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Show ffiMEB; I lEEGPiM, IS . Senator's Denial of Any, Knowledge That Apos- ; tics Practiced Pol jg-: amy; CritcWow Tcstl-l flcs. ln Senate Inquiry. '; : SMOOT IUTEBVIEW AS IT APFEART!T IS Evmnira teleobam. . : That portion of the -Interview 'with Senator Reed Smoot. printed ) in The Telegram of November W (ft 1902, referred to in the testimony beSore the Senate Investigating . committee In Washington today. Is M follows: "Is It true you have secured the 0 permission of the church to make the race for Senator?" "I have secured the Individual permission of my associates. The church has nothing to do with it" "What are your views on polyg- & amy?"- "The church is living strictly In accordance with the manifesto, and I voted or and approved the same." "Have "you ever practiced or go countenanced polygamy?" "I never practiced polygamy." "Did you believe in polygamy M before the manifesto was Issued?" - "As an American citisen I claim the right to believe as I please as long as It dots not interfere with the rlgts of any other citizen." "Are not some of the apostles still practicing polygamy?" ; "That, is a matter of which I know nothing." '-, "What are your views on the action of Congress in refusing to seat B. H. Roberts?" , ' "I think Mr. Roberts should have been seated first, and tried later." I This interview was had with ) Apostle Smoot by Eugene Traugh- ber. who was at the time a reporter ' lor The Telegram. Typewritten to questions were submitted by Mr. " Traughber to Apostle Smont, and . the . latter dictated his answers to - each question.! . to, "i WASHINGTON, March 1L E. , B. Crltchlow of Salt Lake City, formerly, Assistant United States Attorney In . Utah, was the first witness, today In the Smoot case. He resumed his statement in regard to conditions In Utah and the. ' rjrosecutions of polygamlsts. An open letter from Mosas Thatcher' to President Snow In regard to the plat- . form on which be had waged his campaign cam-paign for Senator was introduced and Mr. Crltchlow referred to threats which had been made against Thatcher In edl-1 torials In the Deseret News. ' Evans BUI Discussed. In the Legislature of 1901 was introduced intro-duced the Evans anti-polygamy bill, to limit prosecution for certain classes of offenses. President Snow and Joseph F. Smith were In favor of the bill, said Mr. Crltchlow, and Mr. Smoot was Quoted as recommending that the measure meas-ure be left to the good sense of the people. peo-ple. The witness told of the passage of the bill by a vote of 25 to 17 In the House, the veto by the Governor and the sustaining of the veto. Country Was Shocked. In answer to questions Mr. Crltchlow said the Governor was a Mormon, but that the sentiment of the country demanded de-manded the veto on the ground It defends de-fends the practice of polygamy and prevents pre-vents prosecutions of violations of the 1 law against polygamous cohabitation. The veto by the Governor was put into in-to the record. It shows that the Governor Gov-ernor feared the passage of the measure meas-ure would be followed by a general de- : mand for a Constitutional amendment directed solely at conditions In Utah, and that the demand would not be ignored. ig-nored. The Governor said the result would be that the whole State would be put under a ban. The Evans bill prohibited prosecutions prosecu-tions for polygamy except when the husband or wife filed complaint. Smoot's First Candidacy. Following the history' of the State down to Mr. Smoot's candidacy for the Senate, Mr. Crltchlow said Smoot announced an-nounced his candidacy for the Senate first in 1900 and that the announcement met with opposition from Republicans and others. The objections were manifested, according ac-cording to the witness, at the Salt Lake City elections for members of the Legislature Legis-lature and In expressions from the Ministerial association of Utah. Mormons Mor-mons as well as non-Mormons were opposed to sending an apostle to the -United States Senate and It was well -known to all that the candidacy of Mr. Smoot was not received with favor. The wrltness said that laymen In the Mormon church felt that the candidacy of an apostle would be unwise when It was charged that a quorum of the first presidency and apostles were living in open . defiance of the laws against polygamous cohabitation.' Telegram Interview Produced. Mr. Crltchlow referred an an (Continued oa Pags Ut 1 . V t ' ' . Interview With Smoot (Continued from page 1.) . j interview with Reed Smoot which was i printed In The Salt Lake Telegram, ' November 6,-1902, In which Mr. Smoot j 19 charged with saying that he had no . , knowledge that any apostles of the ' : church were living in polygamous co- i habitation. It was stated by The Tele- ' gram that Mr. Smoot was told that if he wanted the information it would be . j furnished, accompanied by all date's ? ; and facts concerning the marriages. t Jf . ' Admitted to Records. Mr. Worthington objected to the statement on the ground that the interview inter-view was denied by Mr. Smoot and a long- colloquy ensued between the counsel coun-sel and the members of the committee, which the official reporter was directed to ignore. Later, the entire matter was put in the records. The committee took a recess until afternoon. |