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Show - fc . 4 k W . 4 . . - fc . .... 4. fcJ i. .p M 4 . k-i L - k - - t v C :l ' I. ! ' I ' 1 . 1 yMiJiJ ' l ' ,. f Icrmcn v Apostle, Fecino Crisis, Declares DrcniQticcIIy lie Is H a flcnorjcmist : end Ilok flhyovs: Condemned Polygamy; Concedes Violations of ilanifesto; Cites Record of Utah Soldiers as Argument in Favor; of Retention of Seat. ; WAsnmaxoN, ' feb. 19. sena- TOS XETD SMOOT OF UTAH SPOKE TODAY. VX THE SENATE, MAKING AN APPEAL POE PEEM1SSI0N TO RETAIN HIS SEAT IN THAT BODY. SENATOR SMOOT ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE MANIFESTO PROHIBITING PROHIBIT-ING ' PLURAL MARRIAGES HAD BEEN .VIOLATED. HE INSISTED THAT. HE IS A MONOGAMIST, HOWEVER, HOW-EVER, AND HAD CONDEMNED POLYGAMY,-. HE DECLARED, TOO, THAT HE REGARDS ALLEGIANCE TO. THE COUNTRY MORE IMPORT. ANT THAN ALLEGIANCE TO THE CHURCH. Senator Smoot't fate ia to be decided tomorrow. . With the vote only a few hours away,- the -result is problematical. Letters and telegrams by the score continue con-tinue to pour, in upon every Senator. These come from every section of the country and from both men and wonten, and urge the unseating of Smoot in the name of decency and the Nation's honor. . As the situation now stands the question ques-tion is merely whether the members of the upper house, of the Congress will act in accordance with the unmistakable will of the people, or will yield to the political pressure brought to bear here in Washington. - -Smoot Read His Speech. . r Senator Smoot read his speech, which was devoid of ' oratorical effort, and the. Senator's yoiet .was- at no time raised much above' the conversational tone. There' was: only a fair attendance attend-ance -of Senators, ana the galleries were half filled. The meagernes.xf the audience was doe to the fact that the Senate met at the nnusual hour of 11 o'clock. Smoot -was--congratulated by many Republican Senators. when-he took his seat. He was followed by Senator Dillingham of Vermont, who made an argument in support, of the Utah Senator. Sen-ator. ... . ' . . . Smoot spoke as follows: , "Mr. President: In what I shall say to the Senate I do not intend to analyze the voluminous testimony taken before the committee, or to make an argument thereon. The greater part of the testimony tes-timony has been before the Senate for more than two years, and all of it for nearly one year. It has been fully argued ar-gued by the - distinguished Senators i y r h i "I T T - T 'I T i T " i ' , . I - f . . ' - . - I t - , -1 i T ::-' i , T t ' ' - -I " " -i -i- " , .: T " - N " :: ' j : " r - . ' -y i X .-v . r ; - - - I .1 ' ft t t :: I .1 T ' 'T - t - ' T T - : , v,v..5; x -v.. .. . " SENATOR REED EMOOT. '.. . 4 , who utc "Jxeauy . spuua upon in is question. My own testimony, covering more than 125 pages of the record, is before vou, and i do not feel that I should trespass upon your indulging in an extended discussion. "Indeed, I should have been content to submit the ease upon the record and speeches made by others, without saying say-ing anything myself, except that there are certain matters which can be known only to myself; and I think that the Senate is entitled to a frank statement state-ment from me as to my personal attitude atti-tude . respecting these matters. The Senate is entitled to know my persona attitude upon the subject of polygomy and upon the subject of loyalty to this Government. Upon these two matters I shall express myself briefly, but with entire candor. '.'Never a Polyganllst. ," First, I desire to 'state, as I have heretofore stated, thst I .am not and never have been a polygamist. I have never had but one wife, and she is my present wife. "There has been a more or less prevalent opinion that the doctrine of polygamy was , obligatory upon the members of tbe Mormon church, when in truth and fact no such obligatory doctrine has ever existed. The revelation revela-tion concerning polygamy, as originally made and as always interpreted, is permissible per-missible and not mandatory. As a matter mat-ter of fact,, only a small percentage of tbe adherents of that faith have ever been polygamists. The vast majority of its adult members, from its foundation founda-tion to the present, have been monogamistsalthough monoga-mistsalthough permissible in character charac-ter as part of their religious faith and when the law was passed denouncing its practice the enforcement of the law was resisted on the ground that it was unconstitutional, as being an - interference in-terference with their religions liberty. Appeals were taken to the highest courts of the United States, every phase of the subject was tested in the courts, and the law was upheld. Then the church adopted