Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-06
IN DEFENSE OF SM00T
Brief Of Mr.. Worthington, the
Chief Counsel.
THE ENDOWMENT OATH
DENIED THAT IT Is A DISLOYAL
OBLIGATION.
Claimed That Polygamy is Dying Out
in Utah and Mormon Church
Does Not Interfere in Politics.


vestigation of protests against the senator
from Utah retaining his seat
In his brief Mr.. Worthington deals first
with the question whether 1t requires two
thirds vote only majority vote to va
cate Senator Shoots seat in the Senate.
He contends principle and precedent
that when the senator was sworn in the
question of his qualification was passed
upon once for all, and that he can be re-
moved now only by a vote of expulsion, and
only on the ground that since he was elect
ed to the Senate he has committed some
criminal offense; and that to do this will
require a two-thirds vote.
Alleged Oath of Vengeance.
He next deals with the charge that in
going through the endowment ceremony
Senator Smoot took some oath or incurred
some obligation which is inconsistent with
his oath as a senator, and with his loyalty
to his country. He contends that the
three witnesses who testified to the alleged
oath of vengeance have all been shown to
be unworthy of belief; and that by the
testimony of nine witnesses, five of whom
were called ON behalf of the protestants, 1t
is established that there is nothing III the
endowment ceremony intoxicating principles
of hostility to the United States in any
form. 1t is claimed also that even If such
an obligation had been taken, the senator
ial oath would displace it, just as foreign
er who becomes naturaliZed takes an oath
of allegiance to the United States, thereby
renouncing his allegiance to the country
from which he comes.
The brief next takes up the question of
polygamy. 1t refers to the testimony OF
many witnesses in the case showing that
since the manifesto of 1890 there have been
no plural marriages among the Mormons,
except here and there a sporadic case, ana
that as to this there has been legal proof
of but one such marriage since 1871, IN
which case the official, in Mexico, who per-
formed the ceremony was not informed
that the man was taking plural wife. 1t
is admitted that from 1890 down to the
present time many, and perhaps most, OF
the Mormons who took polygamous wives
prior to the manifesto have cohab1ted with
them but 1t is said that this has not peen
done in an open or offensive mannsr. 1t Is
claimed that by the testimony OF about
twenty-five witnesses, most OF Whom are
among the leading men in Titan ana loaho,
democrats and republicans, and nearly all
non Mormons public opinion in those
states has settled down to the CONVICTION
that on account of the suffering to the
plural wives and their children Whlcn
would follow If the law against polygamous
cohabitation should be strictly enforced, IL
is better to ignore it and to allow poiygamy
to die out as it necessarily Will IL thefe pe
no more plural marriages:
In this connection Mr.. Worthlngton quotes
extracts from a number of publications by
missionaries of Christian churches In INDIA
and other polygamouS countries, showing
that many Of them hold that when po!yg-
amist is converted to the Christian faith 1t
is better to take him into the church WIN
all his wives and families. provided he will
take no other plura! wives. than TO attemp.
to compel him to live with one wife and
break Off his relations with the others. 1t
is claimed that the situation is analogous TO
the situation in the north when the attempt
was made to enforce the fugitive slave law,
and the situation in the south after the
war when it was sought by the fifteenth
amendment to the Constitution OF the
United States to compel the white people
in the south to submit to being governed
by negroes.
Law Regarding Religion.
Without discussing the question Of fact
as to the alleged interference Of the Nor
mon Church in politics. Mr.. Worthington
insists that while the Constitution Of the
United States prohibits the national gov
eminent from making any law respecting
an establishment or religion, 1t does not
forbid the states from doing so, but leaves
that matter to the states themselves to de-
termine, and that any state in the Union
may, If it wishes to do SO, have an estab-
lished church He contends further, with
out reference to this, that it Is entirely
competent for any religious organization in
the country to become political organiZa-
ton also, or for any political organization
to make religious principles part of It's
platform, and to work through religious or
ganiZa tions-that this is a matter not of
law, but of taste and propriety.
In closing, the brief contradicts Mr. Tay-
ler's claim, made in reply to question
from Senator Knox, that Senator Smoot
should be expelled because he believes, as
an abstract principle, that individuals may
receive direct counsel or revelations from
God. This is characterized as an attack
on Christianity itself.
The Mormons in Politics.
The brief of Mr.. Van Colt, associate
| counsel for Senator Smoot, deals princi-
| pally with the alleged interference of the
Mormon Church in politics in Utah and
| Idaho. He claims to have shown by the
testimony of all the witnesses in the case
| who were examined on this subject, inciud-
| ing those put upon the stand by counsel
| for the protestants, that since 1891, when
| for the first time the voters in Utah d.
| vided on party lines, the members of the
Mormon Church who are voters men and
| woman, have, in the main, voted according
| to their own convictions, and not accord
ing to the dictates of the church or of the
| officials thereof; and that in this respect
| the Mormon voters adhere more closely to
| party lines than the non-Mormon voters.
| He reviews the evidence at length as to
| the various occurrences which 1t is claimed
| tended to show interference by the church,
| and claims that it not only fails to show
| that the church interfered in such cases,
| but establishes the contrary.
| In reference to the Moses Thatcher case,
upon which the most stress has been laid
| in this connection by counsel for the pro-
| testants, Mr.. Van Colt claims that the evil
| dence shows that Thatcher never yielded
| the position which he originally took, that
| the church should not interfere in political
| affairs, and that on the contrary the con-
| troversy between Thatcher and the church
was settled by the judgment of the High
Council of the Salt Lake Stake of Zion (be-
fore which Thatcher was tried), formally
announcing that the political manifesto Of
which Thatcher complained was in exact
accordance with his views of the political
| independence of the members of the church
that In other words instead Of Thatcher
yielding to the church. the church formally
proclaimed that the position for which
| Thatcher had always contended was the
law of the church.
Smoot the Logical Candidate.
AS to the election of Senator Smoot by
the Utah legislature in January, 1908, Mr..
Van Colt claims that the evidence leaves
no doubt that Mr.. Smoot was the natural
| and logical candidate Of the republican
party for the Office of senator: that he had
been leader of the republican party in
i that state for many years; that the fact
| that he was an apostle Of the Mormon