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Show ?&2BI KMSIMMMY. BELIEF ; ' 1ESFITE II WTO; Ct AIMS. GIfflM OBEYS LAW, EYEN TECUSd IE BOSS NOT .. ; . : ' . '. Admits Correctness of Report of His Defense of Plural Marriages in His Famous Ogden Speech. . .- - . t BELIEVES IN SPITE OF MANIFESTO. S . L .. . $ PRESIDENT JOSEPH P. SMITH OP THE- MORMON CHURCH IN !,HIS TESTTMONT AT WASHINGTON TODAY, SAID THAT HE HAD AVOIDED TEACHING POLYGAMY, BUT THAT THE MANIFESTO .' HAD NOT IN ANT MANNER CHANGED HIS CONVICTIONS pN ' THE SUBJECT OP PLURAL MARRIAGES. : WASHINGTON, March 4. President 1 Joseph F. Smith of the Mormon church 1 .;was called to the stand by Senator Hoar jthe opening of today's proceedings . ; before the Senate Committee on Privileges Privi-leges and Elections in the investigation of protests against Senator Reed Smoot of Utah. Senator Hoar desired information informa-tion on the subject of the rights of wo-:men wo-:men lit the church, and whether they hold any priestly authority. Mr. Smith said women are regarded as equals of the men In all matters of voting, but that In holding "priestly authority" au-thority" women are not regarded on the .same plane. Women's Belief Society. . , He explained that the women have a charitable association, known as the Women's Relief society, In which . .they have authority to perform certain prescribed .duties. This ' authority la confined to the relieving of distress, but women are not ordained high priests, apostles or ciders. . ' Mr. Tayler asked about M. F. Cowley, one of the apostles, and Cow ley's talks on doctrine, and in answer to Questions by Senator Dubois, Mr. Smith' said Mr. ' Cow 1st was elected, as an apoAle in 1897. . Admits Polygamy Speech. Reading from the Deseret News of June 23, 1903. regarding a speech by Mr. Smith at the Weber stake reunion, Mr. Tayler asked Mr. Smith If he was correctly cor-rectly reported In saying that the doc-; doc-; trine of plural marriages was a revelation revela-tion by God to Joseph Smith, Jr., and to reject that would be equivalent to a re-;Jection re-;Jection of God himself. , Mr. Smith believed he was correctly j -i reported, snd'when a list of names of j those present. Including Senator Smoot, wasread, Mr. Smith said the list was corral Ha declared' that he would not have had the article published if he had been consulted. Bad Refrained in Public i Pressed for a reason, he said that he j was under injunction not to teach the I rightfulness of polygamy, and that he had refrained from so doing in public. Senator Hoar called attention to the 'fact that the speech was teaching po-' po-' lygamy in private to the important and influential gathering at the reunion. Mr. Smith said his statement was i ' merely to set right a matter of history In regard to the president who inaugu- 'rated the system of plural marriages. '. Was Discussing History. I "Some-i persons held that Brigham (Eoying if is the first," he said, "and I know it fVs Joseph Smith, and I brought - forwarJ?Smy aunt, Bathsheba W. ' Smith, fif Uiad received the endowment from ZttMfi. Smith at -Nauvoo. She was the last living witness, and I took that , . occasaQtt to refute a false statement. It was a matter of history, and not a teaching." Mr. Smith said he had avoided teaching teach-ing polygamy, but that the manifesto had not in any manner changed his ( convictions on the questions of plural marriages. Stped by Manifesto. j ".frior Hoar asked him why he ' av (d practicing what ha had held to be a divine command, and the witness answered it was because : of the more recent manifesto stopping the practice. Senator Hoar persisted that according to the wltneeef own statements the practice hafctiotTjeen stopped, and Senator Sen-ator Foraker interposed abruptly that . the witness had! gone, over that matter ' fifty times, and he could see no purpose 'of the continued questioning along that ne. V' r t and Foraker Clash. bciator Hoar resented the lnterrup- tion. and said Senator Foraker's state-merit state-merit suggested that he had asked one question- fifty times and hadf received fifty answers. He objected to the infer-1 infer-1 ence. and when Senator Foraker arose to answer he, too, stood up. The two Senators faced each other in what threatened1 to be a serious clash. Senator Foraker said the Senator from Massachusetts "could say what he pleased, of course, but I have not said he asked