The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-18
From the Nste York sun.

tributions are Stored and Sold.
From the Neto York sun.
The law of the Mormons is that one
tenth of all that is produced shall be given
as tithes to the church, and the iaterpreta-
ton of this law is liberal, so far as the
character of the tithes is concerned, what
ever may be the looseness Of its enforce
ment as to the quantity. Every Mormon
farmer or producer of any sort pays his
dues to the church in kind. Tue church
takes the produce thus received, makes the
best sale or use it can of it. and supports it
self from the outcome. It is claimed that
there is no other tax or charge upon Nor
mons for church purposes than these tithes.
1t is also claimed that there is no means of
enforcing these tithes, and that their pay
ment is a voluntary act upon the part of
the members of the church, and also that
tithes are received and credited practically
at the valuation that the donor puts upon
them himself. So far as the general prin-
cipleS OF the system are concerned, it IS
perhaps true that tithes are voluntary, but
the actual compulsion under which they are
exacted is PROBABLY not less efhcacious be-
cause applied by some petty local authority
and not by the heads Of the church. That
the amount of the tithes is far below a
literal tenth of all produce must be true,
for otherwise the revenues of the church
would be too enormous 10 be handled and
the whole system would fall to pieces OF It's
own weight. 1t is alleged that many Nor
mons do not contribute at all, and that the
great majority give much less than tenth
of their products.
All Mormondom is divided into many
parts, called stakes for tithing purposes.
and at the head of each stake Is a stake
l. I Il 30 DO
and there is a ward bishop in charge of each
ward Over all are the presiding bishop
and his two counselors. Presiding bishop
Preston is a Virginian, of the famous Pres
tons of the south, but has been a Mormon
for thirty-two of his SO years. Bishop John
r. Winder, the other counselor, Joined che
church in England forty years ago, and is
successful business man outside of his
work in the church. He is practically the
head of the tithing department.
When Salt Lake City was laid out,
square in the heart of the town was set
apart for tithlng yard. 1t is still used for
that purpose, and is covered with store
houses of ali sorts and shapes, that have been
added to it from time TO time, as the in
crease in the church demanded. A big wall
of cobble stones laid in cement surrounds
the uncouth collection of buildings. The
whole block, with all the property in it,
was confiscated with other church property
by the government, but was Immediately
leased TO the church, and business went on
without days interruption. The bishops
allege that the tithes have increased since
the government persecution" began.
The tithes are paid to the ward bishops.
These are men selected for other than re-
ligious attachments. They are business
agents of the church and are under no OBJ
legation to be more sanity than anybody
else. AS rule, they are not notable for
excessive piety. The ward bishop takes
everything that is brought to him and gives
the donor credit at the market rate OF at an
agreed rate for produce tGat has no fixed
valuation. He stacks the hay up in his
yard, puts the potatoes and other vegeta-
bles into his cellar, and gets the grain into
bins and the live stock into stalls. He rem
ders an recount of it all to the state bishop,
who in turn reports TO the presiding bishop.
One-tenth of the tthes is kept by the ward
bishop for his trouble, the rest is disposed of
as the presiding bishops may direct. All
that can be so got rid of is sold III the local
market, and the cash sent to the church.
That for which there is local market is sent
to the tithing yard ia Salt Lake City. Often
it has to be carried long distances to a rail-
road and the cost of this, in connection with
ordinary freight charges, often eats up half
the value of the tithes. Besides this there
is often heavy depreciation in the goods
themselves. Last fall the church took in
potatoes at 20 and so cents a bushel, which
were sold in the spring for 10 cents and were
hard to get rid Of at that.
A record of the tithes of Mormon. as
made by the ward bishop, reads this way:
John Smith--Fruit, So; fuel, So; grain, Sl4 n;
hay, S6 so; labor As; meat, 81 81; veseta-
bles, 81 81 Total, $31 43.
This record Is sent by the ward bishop to
the stake bishop, and by him to the head
officers of the church. where all for each
year are bound together into one big vol
ume OF the nine cases entered upon a page
selected at random in the book, the amounts
credited to each contributor varied from
81 so to Sl9 93, except one, who was down
for sos IS. The average for the nine was
$40 %, which represented the annual cost of
the church.
The disposition made Of the 90 per cent.
of the tithes that 60 beyond the ward
bishops to whom they are handed in, has
been a subject of anxiety to the masses of
the Mormon church for some time. The
reports made by the head officers of the
church deal only with totals; there are no
details of the expenditures. This system is
defended by the bishops on curious grounds
The difference between the gross and the
net receipts fom tithes is so great, they
say, that the people would not understand
It t. II and they 50 T tSe b 5sls aS TsS
10 keep them contented is to say nothing
about it. The depreciation in the value Of
the tithes and the expenses Incident to their
collection amount to fully one-half of the
total, it Is alleged. Last year the total
value of the tithes was said to have been
100000. From this, the bishops allege.
not over S350,00o in cash or its equivalent
came into the general treasury Of
the church. Besides the ten per
cent. retained by the ward bishops
and the loss through depreciation
and Transportation charges, this
deficiency includes sums spent in maintain
ing the church in poor localities. Some
wards. it is alleged, never turn anything
into the general treasury, all the tithes
being expended upon the local church, in
accordance with directions issued by the
presiding bishop upon recommendation of
his subordinates. In other cases from one
half to two-thirds Of the titheS are retained
for local needs.
OF the $350,0O0 that finally gets TO the
church, 100000, the bishous say, goes for
charity. Expenditures on this account are
alleged to general, and without any
reference to whether sufferers are Mormons
or Gentiles. The remaining quarter Of 9
million is disbursed by the presiding bishop
and his counselors according to their own
will, though presumably for the good of the
church. 1t is alleged that there are nc
regular salaries paid TO the higher officers,
but that each is allowed what he needs t.