The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-08-15
HIS GENERAL HOSTILITY

1t will be seen from the findings
and decision given below that the mat
ter did not rest, as stated and supposed
| by some, upon Brother Thatcher's re-
fusal to accept the declaration of prin-
| clpleS, but rather upon his general
course of hostility to his brethren, par
! ticularly those who stand at the head
/ or the church. 1t appeared, however,
/ that much of that was predicated upon
a misunderstanding of their motives
and purposes; and instead of taking
| that declaration as il stood, he as
! sumed to make an Interpretation of it
/ corresponding to his preconceived no.
tons of what he thought the leaders
/ of the church intended to do. His pub
lie utterances by letters and speeches
were reviewed; some of these were
much modified by his explanations;
! others which were generally understood
TO refer TO the presiding authorities of
| the church were explained as having
/ no reference to them at all; thus the
bondage and oppression and
/ trouble to which he had alluded were
! explained to be such as he feared would
| come from sources outside the church
and not from its leading authorities.
HE ACCEPTED AT ONCE.
Great plainness of language was
used in presenting TO Brother Thatcher
the position in which he stood and the
effect produced on the public mind by
the course he had pursued, After the
hearing was concluded and the presi-
dency of the stake had taken the mat
/ ter under advisement, they presented
the findings and decision given below.
which were unanimously sustained by
the high council, and were satisfactory
to those who filed the complaint. Time
was given to Brother Thatcher TO con-
slider whether he could and would fully
comply with the decision and to
formulate such a document in his own
! language as would express his views
and feelings-this limit of time being
fixed at 80 days. From his letter, which
follows. it will be seen that he has at
once acted in the matter. endorsing
the decision in the most uneQivocal
mann1r, and manifesting a spirit of
humility and repentance that will be
very gratifying to all who have a real
interest in his welfare. By the final
approval, on the part of the presidency
of the stake, of his conduct in this mat
ter he retains his standing and fellow
ship in the church.
I'VE now present, without further
comment, the documents in the case,
these being, in their order, the COM
plant, the findings of the presidency
of the stake, their decision, Brother
Thatcher's endorsement of that deci-
dency, and the latter's acceptance of
his letter ard endorsement as a salts
factory compile nee with the decision. .
THE CHARGES.
Then follows the documents in their
order. During the trial ii was almost
impossible TO get complete and accurate
Information regarding the proceedings,
but The Herald did give the precise
motive of the charges The Tribune in
sisted that one of the charges in the
complaint was the Argus cartoons,
which this paper stated was erroneous.
The complaint itself will show which
was right.
THE COMPLAINT
salt Lake City, Utah, July go 1897.
ITO the Presidency and High Council
of the Salt Lake Stake of Zion:
Dear Brethren-We hereby prefer a
charge against Brother Moses Thatcher
of apostacy and unchristianlike con-
private conversations, in interviews
through newspapers and in other ways
showing a departure from the spirit of
the gospel and the doctrine and dis
cipiine of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, such as to forfeit
his right to fellowship and standing in
the church. Your brethren,
FRANCIS NJ. LYMAN,
''HEBER J. GRANT"
The Tribune also insisted that Apes
ties Young, Lyman and Grant were
practically running the trial. which was
also erroneous. When the church au
thorSties decided that Mr.. Thatcher
should be tried for apostacy il became
necessary, in order to bring the matter
up in due form, that regular charges
should be preferred. The authorities
selected Apostles Young, Lyman and
Grant 10 formulate these charges, and
they preferred the same with the nigh
council. As compliments in the case,
the three apostles, or some of them,
were present during the proceedings,
according to custom, but aside from
preferring the charges and making
such explanations regarding the mat
ter as devolved upon them, they had
nothing to do with conducting the trial,
nor did they have any vote on the
result. 1t has been urged that these
three apostles were chosen because of
their hostility to Mr.. Thatcher, which
may or may not be true.
The findings of the presidency were
as follows:
..ADostasy, as has been argued here,
varies in its extent. In 9. general way
apostasv means revolt 1t is so de-
fined in the dictionary. But the Prophet
joseph Smith says in this connection:
The moment we revolt at anything
which comes from God. the devil takes
power Compendium, y. 2sS.) On this
ground 'apcstasy' includes any revolt or
departure from rule or regulation es-
tablished by the Lord, whether in per-
son or 10y his appointed servants
I'VE consider that Moses Thatcher
exhibited an aDostate spirit and was
unchrist;anlilze in his conduct.
.'Fsirst.-In his interview published in
the Salt Lake Tribune. which he has
admitted TO be in the main correct
rs to his views, though not as to his
exact language: he there virtually
charges the authorities of the church
with bad faith in declaring, first, that
they would not interfere in politics. /
and next, that hey intended to and
would 50 interfere, and that this prac-
ticallv annulled their former declara- /
ton He also announced his readiness
to champion the cause imperiled' by |
the latest declaration of the church au-
thoritiss.
''Second.-In giving to the public |
private correspondence between him.
self and President Lorenzo Snow. which |
related only to church and quorum mat
ters.
Thirdly using language as follows /
in his RELY 10 President Lorenzo Snow. /
published IN the Tribune and Herald |
of Nov. Il. 1896:
Although the judges before whom |
am TO be arraigned have nearly all ex-
pressed an opinion as to the merits of /
my case; although my accusers are to |
sit in Judgment over me; although a |
verdict has already been delivered |