Show WHO ARE THE PERJURERS I 1 THE san eian egan feancisco francisco cisco chronicle in an editorial headed I 1 justice in mo rmon exhibits high glee over the that the I 1 I 1 prospect bigamist recently convicted will receive I 1 the full term in state prison which the ithe law allows this is of course quite natural when the malice of that paper towards the cormons mormons Mor mons is considered and we do not care to comment upon this remark nor on the probabilities as to fallacious anticipations we desire to notice the opening sentences of the article which are these the clawson polygamy trials in salt lake have had some remarkable features the first trial was characterized by wholesale perjury on the part of some of the leading mormon officials who testified to an amount of ignorance in regard to the f fundamental ceremonies of the religion which would make their offices the finest sin secures in the world it is not surprising that such char charges V ea as these are made against leading mormon officials when the sources of information from which such conclusions clu are derived are examined the dispatches sent f from rom this city to western press are ara the I 1 pointers that the coast papers rely on concertin concerning such matters they proceed from the the same unsavory source as the tribune articles in this city conveying similar charges they are usually unreliable often misleading sometimes wilfully and entirely false faise it is very easy to make the charge of perjury it is not quite so easy to substantiate it in this case it cannot cannot be proven nor has any attempt yet been made to support it by anything but general assertion assert fon ron rank blackguardism and vile invective the facts inthe in the case are these the leading mormon officials who were placed on the witness stand were summoned by the prosecution for the purpose of proving provin if possible os sible sibie by the church records and ana by b the supposed acquaintance acquaint anee of those 0 officials ceals with the particulars the fact of a marriage between the defendant defendant and a second wife but these witnesses were not in possession of the information desir desired td they were not present at any marriage between the parties they knew no more about it than the common rumor and perhaps not so much on that as some of the jury and they were not the custodians of the records they neither denied nor affirmed the fact of the marriage or the existence of such re cords agthe prosecution assumed to be kept they simply did not knew of the marriage nor where such records could be found that was all ali that was in any way pertinent to the matter in quest question foh loh because they could not give the information desired low lived scribes who gaan gain ain their living by misrepresentation and abuse who cannot or will not ever state fairly the position of an opponent who invariably misstate a proposition and distort a fact in controversy t tro charge these witnesses with perjury perjury jury and this charge is sent on F Ser ight lightning ning wingston wing sto do lying service in t he lantri I mormon cause abroad from whom do these charges ebie ebbe emanate nate from those who practice that of which they accuse their betters oetters only they are not called upon to make oath to their falsehoods the only thing fhlug that saves them from the brand of perjury I 1 ury is the fact that they do not swear to w what hat they say they pretend to know all about polygamous marriages they pretended to know of the plural marriage the subject of this prosecution why did they not go on the witness stand and give lve ive their precious evidence the ailster answer is they did not know anything about it neither did the witnesses accused of perjury they were not required to tell what they believed imagined or had heard the they were to testify of what they knew I 1 A mans neighbors neighbor may have heard that he has taken a plural wife report may mayi be very busy with his hb name abdalle and alleged marital relations k and land yet that teat neighbor may know nothing whatever that can be called legal evidence or would be proper to give under oath in a court of law but the villains who make a trade of besmirching reputations at once pour our out their torr torrents ants ints of abuse on the heads reads of witnesses who will not swear to things they know not of and boldly accuse them of perjury because they will not commit perjury if any mormon witness should really be guilty ef that great crimes cri meis it to be supposed for a moment that he would not be prosecuted for it with all the animus that has been exhibited a against ainest the mormon formon IN people throughout this prosecution would it not be strange tha a 0 66 mormon 11 committing per jury during the dings would world es ca cape e being legally charged with that 01 of nence fence en ce if perjury is ts such a common crime among the 11 Mormon js as has been al alleged leed why is it that witnesses who are supposed to know material facts are accused of concealing themselves to avoid service of summons could they not come into court and lie as glibly as the bune and as foully as the author of numerous press dispatches when the witness lydia bydia spencer was found and brought into court why did she refuse f use to be nand face the danger of imprisonment was it not because she would not lie and when she finally te testified stifled that she was married to rudger Clawson why did she not tell a falsehood instead and screen the man she loved and to whom she was bound by the most sacred ties simply because she knew that perjury was a sin why did anna gallant Galli Gal mant fant belle harris nellie white and others refuse to testify before the grand juries that sat as their inquisitors inqui why did they not tell any kind of a story that would have kept them from imprisonment simply because they would tell nothing but the truth if they testified at all and would rather be imprisoned for life than commit perjury perjury jury why did rrt art daniel 11 we wells ier Fer Is go to t the he penitentiary rather than answer certain questions quentio ns if perjury isas lias alleged alle alie ednot biot only permitted but taught 1 6 by 63 the mormon lormon church why did he not de depart art ard from the truth and save himself himself from the consequences of contumacy the doctrine and covenants a standard of our faith containing revelations from almighty god to tills this church have these positive injunctions ions lons thou not lie he be that lieth ileth and will not repent shall shail be cast out sec see lii iii 19 s and if he or she shall lie he or she shall be delivered up to the law of the land ibid 86 1 I have commanded you to bring up your c children h I 1 in n light and truth sect cclif I 1 I 1 wherefore kh 4 40 e ae for e let every man beware lest he do that which is not in truth and righteous before me sec see 1 9 these are divine injunctions to the latter day saints or mormons cormons Mor mons 11 as they are called and are binding tipon upon the church it must be understood that in these trials for polygamy legal methods are employed Is it wrong to meet them with legal methods technicalities are used to their full extent by bv the prosecution Is it wrong to insist on technicalities in the defense the defendant is placed in legal jeopardy jeo he has the constitutional pari para and an statutory right to all the safeguards which the law has furnished f urnis hed to accused persons if he has broken the laws of the land that must be proven according to the laws of the land this is in harmony witti secular law and also the divine law to our church therefore when the burden of proof is upon the prosecution people who believe that the act which is made a crime by law is not an essential sin or violation of morality are not to be expected to rush eagerly to the witness stand and heip help to convict the accused and neither are the open to the charge of perjury j Y NO hp they tell nothing t lii iii n g b but u t aart what t evil e ill and refrain from giving for velch is nothing bud but hearsay rumor the real falsifiers are those who accuse them of bf falsification |