fifty questions." "I accept the disclaimer from the Senator from Ohio," responded Mr. Hoar, but the aggressive manner In which It was said failed to relieve the situation. Beveridge Starts Laugh. i After more heated words Senator Beveridge, who occupied a position directly di-rectly between the two, requested permission per-mission to ask a question. He said he wanted to address "Mr. Smoot," and Immediately substituted the name "Smith." -In the laugh that was provoked pro-voked both Senators sat down and the hearing continued. Senator Beveridge desired to know whether the church considered that the laws were being obeyed when polygamous polyga-mous cohabitation had continued since the manifesto of 1890, and 'Chairman Burrows, made the question, more per-; sonal. He said: ' Pointed Personal Question. '.'You have said today that too were obeying the laws tn not teaching polygamy polyg-amy since the manifesto was promulgated. promul-gated. Do you think you were obeying the law in having eleven children from different mothers since that time?" "I obey the law so far as teaching is concerned. I have not said that I have obeyed the law in my practice. As I have said before I preferred to take my chances with the law rather than to abandon my plural families. Polygamy has not been taught in the church by any of the officials. The church has obeyed the laws even if I have not," said Mr. Smith. Foraker Seeks Light. Reference had been made many times to the revelation commanding plural marriages, and Senator Foraker said that although the ground may have been covered before, he would like to have It go on the record in answer to this question: ques-tion: "When, where and how was the Injunction in' favor of polygamy received) re-ceived) by the church? What I want to know is whether the practice is arbitrary arbi-trary or merely permissive?" Revealed to Joseph Smith. Mr. Smith explained that the revelation revela-tion was made to Joseph Smith, Jr., at Nauvoo, in 1843, but was not publicly proclaimed- on account of the disturbance disturb-ance against Smith. The doctrine, he said, had been taught by Joseph Smith to Brigham Young and his associates, and preserved by Young. It was taken to the Salt Lake valley in 1817, and in 1852 was proclaimed by Young and accepted ac-cepted as a revelation. . "Does that answer your question?" asked Mr. Smith. - Wants to Know How. "It answers as to when and where, but not how." said Senator Foraker. "What I want to know is whether the members of the church were compelled to practice the polygamous marriage, and if that is true why it is only that 3 or 4 per cent of the Mormons have practiced what has been declared to be divine command?'' ( Permission, "Sot Mandate. , - Mrl Smith called for a copy of the ' book of Doctrine and Covenants, and read a part of the revelation, which, he said, had been accepted in the nature of permission to take plural wives, and was not mandatory upon the members of the church. Other passages from the same revelation were read, particularly the portions which prescribe the manner man-ner of taking more than one wife. It was set forth that if one wanted to espouse a second virgin he could do so by obtaining the consent of the first, but that if the consent of the first was withheld he was at liberty to proceed without It. It is set forth also that where the first refuses consent to share her husband with another woman, she would be -destroyed." Senator Pettus asked the meaning of the word "destroyed" in that sense. "Destroyed by the Lord." Mr. Smith answered that she would be destroyed by the Lord, but that he was not informed "Just how the Lord would go about it." "Then it does not mean that the husband hus-band could destroy her?" Senator Pettus Pet-tus asked. "No, never." ! "I take it, then, that the question of getting a wife's consent to marry again might Just as well be eliminated entirely." entire-ly." said Senator Beveridge. , j Ju.it as well," anf wered the witness. Senator Overman asked Mr. Smith if he knew whether . any one of the six polygamist apostles had disobeyed the law in regard to polygamous cohabitation cohabita-tion since the manifesto of 190. I do not know," answered Mr. Smith. (Continued on Page al PRESIDENT SMITH STILL ON STAND AT CAPITAL were polygamists, and said he believed he could show that a greater per cent of them had been convicted of the charge. He asked