The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-12-11
.POLYGAMY IS
DEAD IN UTAH
MORMON CHURCH NO LONGER
SANCTIONS OR PERMITS PLU-
RAJ MARRIAGES.

SALT LAKE, (Utah), December l.
In an interview today President Joseph
f. Smith of the Mormon church defin-
ed the present position of the church
! with respect to polygamy, also the ec-
clesiastical position of Apostle Reed
| Smoot, whose candidacy for the United
! States Senate has resulted in an active
campaign against him by the Minis
terial Alliance.
THE church does not desire to enter
into any controversy over the subject"
said President Smith, but it is anx-
| ious that it's own people as well as the
people of the country generally should
understand its position"
Does the Mormon church solemnize
| or permit plural marriages." President
Smith was asked. Certainly not" he
replied. The church does not perform
nor sanction nor authorize marriage in
any form that is contrary to ttE~FaTE
of the land. The assertion that promi-
nent Mormons. practice polygamy is
| evidently made to mislead the public.
Polygamy under the law is the mar
rying of a husband or wife while the
legal husband or wife is living and I'M
divorced.
There is no such offense committed
by sanction of the Mormon church. But
when the prohibition of polygamy was
proclaimed by the President of the
Mormon church there were many per-
sons who had contracted plural mar
riages, and that relation has been con-
tinued in many instances, because the
men in that position determined not to
abandon their families, but to care for
and provide for them anu educate and
cherish their children. This is errone-
ously construed as practicing polyg-
amy and creates the impression that
polygamouS marriages are still per-
mitted in and by the church.
1T was ascertained by a careful can-
sus in $780, when President Woodruff
issued his manifesto against further
| polygamous marriages, that there were
2421 such families belonging to the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints in the United States. In May,
1902 a complete and thorough inquiry
showed that the original number in 1890
had been reduced SO per cent, leaving
then only S97, the great majority of
whom were of advanced age, and many
of them have since departed this life.
1t is evident that with no additions to
this total, but with a rapid and con-
tinual decrease, the number of polyg-
amous families will soon be reduced to
zero"
President Smith was asked to define
his position as an Apostle having been
compared to that of a Cardinal or an
Archbishop in other churches
THE two positions are not parallel"
President Smith said. IAN Apostle, or
Seventy, or elder, or Bishop in the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints is usually engaged in some sec
ular vocation, or laboring in some ca
pacity for his daily bread. He is or
dained to the office he holds in the
| priesthood so that he may act in that
calling when required. He gives his
lservices gratuitousy to the church.
There are instances, of course, when
mans whole time is taken up with
some church duty. Then he receives
remuneration therefor, but as a rule
men holding these positions in the
priesthood are engaged in secular call
ings and are men of affairs.
Reed Smoot is a banker and the
manager of the largst manufacturing
institution in this State. He is inter-
ested greatly in mining operations and
! other temporal pursuits. He is recog-
nized as capable and enterprising cit
izen, and his position in the church
need not interfere in any way with his
services to the State or to the Nation
| in any political office to which he may
be elected. 1t is not true that he has
been put forward by the church as
candidate for public office, but he has
the same right that any other Ameri-
can citizen enjoys to accept any office
to which his fellow citizens may elect
him to occupy. Mormon church Off
Gals have served in Congress for years
and no objection has been offered on
that account. Every Mormon official
has been one holding the priesthood,
and that has never interfered with his
official duties. The objection in the
present case is without substantial
reason or foundation"