Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1889-12-12
LETTER FROM SWITZERLAND
An Explanation Regarding Elder
Dietrich, Formerly Of Bohemia.

:, the conversion and laboTs Of Brothe
J. w. Dietrich, late Of Bohemia
Several inaccurate statements arC
made therein. One Of them is OF
: such a nature as to east shadow
- upon the character and judgment Of
:, our esteemed President, J.U. Stuck,
. and we therefore ask you to kindly
:, permit us to correct it. The state
. ment reads thus:
p "He Brother Dietrich was sent
to bohemia as a missionary and
" there preached the Gospel most earn
: estly. AS n result Of his labOrs fif-
teen persons were baptized into the
: Church within the space Of two
months. On April 2lst Brother
Dittrich wss visited by Elder Beck.
1 by whom he was ordained an Elder.
: At .his time, in Stuttgart, Elder
. Beck fully organized a branch of the
Church, which ut present numbers
upwards Of thirty persons. BY the
secession Of Brother Dietrich from
the Catholic Church (which took
place twenty years before and his
subsequent work in behalf Of the
Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter
day Saints, quite stir was created I
among the people, and 4 system Of .
persecution began. In this the Bo- I
hemian government played an ac- T.
tive part. There exists a law in .
Bohemia prohibiting baptism ex- (
cept by authorized persons belong I.
| ing TO the Roman Catholic faith Tor
any other recognized by the govern
mentl, and il is likewise provided
that no other religious doctrine
shall be publicly taught besides
that appertaining 10 the Catholic
| Church. Hence, no fewer than
sixtystwO charges We're brought
against Brother Dietrich. lie was
arrested but afterwards released to
appear on a subsequent date and an
Swer the allegations laid against
him. At this time he took flight to
Switzerland, and there remained
for about month, at the expiration
of which period he was sent back to
Bohemia by President Stuck, where ,
he reiOined his family. While alb
sent from his wife and children they
had all been afflicted with small I
pOX and one Of the children died ,
from the disease. After his return I
TO Bohemia Brother Dietrich eluded
the vigilance Of the authorities for
upwards Of the four weeks he con-
tinuel there. He sought shelter in
the woods, where he was almost 4
daily visited by his wife,. 4
Now il must certainly appear
from thrHbove that to send a man
who had become an exile for the
Gospels sake, and against whom 81 !
charges We're preferred. after a lapse
Of four weeks, hack again to the
place from whence he fled, was an -
unwise or cruel act on the part Of Ii
President Stuchi. But here are the Of
facts in the case: After Brother il
Dietrich was baptized into the T
Church he expressed desire to re- c.
turn home 10 his family, and in or G
Ter 10 do some good he wished 10 re- n
,eive a portion Of the Holy Priest ~
hood. At the request Of Elder rs
Beck, President Stuck gave per OF
mission TO ordain Brother Dietrich 10
o the .ilice Of a Priest. This was nj
accordingly done, aud Brother in
Dietrich returned to Bohemia. re
laptized the members Of his family as
nd several Others. Then Elder Beck Of
vas asked 10 20 to Reichenberg.
rhere Brother Dietrich resided. ami is
Ontirm the baptized believers, look tir
fer the labors Of Brother ID erich,
nd, if deemed wise. ortiain him an Va
.lder. This was also done; hut no of
ranch was Organized. Another WI
ian was ordained n Teacher. Mat Dir
ITS seemed 10 go on all right. Presi- f.f
ent Stuck paid them 4 visit and ne
illed Elder Lewis NJ. Cannon TO no,
hor there and supervise the work no.
Bohemia. y few days after. the II
an who had been ordained a In,
eSicTIvT became traitor. He re- seC
aaled the work which had been of
me by Elder Dietrich 10 the ms GO,
T of the Protestant church nj sid
eichenberg, and from these two ter
lglnated SO we were told bv gel
rOther Dietrich-the persecution
the part OF the government.
Of what was going on, an,
t at Once telegraphed Brother les
ietrich 10 come to Berne for safety. dcs
hich he did rs stated. While pro
rother Dietrich was at this office its,
resident Stuck, the Elders and pee
Units did all in their power to ale pal
ate the wants and suffering of the by
stressed family, and knowing that VIII
ey would have TO suffer greatly If frol
lowed Ito remain in Bohemia dea
here every avenue of making :
'elihoOd had been closed against gOy
EN-, 20 some extent even before Me
ey Joined the Church-President the
1cki and myself issued n call for stra
Up upon all the German speaking bod
ints at home and in this mission OF
the deliveranCe OF Brother Die tru,
ch and family from their distress 9TH
circumstances In Babylon. TO a
N the meantime Brother Dietrich Of {
I been here for about n month. NAL
i not having any papers. Il be. raui
ne necessary for him to change talk
location. In a conversation Of L
ich he and President Stuck had cen,
On the matter Of his going to OF Il
TX and the choice of his field of the
or, Brother Dietrich stated that tern
mad many friends i'm South Bo- colo
MIA whom he would Ike 10 visit cen,
bear testimony rs he considered
lseli safe for few weeks. There
N President Stuck concluded Z. y
him go and see what he could do. rer
was set apart, and told to lie care toda
"A safe return was promised of m
!, aud the means for the Journey defe,
llshed by this office. About
e weeks after Brother Dietrich
te to President Stuck that he was
us way TO North Bohemia. where Ohio
'amily resided and was penuiless
resident Stuck sent 10 him. ad- w
ng him to return to safe quar- wort
and also necessary funds TO do hallo
but during the time Brother cons
rlcn had gone into the neigh by of
lood oil Heichenberg and made OF m
ngements for one meeting with on Nh
amlly in an adjoining forest, were
Don as That was over he started and
Is return trip and arrived safely still !
'erne. The Saints had by this ate
responded cheerfully and lib five
y TO our call, one sister. Anna pate
hhi,i who Is in service in that
city OF Paris, France, giving the Il
llssion for the use Of all her Vress
earned savings for the family ami Z
,rother Dietrich. They were ui-te
= nIu everything need The
o make the journey TO Zion. detail
e according TO all accounts thew and n
ed safely, though we have not cemb,
1 from them personally. nj 81
were not aware that sixty 10 cav
charges had been preferred YET
ist Brother Dietrich, but were matte
y nIli tla5 quite n few could Many
- B,I nuTI tne law. IRE were
= 20 brOtner Dietrich and fami- ton :
y hNe "ther souls leaving, the mitteC
IN IN Bohemia numbered the IN
ty-four adult members and atari
children. a few have turned ofIica