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Show MEMBERS OF HAIS CLUB Roosevelt Brands Detainers in Public Loiter A TISSDE OF FALSEHOODS MAGAZINE WRITERS TASTE THE BU8IN3S END OF THE BIG STICK. Tho following letters nnd investigation investiga-tion taKen against tho scurrilous mng-nzlno mng-nzlno writers on tho conditions existing exist-ing In tho Mormon church .will bo of some Interest to raauy of our readers: read-ers: Tbo Deseret News ou Much 'J, addressed ad-dressed n letter to Thcodoro Roosevelt' tiBklng him for a statement In answer to charges laid in current magazine articles to tho effect that a bargain had been entered Into between him and high officlnls of tho churcr, looking look-ing to tho political advancement of certain men and for other purposes. Tho letter to Mr. Roosevelt said, in part: "Tho Deseret News, tho official organ or-gan of tho 'Mormon' Church, has paid no special attention to tho many scurrilous scur-rilous articles printed by several magazines mag-azines lately, and had not Intended to dignify tho articles la Pearson's by a denial. Wo now note, however, that It is being quoted to Bomo extent and feel that silence on tho part ot tho Church organ may bo construed by somo as an admission of tho truth of tho cbargos. Wo would like very much, therefore, if you have no objections, ob-jections, if you would kindly forward us over your signature a statement of whatever nature you desire regarding tho charges abovo quoted." Sovernl extracts, charging a deal between tho "Mormon" Church and the" Republican party, wero quoted in tho letter from Pearson's magazine. Mr. Roosevelt's secretary replied that tho former president was then on a tour, but that tho matter would bo called to his attention as soon as practicable Mr. Roosevelt answered tho letter of Tho Dosorot Nows, March 27, Btatlng that ho had received a similar lottor from Isaac Russell, that ho had replied to it, and that it would answer tho questions submitted to htm. Frank Harper, secretary to tho for-ldont, for-ldont, said In his letter to The News of March 27: 'Mr. Roosevelt desired mo to acknowledge ack-nowledge rocolpt of your letter and to saya that some time ago ho wroto to a gontloman on tho Now York Times, himself a 'Mormon,' in nnBwor to n letter from.hlm, a letter of which 1 will send you a copy as soon ns wo get back to Now York." Tho letter appearing In this week's lssuo of Collier's Weekly is tho letter i of erred to by Mr. Roosevelt. Tho lottor lot-tor in full Is ns follows: Mr. Roosevelt's Letter to Mr. Russell. Now York, Fob. 17, 1011. My Dear Mr. Russell: I thank you for your lottor calling my attention to tho chargos mado against mo In connection with an alleged al-leged bargain with tho "Mormon" Church of Utah. Tho letter you enclosed en-closed contains a quotation from n magazine which states that "Theodore Roosovolt lilmBclt mado tho bargain with tho 'Mention' Church, which ox-lets ox-lets to this day." It then contlnuos that "tho Church agreed to ileliver to Roosevelt tho electoral votes of Utah, Wyoming ,and Idaho in exchange tor thrco things: (1) A cessation ot the movomont and agitation within tho Republican party for an nraendment to tho federal Constitution giving to Congress tho power to leglslato con-iei.iing con-iei.iing plural marrlago nnd pnlygipi ous living; (2) n defenso of Rend Smoot, npostlo and representative ot tho 'Mormon' hierarchy, ns a Senator of tho United States, and for his ro tentlon of his sent in tho senate, and (3) a disposition of federal patronago In Utah and surrounding states In obedlouco to tho wish ot tho 'Mormon' 'Mor-mon' hierarchy expressed to tho fod-eral fod-eral administration through Smoot.' It Is a Ilttlo difficult to know how Contlnuod on Pago 2, I f MEIERS OF "" Ij i ! jump CLUB )j ! Roosevelt Brands Defamers In Bl ; Public Letter H fn BB' it i' ' B :' ' A. TISSUE OF FALSEHOODS I - B MAGAZINE WRITERS TA8TE THE B, ' BUSINESS END OF THE B J v BIG STICK. BB ; H ; fontliiuod from I'ago 1. B i to dual with a sto.