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Show PRESIDENT SMITH TALKS f OR PAPERS AT WASHINGTON Says Any Man Caught TaK- ini Plural Wife Is Ex- communicated. WASHINGTON, June 30. Polygmy ii ao longer praetired by Mormona and the man who ia taught taking plural wi ia promptly axeommnnieated. Ro aaya Joecph F. Smith, enerabU prMi-dent prMi-dent of th Mormon church ia an interview inter-view in the Poet today. Preeident Rmith aaid that he still aupporta, but dees not live with the wivea he married prior to the deeiaion of the United State eupreme court that polygamy waa unlawful and before the church iaaued its famoua manifesto forbidding plural marriages, bince his slevation to the presidency, his efforts, he said, had been directed toward inducing in-ducing his followers to practice monetramy. Asked if he thought best for a man to have but one wife, the husband of Ive wive and the father of forty-three forty-three children replied. "Ia theM dsvs of high cost of living, there is no doubt thst the average man is much better on with one wife. If a man connnt support one wife de-eentlr, de-eentlr, it would obviously be impose! ble lot him to support more. The women of today all demand that thev he dressed and fed and housed as well ae possible, and the man with an average aver-age income would De ia terrible straits if he had several wive oa his hands, all crying for the latest thing in hats and gowns. ' ' Leaves for Bom. President Joseph F. Smith and Bishop Niblev left 1st evening at 6:45 on the Pennsylvania for Salt Lake and expect ex-pect to reach there Sundav afternoon. Yesterday President Smith wag reported re-ported hy tha Washington Time as saying: "1 am ju4t an ordinary mas taking an interest in publis affairs, working for a living, but with perhaps a history, his-tory, the tailing of which would eon suma too much of your time. Triers is one thing, however, I would like to impress upon those who seem to know little about tha Mormon church. One of our teachings is tha belief of work. I don't live oa tha church. I work for a living tha same aa any other man; so do trie bishops of tha cntirch. Work and thrift ara among tha fundamental teachings of our religion. We believe in raising everything wa can at home. I Wa believs la sustaining ourselves and I one another. I i 4'Thete seems to be a misunderstand-, ing on tha part of some aa to how the heads of the church ara supported. 1 don't attempt to live on what I am paid by tha church. Nona f as do, and no man of our religion becomes so freat that he cannot do h onset toil, his applies to a. to, woman and chil-, drea." Woman Saffraga Working WalL "How is woman suffrage working ia TJtahf' President Smith was asked. 4 'Oh, it seems to be working fine," he answered. "The women seem ta like to vote, and it appears to be for the good of the state. I would not be surprised sur-prised to sea woman suffrage extend eastward. We were the pioneers, you know, in establishing suffrage for the opposite sex, just as we were tha pio ncers in the development of tha beet sugar industry and ia claiming tha territory ter-ritory of Utah, then belonging to Mem ice. as a part of the I'nited States. Boon after the Mormona settled at Halt Lake thev planted the stars and stripes on a cliff overlooking the city, and at that time 5tHl Mormon volunteers were engaged in the trouble with Mexico, "I couldn't begin to tell you all the interesting things about the Mormon church, for the history of the church has already gone into five volumes. However. I hope von will see that I am just a plaia, ordinary, every-dav human being, a man. and that you will advertise adver-tise the fact that we all belteve in work. I work still despite mv age. and when I return home will ga right back at a." |
