The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-01-14
CLAIM POLYGAMY
 IS FAST DYING OUT
lcontinued from First Paae.l


 ----~---~----------~---- ------~~--->--~--------~ are great many Mormons who opposed him because he was an official of the church, and 1 suppose there are great many who did not take his position into consideration at all. Then there may have been some who worked for his elec- tion because he was an official" Shoots Character is Good.
 MT. Worthington asked concerning the attitude of polygamists in public toward their plural wives, and the witness said he had not known of any case where these wives were exhibited in public. What is the standing of Senator Shoot as to his morals and upright char acterY' asked Senator Foraker. No man in the State or out of it stands better" said Mir Whitecotton. Have you ever heard of any charge l against him that would effect his stand ing?' the Senator asked.
 T never have. have known him inti- mately for fifteen years, and for a num- Der of years have been associated with 1 him In business. l have been the counsel 1 for bank of which he is the president and have been employed by him per- sonally as counsel"
 Senator Dubois inquired why the polyg amists had not been charged with polyg amy, adultery or bigamy, and the witness replied that no convictions could be had 1 on those charges.
 Do the same conditions exist now?" asked the Senator.
 1 "I think they do," was the reply. 'I think 1t would be impossible to convict 1 except for unlawful cohabitation." l MT. Whitecotton admitted that he had l known of the relations of some plural l families, and Chairman Burrows asked why he had not prosecuted these cases. Because I am not In the business of l prosecuting my neighbors. If l were | elected prosecuting attorney I would do my duty" the witness answered. At the afternoon session Judge Taylor, counsel for the Protestants, examined Mir Whitecotton.
 Smith Is Thorough Fanatic.
 The witness. when asked if President Joseph F. Smith had said that if he observed the custom which prevails gen. orally on the subject of marriage rela- tions The would be eternally damned, |" replied 1t would not surprise him be- i cause Smith Is "a thorough fanat'c |" The witness said the act of Apostle Mer- Till, who is the husband of several wives performing the ceremony uniting his son to a plural wife, met his hearty disap- probation and that the whole outfit ought to be prosecuted.
 He had no doubt of the marriage of Apostle Cannon to Lillian Hamilin. and said the controversy waged was not whether there had been such a marriage. but who performed the ceremony. | The witness said that If eleven of the twelve apostles should perform plural | marriage ceremonies on the highway or in out of the way places and MT. Shoot, the other apostle, did not, it would not involve him in moral, legal or any sort l of cuba bility. He said he unders st oed that Presidents Woodruff and Snow con- | tinued to live in polygameus colonization after 1890, and understood, too, that The basis of the plea for amnesty was a 1 promise not to continue in polyyamous relations. He gave the opinion that the Mormons were responsible for the mani festo, and said if 1t had not been issued there would have been revolt.
 Individuals Take an Interest.
 H. E. Booth of Salt Lake a non Nor mon lawyer, who went to Utah from Iowa in 1885, and has been active in the politics of his state, asserted that the Mormon church. as a church, did not in- terfere in political affairs but that in- 1 dividualS took an interest in politics in the same way that other citizens did
 On the subject of Mormons obtain ing consent to run for political office Mir Booths understanding was that all | apostles were on a salary to serve the church, and had duties to perform and owed something to the church As to polygamy the witness said:
 T believe polygamy is as dead as slav- cry. Ninety-eight per cent of the Nor mons themselves are opposed to plural marriages"
 MT. Booth testified that the sympathy | was with the women who were married in polygamy, and that there was a dis inclination to prosecute the polygamists | for that reason.
 Hardshps on Women and Children. Concerning prosecutions, MT Booth admitted on cross-examination that on both sides of his home President Smith maintained houses for his wives, but that until the Shoot hearing. he had never heard that polygamous cohabitation was practiced since the manifesto. | Asked by Senator Dubois if his sym psthy for children born in polygamy lis great enough to put a stop to bringing them into the world" the witness re- piled:
 Tt is, if stop could be put to it with out vesting penalties and hardships on | those women who bring them into the world If you can suggest a way to | meet this problem, l will adopt it, and | carry it out
 On cross-examination by MT. Taylor, MT. Booth admitted that the prosecu- tions of some Mormons was regarded by many members of the church as an es. pecial badge of honor.
 Arthur Pratt warden of the Utah pen itentiary, and a son of Orson Pratt, who | was an authority on church affairs, tes- | tified that he never had been a member | o' the Mormon church. He declared that from 1875 to 1890 he had arrested more | Mormons on charges of poygamous CO., habitation than any other officer. He | said the arrests entailed great deal os injury among the hlormon people. and that 1t was the women and children who got the worst of lthe prosecutions He said there could be no question as to inc decrease of polygamy since 1890.