Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1900-01-19
TErIpLE AND TABERNACLE.
Polygamy end Unlawful Computation.

1t is evident that there is much mis-
construction and misunderstanding as
to the present attitude of our church
respecting the subject of polygamy
and unlawful coha bitation; and, be-
lieving that many good and conscien-
tious people have been misled and
much adverse criticism occasioned
thereby, / feel it but just to both
Mormons and non-Mormons to state
that, in accordance with the manifesto
of the late President MILFORD Woodruff,
dated September 25, 1890, which was
presented to and unanimously accepted
by our general conference on the 9th
of October, 1890, the church has posi-
lively abandoned the practice of poly
gamy, or the solemnization of plural
marriages, in this and every other
state, and that no member or officer
thereof has any authority whatever to
perform plural marriage or enter into
such a relation. Nor does the church
advise or encourage unlawful cohabi-
tation on the part of any Of its mem
bers. If, therefore, any member dis
obeys the law, either as to polygamy
or unlawful cohabitation, he must bear
his own burden; or in other words, be
answerable to the tribunals of the
land for his own action pertaining
thereto.
With sincere desire that the posi-,
Nf al, tn
unlawful cohabitation may be better
understood, and with best wishes for
the welfare and happiness of all, this
statement is made, and is respectfully
commended to the careful considera
ton Of the public generally.
Lorenzo Snow,
President of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints.
Salt Lake City, January s, 1900.
Extensive in provements in the way
of ornamentntion are being planned
for the Temple block grounds during
the coming spring and summer. The
new extension TO the greenhouses
have made them much more desirable
/ than heretofore, as more room is now
/ had for the termination and cultivation
of the plants which will blossom npon
the grounds during the warmer months.
The greenhouses have been fitted with
1 not water pipes and new furnace
aided. Foreman Stanley estimates
that he has at least 1000 plants, large
and small, in the greenhouses. Out on
the grounds considerable work is also
being done. The trees have grown SO
fast as to interfere with the growth OF
each other, and many of them have
been removed to give the others a
chance to expand, and also that more
sunlight may reach the lawns. The
Tabernacle and Temple grounds, al
ways pleasing in the past, promise tt
become much more beautiful in the
future.
At the stake conference of the Y. l.
Nj. |. A., held in the Tabernacle last
week, President Joseph f. Smith de.
livered the principal address, He said
Thou shalt not commit adultery
The crime of adultery under the an
cient law of God in Israel was punish
able by death, the same as the crime
of murder. Of course, some people SAY
that the Latter-day Saints are proyerb
ial in the world for adultery, but meI
have been and are today SO ignorant
that they cannot perceive or under
stand that there is a difference between
that which God sanctions and approves
and that which he denounees and con
dennis. They claim that even Abraham
and David and the ancient prophets o
God, to whom God gave wives, were a
much adulterers as those who practices
promiseuons polygamy and adultery
having wives and children at home
There is a vast difference between
these, and | want to say it to the world
that there is not people on the fac,
= of Gods earth who abhor the crime 0
adultery as do the Latter-day Saints
Notwithstanding their plural wives AM
marriages in the past.
Il can point out to you men whom
have known from my childhood, an
with whom | have been as intimate a
my brother, and | will affirm to yoi
that these men have never in thei
! lives transgressed the law of ehastit,
, as God Almighty revealed it, and We
they have had more than one wife
anu 4 w uhL w tSll YOU tilhh Vic llu
| that stands before the world and say
I that he never wronged woman, is
man after Gods own heart, in relation
to that thing, at least. lie is pure an
he is moral in the sightof God, becaus
he has done no other thing except tina
\ which he believes in his soul and in hi
= heart, according TO the intelligence
:. that he possesses, that God has sane
toned and approved. And as to hi
intelligence, it will compare with tn
t brightest intellects in the world. A
! to their moral conception of character
it will compare favorably with that O
, any living preacher They are no
e ignoramuses. They understand tn
h laws, the pieeepts and the power {
, God, and they know that whomsoeve
God hath joined together. lien cannc
put asunder. Neither can time, no
/ distance, nor death. For when Go
e hath Joined men and women together
: 1t is not for time alone, but for tim
and all eternity, too, for the Lord A
Q mighty does not deal with US for tim