| Show THE CHURCH CASES at ten september 1 I there met in the third district court room col stone appointed by the terr territorial supreme court to sit bit as a special commissioner to examine the accounts of F H dyer as receiver of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints mr dyer and his attorneys P L williams and J W judd united states attorney C S varian who represented the government F S richards and le grande young representing the church bishop john B R winder who bad been subpoenaed as a witness F E and charles mcgurrin stenographers the clerk of the per rit orial supreme court a bumby numby of spectators and reporters col stone took the oath of office before the clerk when the letter later retired and the two stenographers were next sworn the cammi commissioner then dictated to the stenographers the introductory portion of the record mr williams ad 1 reusing the court said he understood that specifications were to have been filed in behalf of the government before the taking of testimony directing attention to those portions of mr dyers accounts which were objected to commissioner stone said it had been expected by him that this would be done but he thought testimony might be proceeded with andl and the specifications filed during tho the progress of the investigation mr williams Willist ne then moved form ally that the specifications be re rei i quiren to be filed before commence com commencing to take testimony and that t thea h latter be confined to matters re berred to in the specifications Mr Varlan objected to the motional motion claiming that this investigation was for the purpose of examining into the whole of mr dyers ac counts as far as might be found necessary he said he be would not at this time prepare apeci specifications B cat ions mr williams made a further argument in support of his motion insisting that it would be perfectly perfecta LAI consistent with the order of the territorial supreme court instituting the investigation and with the usual practice in such cases to require such portions of mr dyers accounts as were objected to or questioned to be specified before taking testimony such would be an orderly and methodical procedure commissioner stone said the order under which he was acting required him to investigate the whole of mr dyers dyer Is ac couns and doings during the whole period of his receivership if the specifications had been beed filed it would have facilitated matter buth lip did not think he had the authority to order it done mr varian offered in evidence the record of the proceedings that had been had bad before judge harkness and judge sprague while they were acting as special examiners in this case mr williams objected to the introduction of such portions of that record as were not competent and relevant to issues now pending he could not specify chemin detail his objection was sustained john R winder sworn and examined by mr varian vanan I 1 was residing in this city when the ed munds tucker law was as passed d held no ecclesiastical position at that time except the office of a seventy could not state the exact number of stakes at that time generally a stake corresponded in area with a county tithing was collected in the different stakes and was deposited at local offices some stakes had tithing offices ond and some had not dot in some the tithing offices were ward concerns could not state in whom the titles to the various tithing offices in the various stakes vested prior to the incorporation of the stakes and wards there are three temples completed and one in course of erection I 1 am partially posted as to the uses for which these structures are designed the church in the past has believed in the doctrine of plural marriages I 1 understand that plural marriages have in the past been performed in temples but cannot speak from personal knowledge mr varian here read from the testimony given by angus M cannon before judge Spra guein which cannon described the uses for which temples were designed and asked the witness if he understood mr cannons Canu ons testimony to be true the witness answered affirmatively mr varian read further from the record of mr cannons testimony which related to the ordin ordinances ancess and work performed in temples and asked the witness if it was true the latter said he could not speak from personal knowledge as he had bad never been th through h a temple he further test testified ifie there was formerly on the temple block a building known as the endowment house but it has been torn down the tabernacle and assembly rall hall are used exclusively for public borshi worship ps the endowment house was used for purposes similar to those of temples such as ae giving endowments marriages were also performed there I 1 do not know personally that during during the eions under the edmunds law in 1884 5 plural marriages were proven to have occurred in that building it was generally understood that such marriages were in former years performed there mr varian were you committed with a certain traus transaction action by which salt lake stake baake was turned over to the temple fund certain property amounting to thirty odd thousand dollars the witness answered affirmatively and stated substance the of the transaction to mr williams in the spring of 1887 1 I was a seventy later I 1 was a high priest in may 1887 1 I became a bishop and counselor to the presiding bishop to le grand young I 1 cannot speak from my personal knowledge of other uses than those I 1 have named to which the endowment house was and temples now are put one of their uses is baptism for the living and dead I 1 do not know of any plural marriages having been performed in any of these buildings since 1887 do not know that it is intended to use the temples for such a purpose there ere is a religious ordinance of marriage performed in the church it is not necessarily a polygamous marriage I 1 could not definitely bdate all of the uses a temple is designed for le grande young dont you k klowas jowas a matter of au bublic alic notoriety y that there have been no plural marriages since march 3 1887 witness such is my under understanding stancl mr young do you not under er stand as a member of the I 1 mormon church that an order has beau issued forbidding such marriages witness I 1 so understand to mr varian president taylor died in july 1887 do not remember mr cannons testimony regarding the giving of recommends for plu pluvial i al marriages mr varian read a portion of the testimony of mr cannon to the effect that in former years reco recommends in for plural marriages had been countersigned counter signed by him and asked if that iDrac practice tice was in accordance with the witness understanding of was witness yes at the time referred to by mr cannon but I 1 understand that since the time to which he referred instructions were given forbidding the celebration of plural marriages in answer to commissioner stone the witness testified concerning the time when the temples at st george logan and manti were built and of their uses he did not know of his own knowledge that they had been used for celebrating plural marriages to mr varian do you not dot remember that it was proven that rudger clawson was married in the logan temple to a plural wife witness no sir air mr varian As a matter of church history dont you know that the temple at st george was used for years for celebrating plural marriages witness of my personal knowledge I 1 do not know that it was so faso used P F EI dyer was sworn and aed I 1 was marshal when I 1 was appointed receiver in november 1887 was in some degree familiar with the history tenets and practices of the L mormon church when I 1 was appointed receiver as marshal J I 1 had learned of these things in connection with prosecutions mr varian were you not advised ad that temples were used for plural marriages le grande young objected to the question the commissioner commis ioner said it related