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Show I Smoofs" Title to Seat in 1 Senate of Secondary : Interest Since Presi-5 Presi-5 ' dent Smith's Confession i , MMHBSMSMBW - The following special from Washing- ton concerning the effect of the confes- 2 slons made by President Smith of the Mormon church in the Smoot Inquiry Z appeared In this morning's Tribune: " WASHINGTON, March 7. What will Z be the disclosures in the Smoot Inquiry, ; . or rather the trial of the- Mormon helr- archy, tomorrowt Is there anything that the head of the Mormon church, Joseph F. Smith, can " or will add to the already startling array H'1 of facts be has disclosed? -Z These are questions that are agitat- ing the groups in the hotel lobbies, In . the clubs and in official circles. , The importance of the war in the far East pales under the sensational Smoot r case. r. The newspapers are devoting columns ' ' of space to matters pertaining to the I trial. Whether the Junior Senator from Utah retains his seat or is expelled Is, In view of the developments of the first four days of the hearing, not the Issue now. The question is, what will Congress Con-gress do as regards the disfranchisement disfranchise-ment of all members of the Mormon church? That the church as the parent - body has openly and defiantly broken the agreement by which Utah was admitted ad-mitted to Statehood there Is no gainsaying. gain-saying. 'And how the State authorities ' of Utah have had the hardihood to wink . at open violations of the law Is considered consid-ered by many here as remarkable. President Smith will take the stand again tomorrow, and it will probably be Wednesday before his place In the wit-; wit-; ness box Is taken by any others of the half a dozen or more witnesses summoned sum-moned from Utah. i When Mr.. Smith went on the stand yesterday it was to be questioned by attorneys at-torneys representing Mr. Smoot and the Mormon church in which the Junior Senator ranks as one of the twelve apostles. apos-tles. - ! ' At yesterday's sitting, however, the i , attorneys for Smoot had little chance to - question President Smith. Members of the Senate committee In a great measure took that work off of their hands, consuming the greater por- " tlon of the time. ! - Additional matters were brought out , along the line mapped out by counsel for the proteelants, or prosecution, as , the Mormons style the protestanis. . Results obtained In the hearing thus . far may be summed up as follows: The Mormon church is a closecorpo- ration; its members take an. oath of alle-' alle-' ' glance and obey explicitly the com- mands of what is termed the first prea- I idency of the church. That the president of the- church. Joseph Jo-seph F Smith, and several of the apos- - ' ties of the church are living openly with polygamous wives. - That members of the church are not H free agents; that is to say, if a member of the Mormon church seeks . political ' preferment and desires to run for office 12 be must first secure the sanction of the dominant head of the church. ' ' I That Reed Smoot before putting him- self before the public as a candidate for IT United States Senator sought and ob- talned the consent of the twelve, as well IL as of President Smith and his associates In the first presidency. II That Moses Thatcher, once also an - apostle and candidate for the Senate, !T neglected to get this consent, was not I only defeated, but was ousted from his ' position as an apostle. That since the admittance of Utah to . Statehood In 1896, one of the conditions of which was that the laws In regard to I polygamy should be strictly . observed and obeyed. President Smith and others of the church have repeatedly violated ' the laws. ; , That legislation In Utah that does not - meet with the views of the church is op-1 op-1 posed by the Mormons In a body; and - tf passed Is' fought In the courts. i Since arriving here last Tuesday Pres-- ldent Smith and tha other Mormon wlt-I wlt-I nesses have kept closely to themselves, going from their rooms in the Raleigh ; botel to the committee-room and back again. - . Attempts to see and Interview Indi- - vidual members. of the party are un-I un-I trailing. . j |