New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-06-21
CANNON AND HIS CHURCH.
MoRMoNIsM CONVICTED OUT OF IT'S OWN
MOUTH,

SALT LAKE cITY-HYPoCRIsY OF CANNoN's Po-
sIuoN-MoRMoN HISTORY A RECORD OF FRAUD
AND OUTRAGE
| To the Editor Of The Tribune.
| SIR Some days after the publication Of RAINS
| affidavits in THE TRIBUNE. charging the Mormon
Bishop, John Q. Cannon, late Delegate in Congress
from Utah, with having been accessory to the muir
der of Almon W. Babbitt, my attention was called
to Cannon's complaints to your own and to other
press correspondents, of my having furnished at
this time" said affdayits for publication.
| have no apology to offer. The whole history oil
Mormonism and the brazen effrontery and untruth-
funess of this chosen representative of vile and
bood-stained organization, not only justify, bnt
| make it patriotic duty to expose in every way
possible the machinery of these assassins, and to I'M
mask before the eyes of civilization the foulest ana
fthiest fraud of modern times. Otherwise, millions
Of men, broadly generous toward the largest reig-
ious liberty, might be deceived by Cannon's speech
| in Congress- where with unparalleled audaclty nc
claimed virtue religion and patriotism as the adorn-
ments of prosecuted sect which history proves
| was born of vulgar fraud and nursed in trckery
| and deceit, whose DEGREES were executed IN blood
for the qualification of avarice, power and iust-a
cutthroat banditti shielding devlish crimes under
| the egis Of religion an organization that decoys
by false presentations thousands of Ignorant In
nocent victims from all parts of the world, who II
obedent slaves to the mandatCs of a hundred lazy,
lecherous priests are robbed Of one-tenth part OF
| all their earnings by process OF religious uth-
| ingr from which complaining Mormons In utah
| have told me it was impossible TO escape. Ihey
| state that the emissaries of Mormonism in Europe
pictured to them before they left III light wholly
| false ne physical and moral condition of utahj
| that once fallen within the grasp of the Mormon
| eoclesid there was escape from life OF utter
| .s.I1 utufQ apn
whose reward is " blood atOnement." Earthly rev.
Citations will never disclose the mutitndes tumbed
into hidden graves in the wild cancns of Utah.
slaughtered by the remorseless knives of these
priestly butchers all for the delectable privilege OF
their souls' salvation through the CHASTITY grace OF
the " Mormon religion y; saved" through polite
| " termed divine revelation" though the victim
| in his writhing agony may privately regard 1t
savagcry moro relentless and inhuman than the
| Spanish Inquisition CT the tomahawk.
HOW CANNON ENTERED CONGRESS.
Brigham Young, president, priest and prophet,
| whose history is decorated with an indictment
for murder, sent John Q. Cannon to the XLllId
Congress rather as a missionary than as Delegate.
| Cannon came heralded as Brigham Young's chosen,
| Official much-married instrument to thrust the
| divine revelation of polygamy down the throat oil
an American Congress and force its recognition as
| an established American institution. When he ap-
neared before the bar of the House to take the oath
| as Delegate from Utah, | protested in preamble
and resolution charging him with having taken
oatbs Inconsistent with United States citizenship,
| and with being guilty of practices in defiance OF
| limited States laws Testimony TO that effect was
sealed on the Speakers desk in the case of Maxwell
| VS. Cannon snd was inaccessible to the House at
| that time The House, TO the shame of our civiz-
ation voted to seat him Cannon tells your CORE
| spondent that Merriam very bitter and
| would have done anything to prevent the stigma
| of his presence" Personally could have had no
| animosity toward him. bad never seen him pre-
vious to that time, and have yet spoken with
him. But representative crimnabbefore our laws
entitled to residence In the penitentiary, GER
tainly regarded him as outof place among American
Lawmakers. Ali through the XLiIId Congress re-
ceived volumes of evidence portrayng the crimes and
the audacity of Mormonism. RAINS afidavits
| were merely fractional part. Cannon denies
| their trnthfulness. l do not propose to try
| him for u1urder, but in other things i will show
| him to be- truthful as Mormon priest. Had he
confessed he would have charged God with the as
| sassination, and explained it as command"
He GAYS Of polygamy, my people believe that
God has gwen a command concerning marriage
and they have profound convictions concerning
MANY thingsD Cannon denesi but he has an er-
ratio mind and may yet II guilty, confess boldly
| that It was Gods command. He was sent to the
| XLIIId Congress as polygamist. Fearing lest he
might be rejected upon that ssue he denied having
| plural wives but witnesses laid open his harem TO
the worlds inspection, revealing, among Others,
| one wife sealed" to him after the law of Con-
| gress passed in 1862 had made the sealing" of
| wives felony punishable in the pcnitentiary
| Then he confessed and impionsly declared this
nractice TO be in accordance with divine revea-
tIonD and would proseyte Congress to his di-
| yinen method Of uplifting marriage" Were he
not a brazen-faced Latter-Day Saint the echoes
from crushed and bleeding hearts in Utah harems
| would have choked his utterances and struck him
mute.
RAINS AFFIDAvITs.
Cannon asks " Does anyone suppose, If RAINS
sworn statements had been true, he would
have remained silent so many yearsW Certainly
else he would long since have been silent" in some
Utah grave butchered by some Destroying Angels
of the Mormon Church in order to save his SOUL"
and no man better knows this than John =. Cannon.
When received RAINS aflidavts, strong as Ian
Onoee can mako them, l showed them TO James A.
Garfield our late beloved and lamented President,
ia whom Rain referred for proofs of good character
Mr. Garfield had not only clear insight as regards
character but was especially prudent in his utter
ances He said Rain is whose word can
he relied upon." II should be borne In mind that
Cannon in his contest with Maxwell avowed his
belief IN "blood atonementp as divine revela-
tjonn &c says "Razins a6idavits could not be
relied upon" Perhaps not. 70 expel him from the
XI,IId Congress, but have never doubted their
truthfulness Cannon says: Merriam acted an
unmanly part in printing those atfdavits when
was down. Does he mean to intimate that there
ia deeper degradation than Mormonism, from its
inception all along to the present hour1
have no excuses to offer for uncovering the
crimes of e1-Delegate Cannon who with Nor
mon cffrontery dares tell an American Congress,