-y like this, which H I Is nut merely an outrageous llo hut HB ' ouo so Infamous, so nbRolutcly without !. I tho amallcMt iiartlclu ot foundation, H that It Is utterly Imposslhlo that tho H . mou ranking tho chnrgu should bo Ig- H : liornnt of thu fnct, that thoy arc lying. B ' I never heard of this magazine article H 1 and do not know who wroto It. Hut H , whoovor did know perfectly well thnt H ho was lying. 1 havo novcr heard of HH tho writer whoso letter you quote, H but ho also must know that ho Is H repeating baseless falsehoods. Tli) HB other two magazluo articles you quote H 1 havo not scon, but If thoy, In nny HB shapo or way, rcsonihlo tho ono from B : v whlc.li you quote, thoy are equally Bl ' J Tho accusation Is not merely false, Ht ' but so ludicrous thnt It Is difficult to Hi discuss It seriously. Of courso, It Ir BBJ ' i I always posslblo to find creatures vllo H " onough to mnko nccusatlons of this Hj ' kind. Tho Important thing to romom- B her Is that tho men who glvo curron- B cy to tho charge, whether editors of B magnzlucs or tho presidents of col- B leges, show themselves In their turn B unfit for association with decent men BBK , when they securo tho ropotltlon nnd BflB , oncoiirngomont of such scandnls, BBB , ' scandals which thoy porfoctly well B t know to bo fatso. K ' Not only was no such bin gain mudo B . liy me, but equally, of course, no B i, jucli bargain was made by President H ' Tnft or by anyone who could speak B i for nny portion of tho Republican nn- B' organization. No such bargain Bj wus over In any way, directly or In- H directly, suggested to or considered by B i mo. It is not merely nn atrocious fnlso B ' ," hood, but It could by no possibility bo B anything but n falsehood. Nclthor tho H' t Church nor nny ono on bohalf of tho H j Church over agreed to deliver to mo H tho votes of the states mentioned nor H I to try to do so; nor wh any allusion K to tho matter over made to me. Nol- H thcr Senator Smoot nor any other clt- BBJ Izon of Utah was, us far ns I know; Hj ovon so much as consulted about tho H) patronage of the states surrounding Hj' ' Utah, nor did tho "Mormon" hierarchy Hj through Senator Smoot or nny one B: Uo, over oxpross n single wish in H i connection with that patronage The Hj' ' appointments were mndo In Wyoming Hj . and Idaho precisely on tho samo sys- Hjf , torn ns they were made In New Jei- isoy and Miihsachiibetts, and no inoro , attention was pnld to any candidate's Hj n religious quallflcatlonH In one set of BflBJ I statos than in another Moreover tho BflBJi Mime policy pieclsely was followed in Hj Utnh. One senator was a Qentilo ami BBJI ono a "Mormon." I consulted both. H' Oenornlly I found Senator Smoot nioro K ravorablo to tho cause of conservation B' than tho majority of his colloaguos In B' the senato nnd on this matter I con- BBBK ' auUed hlra raaro freely thau I did Hi l most otbor sonntors, although thoro B' ' woro Homo I consulted ever nioro free- ' . ly than I did him. Bt. As to theiro bolug a cessation of Uio '. movement for fodoral control' of mar- H' "lago and divorce. This was strongly H,t , ; opposed by a majority of tho ropro- BBHj Hontatlves In tho two houses of Con H? Kress from the different states, nnd flflBS k in but two or throe Instiinces is it poi flflflftj ' " Blblo thut those opposing It, whether H '; - Democrats or Republicans, could havo HW , beo Influenced by nny thought what- BBBB' evor concerning the "Mormons." l'er- Hj ' sonally I thou favored tho proposal, V i. nlul nnv nlways fnvored It slnco, bo- Hi ' CauS0 ' bollovet nnd still believe Ihnt H '! thls l8 011 "f several direction m l' , wh,ch th I'owor of tho general gov- BKBBl I ernmont could with advnutago be In- i'j , creasod. AVhethcr or not It is es- BI f - peclnlly needed ns regards polygnm Kfi I 0UB "'""lagos In Utah. I am not able HIl I to my- 0n ono occasion a numbor of Pf ' y charges woro mndo to tho ndmlnistra BB tlon whllo I was proaldont about those BKBV; polygamoue anrrlngoa In Idaho and M J Wyoming, as well as Utah, It bolug IBfeV asserted that a numbor of our fodcral K f , X, officials had been polygamously raar- Ll rlod' A vory through and caroful In- fvr vostlgatlon was made by tho host B '4 raon Jl too service Into thoso char- B ees' ani1 lhy were proved to bo with- BBBE'- ' ' HBt. Ut B much as tho Bmale8t basis In ' MiHk Wa f0l,n ' ,hnt a f0,irtl1 B.c-BHBBBBk" ' -U'' i class postmistress, whoso enrnlngs n year woro about $25, and who was nn old woman, had boon plurnlly married some 30 years previously, but had long ceased living with hor husband. Not only was It found that thero was no basis for tho accusation ns regards tho government offlclnls, but Incidentally Inci-dentally It dnvolopcd thnt thu Investigators Inves-tigators woro unable to find n single caso of polygamous marriage entered Into since tho prnctlco had been professedly pro-fessedly abandoned, I can not, of course, on this point speak generally; thoro'may or may not bo foundations for tho chnrgo of which I know noth-but noth-but I can Bpcak positively as to this Invostlgntlon mado by thoroughly competent com-petent and upright government offlclnls offl-clnls In Wyoming, Idaho nnd Utn' My memory Ih thnt on nnothcr occasion, occas-ion, either In Arizona or Now Mexico, or both, our attention was called to cases where thero had been polygamous polygam-ous marriages, nnd that tho offenders were promptly prosecuted. No man ovor suggested to mo not to proso-cuto proso-cuto any offender In such n caso; and I may add that every "Mormon" with whom I spoko assured mo that slnco tho public renunciation of polygamy, tho law had been observed in this respect, Just as lu others, and no ono of them over no much as hinted to mo any desire to plead on behalf of nny posslblo offender of tho typo. I nm, of course, speaking ot marriages on-tered on-tered Into slnco tho Church pronuu-clnmento pronuu-clnmento in question. If it were ever shown to bo truo thnt such marriages havo boon onterod Into, I should even nioro stronuously than hitherto urge giving tho fodcrnl government powor to deal effectively with polygamy. As for tho caso of Senator Smoot himself, ho enmo to mo of his own nccoid. nnd not onlv assured mo that ho was not n polygnmlst, but, I may add, assured mo that ho had never hnd any relations with any woman excepting his own wife; and I mny nlso add that It was tho universal testimony tes-timony of all who know anything of his domestic life that It was oxomplary lu ovory way. Ho also assured mo that ho had always done everything ho could to have the law about polygamy polyg-amy absolutely oboyed, nnd most strongly upheld tho position thnt the church had takon In Its public renunciation renun-ciation of polygamy, and that he would act as quickly ngnlnst any "Mormon" who nowadays mado a plural marriage as against a Oontllo who committed blgnmy. I locUed Into tho facts very thoroughly, beenmo convinced thnt Senntor Smooth had told mo tho truth, and treated him oxactly as I did nil other senators-thnt senators-thnt Is, strictly on his morlts ns n public servnnt. I did not Interfile In nny wny ns to his retontlon In the Bcnnte, save thnt whoro senntors came up to speak to mo on tho subject, I l' e to them freoly nloug the ll.ie-I ll.ie-I have hero outlined, tnklng tho view which 1 believe is tho only view that an American can consistently take, namely, flint If Mr Smoot or any jmo else had disobeyed tho law, ho should, of course, bo tumod out, but if ho had obojed tho law and was an upright and leputablo man In his public and private relations It would bo an out rage to turn him out because of his religious belief. I havo thus gone ovor point by point the Infamous ncciisatlmis mndo by tho writer, whoever ho wus, whom youi quoted nccusatlons which brand with lnfniny tho man who mado them and nlso tho mngnztno oditor who published publish-ed thorn, and nny ono who quotes thorn, Thoro la u pocullar infamy in this spoclos of slandor, and tho men ongagod In It do not stand one whit above any men who havo roally takoii part In tho practices which thoy at foct to donounco. So much for thoso slaudeis. Now n word to tho "Mormon" peoplo them solves. If tho accusations mndo against tho "Mormons" are ns falso as tho ac cusatlons upon which I havo touched above, thoro Is no need of my saying anything. Hut let mo most earnestly luslst on the vital need, if there Is tho slightest truth lu any of these accusations, of tho "Mormon" people thomselvoti acting with prompt thor oughness In the matter. Any effort, openly