The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-02-12
HOT AFTER MORMONS
WESTERN EVANGELISTs ARE OK
THEIR TRAIL.
A MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS.
PoLYGAMOUs PRACTICES STILL
CONTINUE.

Utah Ministers Take Action to Bring
the National Government They
Charge That the Mormons Both
Preach apd Practice Polygamy,
and That the Compact with the
Government Is Derided-President
Joseph Smith and the Mormon
News Deny the Charge.
Salt Lake, Utah, Feb. 1.-THE minis
terial alliance of Salt Lake has unani-
mously adopted the report of the COM
mittee of that organization appointed
to investigate and report on the alleged
practice and teaching of polygamy by
the Mormons at the present time. This
report is to be used as a petition for
the passage of a constitutional amend
ment prohibiting polygamy and will be
sent to the judiciary Committee of
Congress.
The report, which is quite lengthy.
sets forth that positive proof can be
produced that polygamy is both prac-
ticed and taught by the Mormons at
the laws of the state. The document
contains numerous quoted statements
alleged to have been made by Mormon
leaders, in which the practice and
teaching of polygamy is advocated re-
gardless of man-made laws to the con-
trary.
The Church Colonies.
The report. after quoting a number
of Mormon leaders in favor of the
practice of polygamy, and giving the
dates of the same, dwells at some
length on the colonization schemes OF
the Church, which, according to the
committees report, have two-fold
purpose, viz:
To enable the Mormons to practice
polygamy, where they will be free
from the scrutiny of their gentle
neighbors," and to secure the balance
of political power in the sparsely set
tied states of the West, thus blocking
the way OF any proposed hostile ma
tional legislation.
PoIyGamy still Prevails.
The report sums up as follows:
The returns coming from persons
whose reliability can In every case
be vouched for by the members of this
| body, show the following conditions
First polygamous collabitatioh as ev-
idenced by the birth of children or the
| acknowledgment of parties concerned
or concurrent testimony of neigh bors
and sometimes by all of these, is proved
to continue in multiplied instances in
Salt Lake City, Logan, Brigham CITY,
Provo, Payson, Smithfield, American
Fork, Price, Sandy Tooele and else
where in Utah. and also in Paris and
Montpelier, in Idaho.
Second. That plural marriages
have been contracted since the church
manifesto was issued is shown by re-
turns giving names of parties in sew
eral of the above mentioned places,
some of the new plural wives not hav-
ing come to a marriageable age as
early as 1890, the date of the document.
Third. That the Norman authorl-
ties continue to publicly teach and in
sist upon the rightfulness of polygamy
is abundantly proved by public utter
ances of high officials"
Among the specified statements by
church leaders on the questions dwelt
on in the report is the following:
Joseph +. Smith, formerly chief
counsellor to President Snow and now
president of the church said in 1896
Take care of your polygamous wives.
We do not care for Uncle Sam now 3"
President smiths Statement.
President Smith made the following
statement to the Associated
Press in regard to this section OF the
report:
II wish to declare emphaticalIy that
I never said any such thing, either at
Payson or any other place. I have
expressed my sentiments at to the fam
lilies of men who contracted plural
marriages years ago, that they should
provide for and educate and take care
of them in every proper way. | say
so now, but the remark attributed TO
me about Uncle Sam | never made,
and the tatement that I did so is ut
terly and wickedly false"
The News, the official organ of the
Mormon Church, denounces tonight
the report of the Ministerial Associa-
tion as a mass of misrepresentation
built on a number of stories, "many of
them grossly false. most Of them pur-
posely exaggerated. and the whole re-
lated to a very small portion of the
population of this state and of the
NTnrVonY, mort M ~