The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-04
Startling Statements Of Head Of Mormon
 ism.
 --~e-s PROTESTANTS ARE
 MAKING HEADWAY Shoot Cannot Act Without the Consent of HIS Church.
 ---.s----- Vote of the Utah senator is conszsil- d by the Priests ot ths Iastsr Day sAints- Remarkable Testimony ia Thought

Washington, March s-$Aitorneyn fcr the protestants h tne smoot iuvsszixA- ton said they intended 70 psOVa that the which practices polyGamy and connlVen at violations of the law, and that hia every vote as ssfator is controlled by the Mormon Church. President Joseph \ H. Smith confessed that hs hineaif had continued to cohabit with his plural wives since the manl1esto Of 1890. am4 l that he realized fully that he was vio~ laxing State Iasn President Smith also testiled that Reed smook had to get tsl& consent of his associate apostles In sho church before he could become uamdis date for Senator.
 Confession Sensation The confession of President Smith w4N the sensation of the proceedtnzn today | before the Senate Committaa on RxzT@ | iieges and Elections.
 Mr. Smith said the manifesto Of 1129 had left him and others with plural xann- | flies in the unfortunate situation Of he~ their families. For himself he had pro- 1erred to .'take chances with the law. rather than to disgrace himSelx and de@ grade his family by abandoning hfH | wives and the children they had noeno him.
 He admitted that he had had children by all of his Ave wives since the mala@ ifesto and said he acknowledged thnln openly without interfofenee or distnrfi- ance from the people of Utah. whom hn characterized as liberal and brnAdmina- a The defepse xlI take the Nitnsag pdlf1d cn caaz AI 80 axakf has bee6loa the interest in the Ilhvestigatipn as4inEl n1ed snaoot. of ! Utah. retaining his eeat in the Unlte4 States Senate th4t it waa decided tg post \ q policeman at the door Of the Commit tee room of Privileges and Elech0ns
 where the hearing is progressing. All persons except those directly interested will be kept out of the room. ff1on1it outside the doors 1t was impossible al- most to maintain a passageway through the corridor of the Capitol.
 Just before the hearing was begun to- day Mfr. Shoot received telegram froin Provo. Utah, stating that his ststers Mrs. George 8. Taylor. is dead as the result of an operation. He had no pre- vious knowledge of her illness. and ex~ hibited plainly the ef1ect of the shock
 Competency Of Evidence.
 when the committee was called to orr der seven Senators were present. Sena~ tor Burrows gave the rulings on Gues~ tons asked of President Joseph Smith relating to the polyaam0us cohahitation of George R. Teasdale. . Mormon apoa- tie. Objections to such questioning had been made by the defense. The cons@ nlttee ruled that testimony bearing apon plural marriages of any members of sho twelve apostles. of which Mr. Smoot 10 one, is competent so far as 1t relates to ! such polygamoua cohabitation since Sep@ tember %. 1890. the date of President woodrufr's manifesto. withdrawing the order of the church commanding plural marriages.
 senator Beveridgs said there had been misunderstanding as to whether Mr. Shoot was being tried on the charge of polygamy or with having taken an oath incompatible with hfa oath as a United States Senator Now. he said. it is apparent that these charges are nos pending in this investigation.
 Senator Dubois Diasents.
 Senator Dubois dissented from the statement that there bad been such q misunderstanding, and said the real charge is that Mir. Shoot is a member of Mormon hierarchy which subscribes to vows in conflict with the laws of the country and was bound to support such vowa
 For the Arst time in fifteen years.~ said Mir. Dubois, ''the relations of thia organization towards the United States are to be tried"
 Senator Pettus made protest against the debate between members of the Con-
 mittee. and Chairman Burrows directed . Mir, TayIer Co proceed.
 Questions were then directed to ascer~ tain Mir. Smiths knowledge of the po'y- ] gamous marriage of Abraham H. Can- | non, and whether Mir. Smith had permlt-
 ted the service uniting Mir. Cannon aud
 Lillian Hamlin This he denied. Then Mir Tayler asked questions whlch L.. t.s.ftt tsa a=a~. garding his own position under the laws . covering poIygamy. He acknowledged that he had violated them continuously since the manifesto of 1890, and Is ready now and always had been ready to face
 the laws of the land. MT. Tayier asked: 'Is cohabitation with a plural wife con- trary to the rules of the churchgV Answers in His Own Way. Mir. Smith asked and received permits sion to make a statement and then an- swered the question in his own way. 4o spoke with great feeling and dlrectness. saving: Tn regard to the status Of polygamy at the time of the manifesto. I want to say that after the hearing be- fore the Master in chancery. I under stood that we should abstain from re- lations without plural families and that rule was observed up to the time enc ab1ing act went into effect. admitting 1 Utah as a State. Under that act the only prohibition was that plural mar riages should cease. Nothing was said with regard to eohabitation with our | wives"
 with the wives you had married pre~ vious to the manifesto. you meanF ta- ] terrupted Mir. Hoar
 'srhat is what meant. said 4rs Smith ''I understood that plural mar- rlages were to cease. and ever since tho manifesto until the present time these