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Show imile jghn mm mm says;- : : IE HUD NO EVIDENCE TEAT ANY M! : BEEN PERFORMED IN MEXICO, AS. SAD) Contradicts the Testimony of Chairman Jackson of Idaho as to Political Interference of Church in That State. plural marriages, until polygamy was prohibited by the church In President Woodruff's manifesto' Chairman . Burrowf drew from the witness some statistics relating to the church, but no register of the total membership. , In regard to colonization Apostle Smith .said there is a large settlement in Mexico, and that one-third of the population of Idaho and one-fourth of the population of Wyoming are Mormons. Mor-mons. Other States and Territories having large settlements are Nevada, California, Arizona, Colorado and New York, while Iowa has a large settlement of the Reorganized Church of Latter-day Latter-day Saints, which drew away from the other churchecause it did not believe In polygamy. Result of Revelation. Apostle Smith said that the suspension suspen-sion of the practice of polygamy was the result of a revelation, and that It would take another revelation to put it In force. ''Then the president of the church might put polygamy- in practice by re- celvlng a revelation J i. iJ.. "Nc-t unless the people should receive it Nothing is forced on the. Mormon people," he replied. Trials in Bishops' Courts. : Isaac Blrd8all, formerly a Mormon, now living at Elsinore, Utah, was examined ex-amined concerning a -civil trial in a land case in which he and his daughter were defendants. The case was heard In the bishop's court of Monroe ward in Utah, where Blrdsall and his daughter were charged with un-Christianlike conduct James E. Leavltt brought the action to obtain possession of sixty acres of land which he is alleged to have purchased from the Birdsalls. but to which he did not have title. Mr. Blrdsall lost the case, and It was decided against him also in the high council, the next higher church court, and appeal was refused by the officers of the first presidency, the -highest church court. Threat Was Made. Before an. appeal to the first presidency presi-dency was attempted, the witness said his daughter was givennotice to carry out the verdict of the church courts or the first presidency would take action by cutting her off from the church. Records in the case were introduced showing that Cora Blrdsall, the daughter, daugh-ter, was excommunicated In June, 1903. Mr. Blrdsall said that the decision so wore- on his daughter that she neither ate nor slept, and appeared to lose her mind. Her condition was brought to the attention at-tention of the president of the stake, and her parents were told that, their daughter would be tormented and led by evil spirits until she complied with the decision of the church in regard to the land. In which event rebaptlsm was promised her. Was Rebaptized. Later she- was rebaptized in the church and then made the deed, conveying con-veying the land to Leavltt. The witness said his daughter sent word to him by her mother that she had been (orced to deed away the property in question. WASHINGTON, Dec 19. Apostle i John Henry Smith of the Mormon church was recalled as the first witness wit-ness today in the Senator Smoot ln-estlgatlon ln-estlgatlon and was cross-esamined by i A. S. Worthington, counsel for Mr. ij Smoot Apostle Smith said he had j v ' known A. E. McDonald (who died dur- . lug the present year), who was charged by one witness with having performed a -plural marriage in Mexico. '"It had come to the attention of President, Lorenzo Know that McDonald McDon-ald had been exercising the right to marry or seal persons In plural marriages, mar-riages, said the witness. "President Snow instructed me to call McDonald .-. to account, I went to Mexico, but did not learn that any plural marriages had been performed. I never have heard of any president of the church authorizing author-izing plural marriages since the manifesto." man-ifesto." Contradicts Jackson. . Denial was made by the witness that the Mormon church owned a majority i rf ptorv ..-. '.;4E xr3Tjuforla f-luano. f-luano. He was examined concerning his participation par-ticipation in politics, in Idaho, and his " . testimony chiefly was contradiction of - the testimony given by Chairman Jackson Jack-son of the Idaho State committee, who ' testified Saturday. He denied that he had said that there had been revela-tlons revela-tlons that certain political tickets should be supported. Made Speeches in Idaho. Apostle Smith, however, admitted taking ta-king a part In bringing about the repeal of the Territorial test oaths which practically prac-tically excluded Idaho Mormons from voting. He said he had made political speeches in Idaho in 1902. but appealed to the voters as a citizen and not as a member of the Mormon church. ! As to Plural Marriages. When Mr. Worthington concluded his cross-examination Senator Dubois asked Apotle Smith if an apostle could take a plural wife now and retain his -standing. 3 "Unless, perchance, -he were handled by the laws of the country." was the iresponse. "You mean that some Gentile would Lve to make complaint?"- "No, sir. If submitted to his council I think it would deal with him, I know I would." Would Lose Standing.. Pressed for a more definite answer, the witness said If the fact of a plural marriage should be demonstrated In the courts, an apoetle contracting such a marriage' would lose his standing. Attorney Tayler, for the protestants, examined Apostle Smith concerning his knowledge of the alleged marriage of ' " Apostle Abram Cannon and Lillian Hamlin, charged by witnesses to have teen performed by President Joseph Smith on the high seas, near Los Angeles, An-geles, in 1896. Denied by President Smith. . The witness said he went to President Presi-dent Smith and asked if he had performed per-formed such a ceremony, and the reply was that he had not. He admitted that if the president of the church wanted to perform a ceremony of that kind he would be at liberty to do so. "But I believed him absolutely," concluded the I ' wltnesa Got No Information. Apostle Smith said he had made Inquiry In-quiry as to who performed the ceremony, cere-mony, but obtained no Information on the subject. The witness said he had serious doubts whether Abram Cannon 'had married Lillian Hamlin. , "Then what is the explanation you made to yourself as to the status of your brother apostle and Lillian Hamlin?" Ham-lin?" he was asked. Not Concerned. He said he had not concerned himself on the moral question, as Abram Can-v Can-v ron was dead. "If you knew President Smith had . performed a plural marriage ceremony then what would you do?" "I would go before a grand Jury and grive raj testimony." "Then your .only interest would be to ree that the guilty person was pun-, pun-, ' ' Ished ? iWhat about the effect upon the $harcKTV , "The church would have to take care VIuat' See Ceremony. The witness said he would take no action ac-tion In such a case unless he saw the ermony performed. ApcPiie Smith said there was much contention between members of the frVuxfl on the subject of the legality of |