or covertly, to reintroduce polygamy poly-gamy In tho 'Mormon'i church would ineioly moan that that Church hod sol Its face toward destruction. The peoplo of tho United States will not tolerate polygamy; and If It woro found that, with tho oauctlon and approval ap-proval or connlvnnco of tho "Mormon" Church people, polygamous marrlagos aio now bolng ontorod into among "Mormons," or if eutorod into ore treated on any other footing than big amous marriages aro troatod ovor) whoro in tho country, thon tho Unltoi States government would unquestionably unquestion-ably In the ond take control of tho wholo question of polygamy, nnd thoro could bo but ouo outcome to tho struggle In such event, the "Mor-mon" "Mor-mon" Church would bo doomed, and If thero bo any "Mormons" who advo-cato advo-cato in any shape or way dlsobedi Oti.ua. innu-ui va,u, .,,,., w. enco ,to, or cancel of, or the cvadlnsi ' of, tho manifesto forbidding all ' v ' thor plural marriages that Mornum is doing his best to secure tho dcaTttc tlon of the Church ,Thoso "Mormons" on tho other hand, who occupy the position you uphold In your letter, and who Insist that the "Mormon" church ' shall turn Its face toward tho future, tako a position which If jeno-allv tak en will mean thnt tho Church will bo i j treated precisely on nn equality with all other churches. The "Mormon" has the snmo right to Ills form of religious relig-ious belief that the Jow and tho Christian havo to theirs; but, llko the Jow and tho Christian, ho must not practlso conduct which Is In con trnvontlon of tho law of the land. I have known monogamous "Mormons" "Mor-mons" whoso standard of domestic life nnd morality and whose attitude toward tho relations of men nnd worn on woro an high us that of tho best citizens of nny othor creed; Indeed, among these "Mormons" the standard of soxunl morality was unusually high. Their children were numerous, healthy, nnd well b ought up; tho young men were loss apt thnn their neighbors to Indulge In thnt course ol vicious sexunl dissipation so degrading degrad-ing to manhood nnd ro brutal In the degrcdntlon it-lnfllcts on women; nnd they were froo from thnt vice, nioro destructive to civilization than any other can possibly be, tho artificial restriction of rnmllles, tho practice of Bterllo marriage; .and which ultimately ulti-mately means destruction of tho nn-tlon. nn-tlon. Tho loss of ' the paternal and maternal Instincts among men and womon, the deification of n cold, calculating cal-culating selfishness, the fnlluro to understand that thero nro no otho.-Joys otho.-Joys and no othor duties connected with tho happy family llfo of father mothor nnd children all this represents repre-sents n far worse evil than oven the worst of purely polltlcnl ovlls can bo. Tho evil of divorce and all kindred ovlls nre merely subsidiary In wickedness wick-edness nnd ovil results to this grcnt anil central ovil. If tho averngo man Is not most anxious to bo a good father, performing his full duty to his wife and children; if tho average woman Is not most anxious to bo n good nnd happy wife and mother, tho mother of plenty of healthy and happy and well-trained children; then not only have tho average man nnd tho nvorago woman missed what Is Infinitely In-finitely tho highest happiness of life, but thoy aro bad citizens of tho worst type; and tho nntlon in which thoy represent tho nvorngo typo of citizen ,1a doomed to undergo tho hopoloss disaster which It deserves. In bo far UR tho "Mormons" will lUnnu ugalnst all hideous nnd degrading tendencies of this kind, thoy will sot n good ex-1 nmple of citizenship. If, on the othor I hand, the "Mormon" Church oponly or I secretly ondenvorH to reintroduce I polygamy, thon It has marked Hself for destruction, and has become an ally of tho forces of evil so potont as to oblige all decent cltlzons to Join ngnlnst It. Tho "Mormons" who renl-Izo renl-Izo this fnct and stand ns you do, and as I hnvo every reason to believe Senator Smoot docs, on these matters, are not only fighting for tho boat In torests of tho "Mormon" Church, but aro performing well the highest dutios of Amorlcan citizenship. Vory sincerely sincere-ly yours, Theodoro Roosevelt. |