| Show AN IMPORTANT INTERVIEW the following account of an interview with presidents wilford woodruff and george Q cannon to is taken from the salt bait lake times of tuesday evening june the only argument put forward in opposition to the organization of parties on national lines I 1 ia utah is that the peopled people le party is not sincere in the dissolution that has been effected and that E a plot has been laid by which the lib elihu are to be divided and the political control of utah placed in the hands of the mormon people for purposes adverse to the interests of the gentile element it has bag been urged that the movement so tar as the mormons cormons are concerned is being engineered by the church and the demand has been made that the heads of the church should define their position in connection with the subject before the gentiles should be asked to believe that the members of the organization are sincere in brief it has been claimed that it is the purpose of the church to secure statehood for utah and through the alleged political control of its ite members seize all the offices and carry on the government in the interest of mor mons and against the interest interests int eresto of non mormons cormons Mor mons it is held that the church claims the right to exercise absolute authority over its members in all matters and that this extends to direct dictation as to whom they should vote for at all times we are told that those who have joined the democratic and republican parties have done so at the direction of the heads of the church that the peoples people Is party was dissolved solved dl di at their dictation and that its members will be subject at all times in the future to their absolute control we are told further that polygamy has simply been suspended to be re dished in the future under the protection of state laws enacted by mormon legislatures and that these legislatures elected ejected by the decree of the church will pass other laws intended to oppress gentiles and work virtual of their property there are thousands of earnest gentiles who do not believe one word of the charges of bad faith that are put forward in connection with this matter but there are others who are frightened by the pictures painted before their imaginations and who are honestly looking for further evidences of good faith on the part pan odthe of the fo rejoining the present movement the entire controversy turns upon this question of good faith as was shown by the organ of the extremists when it declared in its issue of june that it would yield to party division if any evidence could be adduced that would be received I 1 in u a court of law that the peoples party was sincere the ams has held thattie th that atthe the evidence of sincerity ola OB the part of the mormons cormons is 18 abundant and satisfactory but it has desired to satisfy all sincere doubters and for that reason it determined if possible to secure expressions from president woodruff and president george Q cannon upon the disputed point such expressions have been secured they appear in connection herewith and they must clear away the last of doubt from the mind of every man who is willing to yield to incontrovertible evidence it is not often that these highest dl dignitaries 9 nit aries of the church consent to undergo the modern process of interviewing but when the times conveyed its desire to them and represented the public importance of the subject which it wished to cover they consented to receive its representative when the latter called at church headquarters in company with a gentleman who had consented to introduce him president cannon stopped stepped into the reception room to greet his visitors the newspaper man was invited to take a seat mat in the office and state his business president woodruff ir was absent at the time but president pres ident cannon suggested that the points which it was desired to cover might be put in the form of into interrogatories r tories which could be taken an ola up and answered in detail this was done and the questions which appear in the following interview were propounded the first counselor expressed his personal opinion that there was no reason why the queries could not all be answered and undertook to lay them before president woodruff when that gentleman should be able to again appear at the office the talk at that time ran on for half an hour and the times representative senta tive was impressed by the manifest earnestness and sincerity of president cannon it was evident that he was deeply interested in securing the establishment of conditions that would forever remove his church from the contention of politics and that would leave its people free to ally themselves with the national parties he told the story of the agitation within the church that led up to the renunciation of polygamy and it was made apparent apro rent that the renunciation could not ro be otherwise than absolute and final president cannon promised to have the matter taken up at the earliest possible moment and to notify the times 71 bm when the answers to the questions should be ready the queries were laid before president woodruff and he be and president cannon jointly gave the times the following as their deliberately expressed views on every question touched upon it Is IR asserted averted that the peoples party was dissolved by direction of the church Is there any foundation for that char changet ch argeT top the peoples peopled 8 party was dissolved dissolve a as we understand by b the action of its it leading I 1 members T they ey h have sax stated to us ns their convictions that the time had come fora for a division on national party lines there has been a growing feeling in this direction for a long time and the dissolution of the peoples party is the result of that sentiment and not the flat fiat or instruction of the church the first intimation we had of dividing on party lines came to us from ogden there is therefore no foundation for the charge that the church brought about the dissolution of the peoples part party I 1 it does t the L church claim the right to dictate to its members in political matters the church does vot not claim any such right L the he times has held that the a appearance pear of of church management of the peoples party during recent times resulted purely from the fact that the party was composed almost entirely of members of the church with prominent churchmen taking part in its aft affairs ira and that there has not been church rule as charged Is this view correct the times has correctly stated the facts connected with the appearance of church management of the peoples People Ps party that party having been composed principally of members of the church and self defense having compelled aled j w them to consult together and to re decide e ide concerning the best steps to be taken to pre preserve selve their rights some color has been given to the charge that it was a church party but this has not been done in a church capacity men have had influence in that thai party and been listened to according to their experience and not because of their official position in the church that being true are we to understand that the church will not assert any right to control the political action of its members in the fa future ture this is what we wish to convey and have you understand As officers of the church we disclaim the right to control the political action of the members of our bod body I 1 will aill there beany be any reason why members of the church should come together and vote solidly if political conditions here are similar to those which prevail elsewhere we cannot perceive any reason why they should do this in the future if as K you on say bay political conditions should exist here ere as they prevail elsewhere would leaders of the church counsel the support of church tive of party affiliation it is not probable that the leaders of the church