The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-11-04

WHAT THE SECRETARY DID.
He Did Endeavor to flake DEM
ocrats Go Republ can.

The Wright Letter Was Secured by
Mr. .SIOan-M0ses Thatcher Broke
No Conference.-The Thirty Afiida-
Wits Against Gibbs-As to MIR. Dy-
er's Actions in the Meetings..
Editors Herald:
George F. Gibbs. who, by some, is
considered the secretary of the First
/ Presidency, has a very long article in
! the Tribune of Sunday morning, No
vember 8, respecting his much dis
cussed letter to Bishop John T. Wright.
of Cache county. 1t is a safe presump-
ton that Mr.. Gibbs opinions have as
much weight as the ashes of a rvs
straw with those who know him-for
he is as light a weight mentally as he
is physically. 1T may therefore be right
that even so small a thing should have
some recognition considering his in
teresit in the commission of great
crime, Without wasting time in an
attempt to reply to the discoursive rub
bish by which he seeks at this late
date to escape his connection wl;lh the
Offensive charges, desire ITO tell uhe
truth as to the letter he wrct.e ITO
Bishop John F. Wright, of Hyrun,
Cache county,
Permit me to state in this connection,
that his reference, to Frank Dyer, now
dead, is as false as it could be. All
through the interview between the
First Presidency and the leading Dem
ocrats, the result of the officious in
terfering of this weak-minded but 70
less viciously inclined individual. Mr..
Frank Dyer was all through that re-
markable interview for peace, and as
a result of his personal efforts prevent
ed an open rupture. between Mr.. JOSEPH
T. Smith and the Democratic leaders.
Mr.. Smith himself declared that he
did MOI endorse the letter written by
Gibbs to his brother-i1-law Wright,
though he also declared he did not
condemn G;hbs-the reason being in
the minds of all present that he de-
Tended Gibbs because tIat person
had merely expressed the sentiments
;mhibed ty him from association with
Mr.. Smith. And the published statement
of the First Presidency as a, result of
this interview was the views, as a we'll
menited T6buke Of that oflciouS and
overzealous clerk.
l desire also to state that Gibbs.
when he speaks of any connection of
Moses Thatcher with the letter written,
is guilty of a deliberate and malicious
q iOra or
imbibed 1 neither know nor care. HIS
utterances place him in the line of a
legitimate descent from Annanias. lie
could have secured his Information
from no other perSol than Wright, his
brother-in-law-ifh he ilai any inform+-
ton at all-and if Wright is authority
fer Gibbs staten 4nt. then l am pre-
pared to apologize to Gibbs and have
the reference to- him .pplied to Mr..
however, that there is recognized dis
position of hi,'ls nf . specific feather
to congregate together.
Now as to the letter
George F. Gibbs, by everyone recog-
nized as the private clerk or secretary
of the First Presidency, made himself
very abundant about Logan and in
Cache county shortly after the di
vision on national party lines in Utah.
Not only did he tell the people in his
feeble public addresses that their in
church demanded that they should
vote for the Republican ticket-since.
as he claimed, Republican principles
would obtain throughout the nation
but he made domicilliary visitations of
a secret character, repeating these de-
clarations; and he did state that it
was the wish of the First Presidency
of the Mormon church that the people
should, for the time at least, forego
their political predictions, and for
once, at least, vote the Republican
ticket. He claimed that the material
salvation of the people of the church
depended upon their observance of this
advice. He did claim to represent the
First Presidency. Some thirty affidav-
its, from persons whose words would
stand before the world against the
oath of this thing, attest the truth of
what is here stated, Notwithstanding
the tardy, though opportune denial of
Gibbs. 1t was also ascertained aboA
this time that this same person had
written letter to Bishop John f.
Wright, of Hyrum urging in substance
upon Wright what Gibbs had privately
declared to individuals In and about
Logan-that the leaders of the church
held it to be necessary that Utah
should go Republican in 1892. on his
prophetic asseveration the nation
would go the same way. Hence he
claimed, in order to secure statehood.
Utah should be in harmony with the
sentiments which he falsely predicted
would be those of the nation as to pol
tics. Information came that Bishop
Wright, though Democrat. had acted
on the suggestion of Gibbs and was
doing what he could to make Hyrum
a Republican stronghold About this
time Wright was in Logan. and be-
ing asked as to whether he had ro-
ceived such a letter, admitted that he
had. He also admitted that he looked
upon it as expressing the sentiments
of the authorities of the church He
was asked by Democrats to surrender
the letter but demurred on the
ground that it was private and from
a relative. But when confronted with
the solemn declaration of the First
Presidency that they had no desire to
influence their people politically, and
when shown that he must either be-
ieve Gibbs or the First Presidency
to be 6alsif1ers, he consented to sur
render the lsttsT. He then gave me a |
letter to his wife at Paradise, telling