The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-13
THATCHER AND
The CHURCH
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lated. or that may be circulated among
the Saints of God as report of any ser
mon, or part OF sermon, sermons or
parts of sermons, or OF any private or
public remarks said to have been made
by me, are unauthorized unless person.
ally revised by me. or written over my
signature. And the making and circu!at-
ing OF any such unauthorized report is
sent MOSES THATCHER.
In the same issue the News commented
ed-torialiy as follows:
AN UNAUTHORIZED PUBLICATION.
In another column will be found a no
tice from Elder Moses Thatcher OF the
council of the apostles. We direct gen
er2l attention to ii because there has
Den a great deal OF comment over some
remarks attributed 10 him. which have
been copied and circulated. and lately
have been printed and distributed among
the Saints. 1t is very unfair TO take this
such proceedings worthy of severe cen
sure. Those who have printed and dis
. tributed the alleged extracts from a SER
mon delivered by Elder Thatcher in
Cache county some time ago have, in our
opinion. exceeded their right, and those
who rely upon the purported remarks as
authentic and to be discussed as
prophecy or doctrine may be led into er-
without authority of the speaker. We
are pleased TO receive the notice from
Elder Thatcher and cheerfully give it a
prominent place in our columns.
Subsequent 10 the year 1886 no further
complaint was made until the appearance
o. your open letter ten years later, and as
no aqdit-onal requirements were made OF
me, l had a right to believe the matter
long since adjudicated No one at any
time ever animated TO me in any way
that this was cherished secretly against
me by any of the my brethren.
Candidly, President Snow, what is there
in all this that, in any way, can be con-
strued as a justification for the unkind
comments you have made upon the cir
cumstances? Your statements are calcu
lated to injure me in the estimation of
many people who have read your letter
and condemned me WITHOUT remembering
or having read the Deseret News of De-
cember l. 1886. Surely you would not in
tentionally do me an injury You say
further:
HE disputed with President Taylor as
to the appointment of president of the
Logan temple and contended for a man
of his own selection, even after the presi-
dent announced the appointment by reve-
laton."
RELATIONS WITH PRES. TAYLOR.
The truth of this matter is made plain
by the acton of President Taylor in set
ting me apart on the same day as one
of the counselors of the president of the
Logan temple. President Taylor would
not have introduced discord in the tenn
pie and had / contended against him that
would have been the effect l would not
have been made third officer in that
sacred place if I had been in such open
rebellion as you depict President Taylor
was my guest in Logan al the time the
president of Logan temple was named
On the morning of the day the appoint
ment was made President Taylor came
down stairs and before breakfast ne
stated in the presence of witnesses that
he felt impressed to appoint NJ. w Mer-
rill president of the Logan temple, and
asked me what l thought of il l replied
that II was a good selection;. that he
might search the stake over and not md
a man better adapted to the position.
And l gave as my reasons that Brother
Merrill was financially well to do, and
could afford to give to the work his time
and attention; that he was secretive and
methodical in his habits. President Taylor
said he was pleased to hear me say SO.
/ never, at any time, or in any pace. op-
posed the appointment but was continued
third officer in that temple till, by tie
action of my quorum, 1 was deprived OF
all pries'tly offices.
Now. although on this point you make a
very positive charge against me, you
may have this matter confused with the
selection of president for Cacne stake.
In my absence from conference in salt
Lake. from which was excused by Pres
dent Taylor on account of illness IN my
family, Elder C. o. Card was chosen
stake -Dreeident to succeed Bishop Pres
ton. who had been called to the eft8ee he
now holds. A few days later l was IN
formed by a member OF my quorum as 10
the action taken IN the matter or me
Cache stake presidency, ana my OPINION
was asked about il. / stated that since
Elder Card had been unanimously CHOSEN
| would acouiesce. Later on, an effort
was made to remove President caro-.
which l opposed. took the ground that.
while Brother Merrill was the stronger
character I would oppose the removal
of President Card as his appointment was
his summary dismissal was sure to result
in his irreparable injury. only mention
this matter because there is no founda-
ton for complaint in the other lnclccht.
and YOU may have confused the two.
cite this as a possible reason 1or Your
charge because 1 have no desire 10 cu-p-
bic.
when MILFORD Woodruff's accession 10
the presidency was under cons-ueIauoh
as the proper successor, ne eX9ressed
opinions which showed that he regarded
human smartness and business ability as
above that simplicity or character ana
susceptibility 10 divine impressions whlch
are notable in that faithful servant OF
Cod and objected that such man could
NOT grasp the situation of affairs OF cope
Win fhe difficulties arising. He was
overru,ed but persisted in his views
SUCCESSOR TO PRESIDENT TAYLOR.
To my mind there never was any cues
ton about the proper successor 20
a debatable matter for 1 always he'd
President Woodruff as the loCtcal sue
cessor TO President Taylor. main
tanned this at the time and have since
testified to its DroDriety on many &C
casions. L-have always held that, with
the death of a president dies the au-
thoritv of his counselors as .counseiOrs,
and the supreme authority of the church
is then vested in the quorum OF apostles
I-pon the death of President Taylor VII
ford Woodruff, as the head Of the lead
ing quorum of the church, was therefore
the leading officer in the church In my
view no one had q right 10 assume MS
authority or issue addresses 70 the Lat
ter-dav Saints ignoring him. Yet an
address was issued which did net des-@n
to mention President woodruff or any OF
the apostles. Had my name been signed
to ii you might well accuse me OF at
tempting to oppose the accession OF Fres-
ident Woodruff but my name was not
there. If there was contest between
human smartness and simplicity of char
acter for the presidency l assure you my
preferences were for the latter. simplicity
Of character IS an ornament TO any pos
ton although il is often subservlent 20
human smartness
You make this general charge against
nv temper or disposition:
His bearing with his preinren was
such that he could not brook dissent and
resented non-acceptance OF his personal
views"
DID NOT SEEK AN EXPLANATION.
1 have always tried to be honest. care
full. considerable and conscientious with
my brethren. I confess that / have had
my personal views on almost every ques-
tiCn that came up. l had thought / was
entitled TO them Had I entertained the
slightest ioubt of my right in the cuor-
UNI % my opinions / would never have
given the six brethren to whom you re-
fer, the opportunity to vote me an apos-