would give any counsel upon such subjects and certainly would not discriminate against equally suitable men because they were not members of the church we would be in favor of voting for suitable men regardless of their religious beliefs or associations do 0 you understand that those who join the republican and democratic parties partie will swill vote and work for gentile candidates of those parties as freely as for mormon candidates this is certainly our oar understanding and we fully folly expect that former members of the peoples party who join the two national parties will be true to their party convictions and sustain the nominees of their respective parties though they may not be members of the mormon church charch 11 Is it your intention to advise members of the mormon church when the peoples party members have divided and after the liberal party has been broken up to unite in favor of the mormon church and against the gentiles do you know of any intention or understanding on the part of the heads of the church to advise the members of the church if statehood should be obtained to unite and operate cooperate co oo in respect to the interests of the church against the gentiles we have refrained from interfering in political matters because of our position we ourselves not having a vote but we would consider it the height of foll if we had a disposition to direct the members of our church upon political mat to advise them to unite in favor of our church and against the non members thereof if the present political movement should continue we see no good reason if thelA the liberal berall party should break up for any sue such h di division via ion as an has heretofore existed between mormons cormons and non mormons cormons Mor mons we have deplored the existence of this class feeling and believe it has boon a fruitful source of trouble we shall hail with unfeigned gratification the time when the people of utah without regard to their religious views can unite as citizens and labor for the advancement and prosperity of the territory if statehood should ever be obtained all the influence we could use to break down the distinctions which have created such bitterness in the past would be exerted I 1 do you believe that if utah should be admitted as a state the mormons cormons will unite in electing members of the church to the legislature and that the legislature will make laws favorable to the mor mons and unfavorable to the non mor mons mono As we have already intimated whatever influence we can use will be exerted in favor of legislation that will be in the interest and for the benefit of the whole people it would be most unfortunate if any attempt were made to pass pam laws favorable to the mormons cormons and unfavorable to non mormons cormons any such attempt would be sure to 40 bring upon the mormon on people evils which they are desirous of averting it is to to furnish no pretext for the formation of an anti mormon party which would no doubt be the result i if members of the church edthe in the legislature were to attempt to discriminate by legislation in favor of their co religionists Is it your understanding that the peoples party has honestly and in good faith dissolved and that they will unite with the democratic and republican parties according to their convictions of what is right this certainly is our oar understanding we can perceive no reason why the representatives of the peoples party should have taken their recent action unless it was their honest intention to unite themselves with the national parties 71 do you know ot any intention on the part of the Chu church rehor or its officers or members ever to organize a political party with respect to the conceived interests of the mormon church we know of no such intention on the part of anyone and can see no ob object j act to be attained under the new conditions eions which now surround us by organizing any such party I 1 do you understand that it is the wish of the mormon church to maintain a separation of church and state with respect to all political questions however much appearances may have indicated that we have favored the union umon of church and state and notwithstanding the many assertions which have been made ot of this nature there is no real disposition among the people of our church to unite church and state in fact we believe there should be a separation between the two but in past times the situation in this territory was such that officers of the church were frequently elected to civil office if the people availed themselves of the best talent of the community they were under the necessity very frequently of selecting officers of the church to fill these positions you tou must understand that nearly every reputable male mage member of the mormon church holds office in the church of course where the people as was the caw case in many localities were all mormons cormons Mor mons if they elected any of their own members they had to choise men who held position n in the church men were saler selected for bishops because of their superior ability to care are for and manage the affairs of their wards they were the practical and experienced perien ced men of their several communities and in the estimation of the people were suitable for legislators etc their election to civil offices led to the idea that there was a union of church and state do you believe that it is the wish of the mormon people to unite with the great national parties and to conduct politics in this territory ryas as they are conducted in all other states that is the impression we have received from conversation with the men among us as who take the greatest interest in political matters Is there any reason why the members of the church should not act freely with the national parties at all times we know of no reason why they should not I 1 would the leaders of the church under any circumstances countenance defiance of the laws against polygamy speaking for ourselves in view of the experience of the past no they would not noll 11 would leaders of the church if placed in official position wink at violations of the anti polygamy laws I 1 we cannot say sav what others might do but for ourselves we say we would not wink at violations of the law 1 11 would there be any desire among church leaders to abolish the laws against polygamy or to make them less stringent if utah were admitted to statehood you may rest assured that church leaders would neither attempt themselves nor advise others to attempt to abolish those laws if utah were to become a state Is it your understanding that if a member of the mormon church since the issuance of the manifesto and its adoption bk by the Church should enter into polygamy he e would thereby violate the creed of the church and would it be wrong for him to do so we ought to state to 0 o you that we have no creed we h have ave what are called the articles of faith among which however there is nothing said concern concerning ing po polygamy I 1 A member of the chuich who should now enter into that relation would violate the rule of the church and he would be considered a wrongdoer wrong doer door would you or any officer of the church authorize a polygamous marriage or countenance the practice of unlawful cohabitation 9 again we have to as say we can only speak for ourselves and say that we would not authorize any such marriage or any practice of the law Is it your understanding that the mormon people are in good faith observing ng the laws of the united states prohibiting polygamy and unlawful cohabitation that is our understanding la Is there any foundation for the harge that the mormon leaders are now engaged in a political conspiracy to secure political power for the church there is not the least ground for any such statement we are not engaged in any conspiracy of this character pi Is there anything to be gained for the church by securing political control in utah with or |
