moro denials were printed ovor tho procured signatures of members of tho Femalo Relief society. (Tho Smitli3 were and arc 'amply unscrupulous to drag women Into their mendacious perjuries). Proof of thc falsehood aud deception of this cutirc propaganda appeared later, when favorites of tho Smiths declared de-clared undrr oath or affirmation that thc doctrine of polygamy had been taught to them duriug aud previous to tho time covered by tho numerous official offi-cial denials; when other closo friends of tho prophot and patriarch solemnly-told solemnly-told the world that they had married Joseph Smith to polygamous wives, naming the women so plurally married; when members of tho Relief society, who had denied tho cxistcuco of tho doctrine in Nauvoo, confessed in Utah that they personally had been plural wives of Joseph Smith; when Joseph F. Smith, thc prcsout head of thc church, nephew of ouc of thc highest dcuiera aud son of the other, in his testimony' tes-timony' at Washington, named poly-g-amous wives of his uuclc and staled under un-der oath that thc practice was extant iu the church long bofore thc denials were made: aud when, between the' whole- lot of guilty confessions, it was shown that Joseph Smith had a scoro or more of coucubincs. "When the Mormons migrated from Nauvoo, it was given out to the world that a peaceable and law-abidiug people peo-ple had been driven from their homes by persecutors without cause or reason. rea-son. The utter falsity of that claim appears ap-pears in tho preceding paragraph; and it appeared when proof was brought forward (by thc church itself, to pacify thc saints) that tho plan to move west was ono of long standing with Joseph Smith and his fellow-lawbreakers and conspirators against thc peace of tho country, who saw (hat the unlawful practices of himself aud his associates (they called it "living their religion" theu, as now) would render a law-abidiug community untenable for their brand of criminals; wheu it was shown by evidence of men who lived iu tho town at the timo that, no honest man was ever driven from Nauvoo, but only the lagging camp-looters, who had remained re-mained behind, to sack the city; when it was demonstrated that Joseph Smith himself had started for thc West, with thb i n t out ion that his people should follow, fol-low, when ho was induced by members of his own church to return and "tako his medicine;" wheu the proof of this last assertion is in the prophet's final protest, "I go like a lamb to thc slaughter;" when Brigham Young, He-ber He-ber C. Kimball, George A. Smith and others repeatedly told thc people in Utah that .loseph was killed and tho saints driven out of Nauvoo by their own brethren. At the lime of thc exodus to tho West, Brigham Young and his aides gave loud vent to the marlyr-liko complaint com-plaint that tho Government had made an inhuman demand upon a suffering and defenseless people, by calling for thc Mormon battalion, in the hope that the saints would be thus deprived of protection and would fall a prey to thc Indians. Tho vicious falsehood of this hypocrisy hypoc-risy is demonstrated iu thc Government departmental records, which expose the fact that Brigham Young, through his emissaries. Jesse C. Little and Col. Kane of Pennsylvania, hud begged tho Government to call for thc battalion, so that; thc pay of the mcu could bo utilized iu purchasing supplies for tho western trip. In the year IS50, John Taylor (thou au apostle and afterward president of the church) was filling a mission in Franco. Ou July 11th of that year, according ac-cording to his own official report published pub-lished in Orson Pratt's Works, John Taylor cugaged iu a debate with certain cer-tain ininistcrs, during thc course of which ho said: "Wo aro accused here of polygamy, aud actions thc most indelicate, in-delicate, obscene, and disgusting, such that none but a corrupt aud depraved heart could havo contrived. These things arc too outrageous to admit of belief." Tho b'ing deceit of Taylor was proved in Utah long before that time, when it developed that iu ISIS (two 4 years previous to this cloqucut denial) this polygamous hypocrite had married TTnrrict Whittakcr and Sophia Whit-taker Whit-taker as his thirteenth and fourteenth wivos. True, ho did not marry them iu Utah; uor did ho have tho permission permis-sion so to do of thc only man on earth lit one timo who holds "tho kcj-s of this priesthood." Ho and Parley P. Pratt were togothor on their way across tho plains to Utah with a company of saints, John coveted tho two womon, and he told Parley so. Parley was accommodating ac-commodating as ono brother should bo toward another and he porformcd the double ceremony. But Parloy had his price and John honestly paid it, marrying mar-rying another sister in the company to Parloy. Thoro was tho Old Nick to pay with Brigham when they got to Salt Lake. Not because John aud Parloy Par-loy had taken additional concubines not at all, bless your soulsl but because be-cause they hadn't askod Brigham first. After tho passage of the auti-polyg-amy law of 1862, thc church fought its enforcement in the most bittor manner, practicing