the manifesto against polygamy, which . was ratified by the general conference of the peo- f)le, and thereupon the practice of po-ygamy po-ygamy for the future was abandoned. Manifesto Well Circulated. "This manifesto, adopted in 1890, discontinuing plural marriages, has' been presented and discussed in church conferences repeatedly, sent out into the church book, ; 'The Articles of Faith.', and in many other. publications issued by the . church, such as text books for the various quorums, manuals for the Mutual Improvement associations, associa-tions, Sunday-schools, primaries,, conference con-ference proceedings, ete? and in that way has been more widely circulated than the original revelation - on marriage. mar-riage. Consequently its text, tenor and purpose in prohibiting marriages' vio- (Continued on Page 4) . t x w ; m b y - . . I f.ivr -: 1 - t ' ' f i i C r. ; .5 i;. ; - t 3 i f c : i . j ta . i tey 1. ive i -ai-t::;' i it i i t ff't -rv that i -'"d. ' . i . 3 t r ' over- V -. c ( .vcr i '.o: - i c f i.3 tu: ; t ,t aw a j-, v...i rot l,v lw eno ti'viw as a rtr'lty the fancied can?-; cf thir a "ntations srd Bppre-f."ns.on: Bppre-f."ns.on: ncr wLl tu.eir children nor tc.r c' '.'rea's chiIIr"Ti. Tlie Government Govern-ment ( t the Unite! Ltates is here to f y b:A to win, over every obstacle. An! so far as I'am concerned, I formally for-mally and solemnly aver in every vote and action as United State Senator I shall be governed in the future, as I have been in the past, only by my convictions con-victions of what is best for the whole people of the United States, under my oath, to support the Constitution and laws of this Nation, "In closing, , let me say tinder my obligation as a Senator, what I have said under oath before the committee, that I have never taken any oath or obligation, religious or otherwise, which contacts in the slighest degree with mv dutv as a Senator or as a citizen? I owe no allegiance to any church or other organization or-ganization which in anv- way interferes with my supreme, allegiance in civil affairs, af-fairs, to- my country an allegiance which I freely, fully and gladly give." have have ben nome rolvgamous mar-riaa mar-riaa since te rnanirepfo." I believe sincerely, idr. I'res.ijnt, that such cases have been rare. They have not" received re-ceived the" sanction or encouragement of the church. "In re?pect to the thoroughness of the search made by the committee for such violations of the law. a witness before the committee testified that he had been employed since 1803 in hunting hunt-ing down such cases; that he 'had undoubtedly un-doubtedly the closest information possible' possi-ble' on this matter. This witness gathered gath-ered end presented all the rumors and suspicions he could discover on the polygamous relations in the United States, Canada, Mexico or elsewhere, and the whole number suggested, though not proved, is less than an average aver-age of two cases for each year since the manifesto, in all these communities, numbering over 800,000 people. "In most of the eases such persons are. and have been fugitives from justice jus-tice and the alleged marriages have none of them been charged to nave occurred oc-curred within the jurisdiction of the i United States. In bnt one ' instance was there direct proof of the. plural marriage, and this, it was testified, occurred in Mexico. If any of these cases are Actually eases of attempted assumption of polygamous ' relations, such attempt is not-only without the sanction and approval of the -Mormon church, bat is in the face of, and in defiance of its most solemn protest and admonition...- . - (Contlnned from pa?e 1.) lative of law are known to every member mem-ber of the church in every part of the world. "But the practice which ad prevailed pre-vailed in the, period previous to 1890 left a heritage for the succeeding period pe-riod that was a grave problem. There were in 1S90 about 2451 male members, of the Mormon church who had polygamous po-lygamous families. That these were placed in a position of difficulty was recognized by all who were familiar with the conditions. The present conditions con-ditions in reference to polygamous cohabitation co-habitation have grown out of past conditions, con-ditions, and both must be considered together to fully understand the toleration tolera-tion exercised by most people of Utah, Mormon and non-Mormon alike. y 7h& of th Xutnre? , "The statds of the men ' who have entered into the plural marriage rela tion before the issuance of the manifesto mani-festo had been fixed before that time. There was no power in the church or in the law to change, that existing fact. What had been done had been irrevocably irrevo-cably done. The only question was