Mr. Smith how many of bis predecessors had been monogamists mo-nogamists and Mr. Smith said he believed be-lieved that all of them had plural wives. . "And I believe you said your successor succes-sor to the throne has more than one wife?" said Senator Dubois. (Continued from page 1.) I I "I only know that they were in the same statuj of polygamy at the time of the manifesto as I was myself. I do not pry into their family affairs. I am happy to say that I am not a spotter or an 'Informer.' I arn not a paid spy." "Yet you mltrhi know without being a paid spy." persisted Senator 4verman. Hissed Out His WordaC j "1 know nothing about It. As 1 have said before I am not a spotter or informer," in-former," answered the witnew. I The words "spotter" and ' informer" were hissed rather than spoken. I "Neither am I a paid spotter or informer," in-former," retorted Senator Overman. "Tet 1 know that in my town people have children. 1 think you mijht an-awer an-awer that question without using the words 'spotter" and 'informer' In that "roanKer." ! "I beg the Senators pardon," the witness wit-ness responded. All Presidents "Polyg." Senator Dubois asked several questions ques-tions directed to determine the correctness correct-ness of the statements that not more than I or 4 per cent of the Mormons : ever rebuked the apostles1 of the church for teaching polygamy since the mani- festo of 1890. and Mr. Smith declared: "No member of the church has ever taught polygamy eir.ee that time." Not Teaching Polygamy. "How about Apostle Grant?" Mr. Smith asserted that the Incident over which the anti-Mormon iapers have made "such a hubbub" had been a declaration merely that Apostle Grant had two wives. That declaration, the witness said, had been made by Grant in a private speech, and he had not taught the practice of the system. "What would you do if the principle of plural marriages was publicly attacked?" at-tacked?" Senator McComas asked. "We would defend it," said Mr. Smith. Books Offered in Evidence. When this point was reached, and as none of the Senators desired to ask any more questions of the witness, Mr. Tay-ler Tay-ler was Instructed to put in the various documents and books which he desired to offer as exhibits. He said It would take him half an hour to read them, and) the committee adjourned until afternoon. af-ternoon. When the afternoon session of the committee opened Mr. Tayler read from the book of "Doctrine and Covenants'' the first revelations of "Joseph, the Seer." at Kirtland. O.. in 1821, declaring that he had been chosen to receive rev- latlons, and that none other should be chosen, "until he Is taken." and then to be chosen through him only. Many other extracts from subsequent revelations were read. Including that relating re-lating to polygamous marriages and the authority to "seal for eternity" or to i perform celestial marriages. These J passages were Incorporated Into the f record jta a pttft fit lb Icatirnonjr-. ... . r No Successor to the Throne. "I wish to correct the Senator," responded re-sponded the witness. "There is no successor suc-cessor to the throne." Senator Dubois said be would withdraw with-draw the offen(ive term, that he merely wanted to ascertain that the successor has been determined upon and that he is now a poly gam 1st. The witness admitted ad-mitted that this was the case. Corrects Senator's Scripture. Quoting from the New Testament, Senator Hoar said it is stated that there is a command that "a bishop shall be sober, and have one wife1 "At least one wife." Mr. Smith interrupted. inter-rupted. "Well, we don't construe It that way In our church," said Senator Hoar, amid laughter. "What 1 wanted to get at is this: Now, I know several bishops In our church who are bachelors. Do you regard it a divine command that the bishops shall have one wife or more? What I want to know la how you construe that command." Polygamy Among Jews. "I believe the practice of polygamy was general among the Jews at the time the Scriptures were written," said Mr. Smith. "I believe that It was commanded com-manded that a bishop should be a married mar-ried man because his duties made It necessary that he should be an experienced experi-enced man." ' Hue the chairman had to rap loudly to restore order in the committee room. Senator McCotuas took the witness In hand to bring out whether, as the head of the Mormon church, Mr. Smith, sad s |