plural marriage openly and defiantly, and announcing their intention inten-tion to continue thus. But later on it hecame apparent that thc Government j would stop the practice with force, if necessary. Then tho leaders began to put on a pious air of innocence and loyalty loy-alty and offered up Brother George Reynolds Rey-nolds as a sacrifico in a test case, saying say-ing that they would furnish tho testimony testi-mony necessary to thc test. - j Thc Pharisaism and deceit of this proposal were discovered when Reynolds Rey-nolds was arrested, and the Federal officials of-ficials appeared to mean business. Thon Reynolds and tho church concealed all tho necessary witnesses in tho case, and tho officers had tho time of their lives to find them and bring them into court. Reynolds having been found guilty, and sent to the penitentiary after a long struggle in appeal against tho Government, tho other brethren opiued that their skius wore too precious to bo made to adorn a similar abode. So, while they secretly taught tho doctrine, they made protest to thc world that polygamy had stopped; that tho saints had abandoned it under a desiro to obey the law; that any further prosecution prose-cution of tho people would resolvo itself it-self into unjust persecution. The false pretense herein was developed devel-oped when later it was proved that at, that very time Apostle Joseph F. Smith was officiating in that polygamous sinkhole, sink-hole, known as tho Endowment bouse, marrying men and women in polygamy as rapidly as his all-too-willing disposition dis-position would permit aud his vicious strength would allow. All through the years up to tho late eighties tho church official' denied that polygamy was being practiced, stating that the saints had abandoned it altogether. Tho lie came out in this when tho Woodruff manifesto appeared as a result re-sult of thc prevalence of polygamy, and when a threatened renewal of hostilities hostili-ties promised to bring tho whole Mormon Mor-mon people into grcator distress than ever; when thc very official inhibition of polj'gamy was a confession of its existence. After tho promulgation of the Woodruff Wood-ruff manifesto, it looked as if Utah was to have peace; for not only had polygamy been officially proscribed, but th'e church had also promised to keep out of politics. Ambitious leaders, however, could not keep their hands off, and further troublo was threatened on this account. The church deuied political po-litical interference, and kept on denying deny-ing such, domination until, in 1896, it issued the political manifesto, iu which the guilt was admitted expressly, aud also by the command to stop it. This political manifesto was given out under tho annouucod intention to permit American conditions to prevail here; but the lie was exposed when tho document was later used as a club by means of which the political actions and ambitions of all members of the higher priesthood (who rule tho people) peo-ple) were placed uudcr tho direct control con-trol of the president of the church. (Sec Thatcher's defeat; Roberts's defeat; Roberts's election; Smoot's election). During all the timo sinco 1S90, and moro so sinco 1900, the Deserct Nows has denied in all earnestuess that there was any new polygamy within the Mormon Mor-mon church. Its utter falsehood was proved when tho first presideuoy, in April, 1907, issued is-sued an officially-signed declaration, which confessed precisely that which the Deserct News had denied. In this matter of political interference interfer-ence and domination the church is as activo as it ever was; and it is now pursuing tactics of which tho days of Missouri and Illinois furnished most significant examples. In those days Joseph Smith made bargains with thc Whigs, while Hyrum Smith made coun-terbargainB coun-terbargainB with tho Democrats. One or tho other of thc parties always awakeucd to find ifself sold completely. complete-ly. Depending entirely upou which way thc Mormon cat had jumped, Jo-soph Jo-soph would send thc complainants to Hyrum, or Hyrum would trot the injured in-jured ones off to Joseph. Bciwccu the two and by porfect undcrstandiug to this effect they worked both ends aud the middle of the game, until thc patience pa-tience of men gave way. Tbon the Smiths skipped, dragging thc saints (whom they had voted to their owu destruction) along with them to pastures pas-tures new, just like any other criminals would do. Today ihc Deserct Nows is denying that tho church is iu politics. Th6 lie here is in tho fact that Reed Smoot, un npostlc, is a Seuator of the United States, and that he ia at this moment usiuV fill t.lip nowor of the Mormon church by aud with tho consent con-sent of tho president of tho church,-who church,-who sends his apostle son out among tho people to preach for Smoot, to perpetuate per-petuate their joint domination. Tho .whole history of thc church, its leaders and its organs, is one mass of hypocrisy, deceit, chicanery, falsehood, immorality, treachery aud treason. And thc Deserct News is the concentrated product of all that hns gone before. Can you still bclicvo tho church or-gJ or-gJ . |