as to the future.: What should be the attitude at-titude of. the people toward the future relations of those who had entered into the polygamous relation ' before the manifesto f This problem was a serious seri-ous one. ' "At. that time' all the machinery of the courts in the Territory was in the hands of non-Mormon officials, who had been vigorous in the prosecution of polygamous relationships. These recognized recog-nized the vexed nature of the situation situa-tion and extended the olive branch, as it were. As a relief in this dilemma came an exercise of forbearance on the ?art of - theproeecuting officers. The hree Assistant United States District Attorneys for that period were E. B. Critchloir, Frank B. Stephens and William M. McCarty. Judge McCarty was inclined to continue prosecutions in some cases, bnt the United States District Attorney refused to allow his accounts therefor, and he ceased. , -End Relation in Death. -. Says Clrnrch Condemns It 'The Mormon church - has ' stopped plural marriages and no polygamous relation assumed subsequent to 1890 is with the permission, sanction or' approval ap-proval of the church; that is final and fixed. Every such violation of the law his the express condemnation of the church. The manifesto of 1890 was submitted to and approved by the conference con-ference of the church which means by the body of the members of the church and it remains the law of the church binding upon every officer thereof, however how-ever high. It cannot be repealed, modi-fled modi-fled or suspended, except by the same power that enaeted it. 4 'Reference has been made to an alleged al-leged treasonable obligation which it is sought to claim is a part of the Mormon Mor-mon endowment ceremony. The Senate Sen-ate will understand that these ceremonies cere-monies are of a sacred nature to those participating in them, and are. therefore, there-fore, not divulged. They were instituted insti-tuted in the Mormon church by Joseph Smith some time prior to his death, and are yet given as part of the Temple ceremonies, being of a religious, spiritual spirit-ual character, they are for the living and the dead a part ' of the Mormon belief being vicarious performance of ordinances and ceremonies. "Mr. Critchlow wrote the principal protest in this case1, and was one of its signers. All these and other Government Govern-ment prosecuting . officers testified before be-fore the committee to the cessation of I prosecutions against then-existing po-ygamoua po-ygamoua relations, and of the general sentiment among the non-Mormon people- that that was the best and quickest way to get rid of the whole question to let the old-time relations end in death. There was a general acquiescence acquies-cence by the people in this solution, and it is working out a complete and final solution. . - -"At the time the manifesto was adopted there were 2451 .polygamous households in the church. Careful statistics sta-tistics have been taken and preserved, and wUl be found in the testimony, which show that this number has been gradually decreased nntil there was at the time the testimony closed not to exceed 500 such households in existence.' exist-ence.' : : '- ' -"There are twenty-six general authorities au-thorities of the Mormon-church, including includ-ing the first presidency, patriarchs, apostles, first council of seventy, and presiding bishops. In 1590 this list of officials was composed of twenty-three polygamists and three monogamists. The first presidency and - council of apostles, prior to my election as an apostle in 1900, waa composed of ten polygamists and five monogamists. In 1900, these same quorums comprised five polygamists and ten monogamists Of the fourteen general authorities chosen since 1890. only two were polygamists, po-lygamists, the other twelve monogamists. monoga-mists. - : Only One Polygamist. "Of the seven apostles chosen since 1890. when I wss named, only one was a polygamist, the six others "being monogamists. mo-nogamists. The onlv polygamist chosen an apostle since 1897 is now 70 years of age, and entered into that relationship relation-ship ref ore the manifesto. At the time of his selection as an apostle his youngest child was 22 years of age. He nas been a member or the church for over half a century, performing faithful faith-ful and distinguished church service during most of this long period. It was on account of this long and faithful service that I voted for him to be an apostle. Nothing would have induced me to have voted for him if he had been guilty of taking a plural wife Not Hostile to Nation. ''There does not exist in the endowment endow-ment ceremony of the Mormon church the remotest suggestion of hostility or of antagonism to the United States or to any other nation. They are of a purely religious nature, wholly' between, the person taking them and ! his Ood, and as with: the ritual of various fraternal fra-ternal organizations, regarded as sacred and secret. 