to the uses of temples as to whether they were confined entirely to religious purposes and was admissible witness I 1 understood that plural marriages were performed in the endowment house I 1 understood it to be a temporary substitute for a temple I 1 supposed the tabernacle assembly hall an aal I 1 ward meeting houses were used for public worship but not for celebrating plural marriages 1 mr varian did you not understand the object of the law to be to deprive the mormon church of its property that polygamy might thereby be abolished witness I 1 understood the object to be to deprive the church of ILI speculative property which it could use usa for the propagation of its doctrines abroad the witness in answer to questions stated what property he understood der stood was designed to be es cheated mr varian did not you u understand as marshal that polygamy was still practiced witness I 1 believed it was but could get no proof of it in four or five cases in which defendants were convicted of polygamy we never proved where the cere mOltY was ier performed formed I 1 was present when mr cannon gave his testimony but do not recollect its purport had leased the temple block before he testified fied the witness explained the reasons why he leased the temple block to the church in answer to mr Va variants rians questions witness said the i court did not exempt the temple block on his representations mr varian did you not consider it your duty to report to the court that the temple block contained I 1 the endowment house hoube and uncompleted it temple witness that was a matter of public notoriety with which the court was as familiar as I 1 was I 1 considered it sufficient to to t O report on the temple block as a whole as its contents were well known never agreed with the church authorities that the temple block was exempt and should he be excluded if I 1 reported that the temple block was used exclusively for religious purposes it was because I 1 was so informed y 0 mr varian questioned the witness concerning the statement of facts agreed upon in october the purpose or of obtaining a decree decreed the witness said he understood it had been prepared by the united states attorney and that it was not his duty to correct any errors it might have contained mr varian why did you not report to the court that the endowment house holse situated on the temple block was used for celebrating plural marriages witness because it had been abandoned and was not being used for any purpose mr varian why did you not report that the temple when finished ti would probably be used for that purpose witness because I 1 did not know what it would be used for mr varian questioned the witness as to why lie he hid had not dot seized the logan and st george temples and the witness said he was advised by his counsel not to seize them for the reason that the titles to them thein did not vest in the church and the disposition of the salt lake Te temple raple when determined upon would settle that of the others even if the church should be found to own them recess till 2 pm it was pm yesterday sept 1st ast before dings were resumed after recess the stenographer was instructed to make four copies of the testimony one for each of the parties interested and one for the examiner the examination of mr dyer was continued I 1 suspected that the church had property which I 1 did not dot take possession if f nor mention tir n in my report I 1 endeavored to ascertain all the property the church owned and take possession of it planted a suit to recover property in ogden which I 1 believed belonged to the church and made a demand for the tithing property in logan but it did not stand in ia the name of the church I 1 regarded the ogden suit as a test case and awaited its result before planting others in many cases the title to property used for church purposes stood in the name of individuals and could not be traced to the church we made investigations regarding the titles of tithing properties through out the territory and reached the conclusion that in most all cases they could not be traced to the church I 1 understood it to be my duty to take possession of all the property of the church but not for the purposes of a aft final nal decree I 1 had nothing to do with a final decree e I 1 was only a custodian subject to the order of the court I 1 went to logan provo beaver and other places and ascertained that the church had personal property in those places of a perishable nature mr varian questioned the witness as to why he did not examine records in the various counties in a search for church property arid and the witness said he had done that so far as time and opportunity permitted witness said he understood that after the final decree the receiver could take possession of additional property if he could abod J ad it the united states solicitor general approved of the statement of facts it was submitted to him hy by mr peters the united states attorney for utah I 1 never read the statement of facts had bad nothing to do with it considered it my duty to report to the court all the property of the church and did so ao so far as I 1 coull coul the reason I 1 employed mr peters was because he had a good knowledge of the case and vas ras a good lawyer in some matters connected with the case he did not represent me when the 0 final nal decree was rendered I 1 understood it re berred only to the property that had been gathered but did not exclude property from being taken which might in future be found the reason why I 1 did not pursue tithing and personal property in various parts of the territory was because I 1 did not believe there was any personal property and that the tithing property was all in the name of some one besides the church had information to this effect ant dont think my leasing the tithing property in this city to mr winder enabled the church to continue collecting tithing here other property could have been obtained for that purpose I 1 I 1 asked about fifty bubines men in this city what they would consider a fair rental for the tithing property and only one aia 1 ma fling 1 them named as high a e as mr winder offered ered per month did not know 0 the e property woula would continue to be us used for tithing purposes leased the church farm to mr winter winder at the low rent of 50 a month for a short time as the result of f negotiations which I 1 deemed it best beat to conclude that way in order to save a law suit about the title which stood in francis armstrongs name later the rent was made per month and still later the reason I 1 rented it to mr winder winder was because mr armstrong in whose name it stood offered to give it up it we would let mr winder have it I 1 regarded this as the best thing to do as it would save a law suit the way per month came to be gracei received ved for the church ch u ach farm barmas as the witness believed was this tain parties wanted to obtain a lease of it knowing that there was a quantity of live stock on it that could not well be removed and thinking they could therefore sublease it to fo the church at a profit the court made an order that bids be received and in order to retain it mr winder had to bid the high figure of per pei month the paty to whom I 1 leased the gardo house promised to pay 50 per month and and close the house and not allow it to be used I 1 thought it better to do this than rent it to some one for a lodging house or the like as there was much fine furniture in it and the damage to this might exceed the rent I 1 would get the witness explained fully in regard to the compromise corn promise settlement of the suits planted by him to get possession of certain pieces of real estate which the church had sold the church offered to give witness what had been received by it for all those properties and witness accepted the offer because there were grave doubts as to whether the properties could be recovered and because the attorneys whom |