1 "Adverting to the religious f and spiritual character of those ceremonies, it is conceded that such character ia eeremonies .often has an influence oa the conscience and conduct of the persons per-sons concerned. - There is not a solitary instance where that influence in the endowment eeremonies has been displayed dis-played in- an act of hostility to the Government. If any effect has been wielded it has been for the most devoted de-voted loyalty to our own Nation. "The application in this respect, as to 'the loyalty of the Mormon people, can be brought home readily. We will pass by the incident of the Mormon exiles from Nauvoo furnishing a battalion bat-talion for the United States army for the war with Mexico; the action of the Utah pioneers in raising the American flag in the Salt Lake valley when that was Mexican soil; the fidelity of Utah to the Union during the Civil war and down to the period of the Spanish-American Spanish-American war and the insurrection in the' Philippines. The State of Utah came into the Union eleven years ago. Scarcely two years had passed when there appeared on our national horizon the cloud of war with Spain. Side by side, shoulder to shoulder, with every other State in the Union, Utah furnished her full quota of American soldiers and offered more. r ! Utah in Late War. since the manifesto. "Of the ninety-six members of the presidencies of tne 'stakes' (ecclesiastical (ecclesias-tical sub-divisions), in 1S90, forty-seven, forty-seven, or about ope-half, were polygamists. polyg-amists. "But, Mr. President, it is claimed that there have been new cases of polygamous marriages since the manifesto mani-festo and this presents altogether a different dif-ferent question. I have no hesitation in declaring to the Senate and to the American people that in my opinion any man who has married a polygamous polyga-mous wife since the manifesto should be' prosecuted and, if convicted, should should suffer the penalty ef the law; and I care not who the man might be, or what position he might hold in the church, he should receive the punishment punish-ment pronounced by the law against his crime. Speaks Against Polygamy. "The testimony taken before the Committee tends to show -that there "There was no question of rclijriotis distinction or dispute then. The Utah li?ht artillery was composed of men of different religious beliefs, including orthodox Mormons who had partaken oi their church rituals known as the, endowment en-dowment ceremony. Maj. Richard W. Young, the commanding officer of the Utah light artillery, was one of these; 8ergt.Harry A. Young and others who gave np their lives for the flag were among this Dumber. And in so far as those endowment ceremonies may have relation to this Government aa unreserved unre-served and undisputably accurate interpretation inter-pretation is given by tne record of the Mormons mustered into the Utah light artillery which served in the war with Spain and during the subsequent Philippine Phil-ippine insurrection. No man has a right to question that interpretation; no true American will do it; it is inscribed in letters of fire by the history of many a battlefield. . ' 'And here in the Senate of their countrymen, upon the incontrovertible witness borne b ,the brave survivors and the. heroic dead of the Utah light artillery, I hurl back the charge of the defamer that there ever1 was a word or breath of hostility or disloyalty in the sacred religious ceremonies in which they or' any. other persons participated as members of the Mormon church. "It is not an infrequent occurrence, Mr. President for somebody, often a person of prominence, to come out with a declaration that this or the other thing is 'menacing' the life of the Republic; Re-public; that we are following the path which brought Borne to decay; that our wealth, our industrial combinations, our free speech, are crowding the Nation to destruction. Notwithstanding all these dire predictions, none of which is more absurd than the myth of Mormon ' hierarchal domination, the American Union is going to stand;- it will continue con-tinue a free and enlightened Government. Nation Will Advance. . . . "It is founded on the popular will of a - liberty-loving people. ' It discusses its publie questions and decides them according to rules of tolerance, human rights and human freedom. As such it will advsnce.; It will grow. It will increase. in-crease. It will -progress. No other nation na-tion will prevail against it. It has the '' V ' - |
