Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-05-01

that this action had been taken and
those men had been suspended long
ago, but nothing was said about II. |
an not IN communication with the
Presidency OF the Church. ana cannot
speak Of my own knowledge. but Il is
perfectly apparent that this was done
and kept quiet until this time, so that
~ would appear they were not At
tempting to influence the action Of the
committee; but since this las. delay,
which was made TO suit the convcnl-
ence Of counsel for the Protestants
here, II has turned out that this mat
ter had 10 be cOusummated before the
final action Of this committee instead
OF afterwards
So much for that Where did the
Interior learn that the Presidency Of
the Church instructed the conference 10
vote FOR the deposition Of the two Apos-
tles?" Nothing Of the kind took place
neither does 1t appear In any Of the re-
ports made concerning the proceedings
on that occasion No such Instructions
were given and no such vote was taxi
| en-, either "obedcntly' or otherwise
| The Presidency do not Instruct people
how TO vote at any time The confer
ence did not take any action on that
matter, The designations. which We're
| rendered In writing nearly six months
before the conference was held, were
made to the council or quorum TO which
those Apostles belonged, and were ac-
cepted by that body. This was un-
nounced in the conference by the Pres
ident Of that quorum, and the vacan-
cles that had thus occurred were hllcd
by tho nomination Of two Elders, who
'were sustained By the conference 70
occupy those positions.
The Interior cannot be very well post
ed upon the rules Of evidence. when It
states that those two Apostles hyd
been Enthusiastically proved TO have
violated the marriage laws, for all that
was adduced against them before h.
committee Of the Senate was mere hear
say Mr. Worthington in touching up
on that point, said
"The testimony was very vague, and
simply by way of reputation In he
neighborhoOd Whether IL was so or
not do not know, and there Is no tes-
timony here, except testimony that IL
was charged It was so, and chat peo-
pie IN the neighborhood talked about
it,"
whether it is a fact there is nothing
here TO show, and | personally have no
knowledge on that subject, even such
as has been admitted here.
There Is no proof here before this
committee that would sand I'm a court
for a moment that either of these men
had taken plural wives
There has been q great deal OF spec
ulation and gossip and rumor concern
ing this matter, but neither OF the men
suspected have had any formal charge
preferred against them, which would
Justify trial. and they took the course
explained, being out Of harmony with
their associates In their Views affecting
vitality the principles and policy and
discipline OF the Church. on these I'M
portant matters, but they have not been |
Enthusiastically proved guilty in the
manner charged by The Interior
AS to Senator Smoot being involved
In the transggession OF the outlaws, AS
intlmated blythe Interior, it has been
made perfectly clear to the committee
that the gentleman was not in any way
implicated IN their acts or their
omissions. We quote again from Mr..
Worthington in his vigorous and ire
futable argument before the committee;
There Is no syllable of testimony |
here, either directly or by reputation
such has been admitted here on the
ground that this was an investigation
and not q trial--which tends in the
slightest degree to show that Senator
Smoot, If these men had taken any
plural wives had anything to do with
II or knew any more about 1t than any
member Of the committee"
The Interior is as unfortunate in It's
reasoning MS in its allegations, It's as
sertions are positively untrue and its
deductions utterly devoid Of logic. Be-
cause two Of the Apostles sent In their
designations TO the Council or quorum
to which they belonged, that proves, on
the sort Of reasoning adopted by the
Chicago paper, that President Joseph
+, Smith and his immediate colleagues
are guilty of "concealing the where
abouts Of the offenders and shielding
them from the call OF the investigating
committee as well as from the civil pro-
cesses OF the law Wonderful, is 1t
not?
The evidence, to which perhaps the
Interior has paid no attention, is pos
tive and ample that President Smith
long ago requested those two Apostles
to appear before the committee on
privileges and elections, and they de.
clIned on the ground that II was not
Church duty, and that they were UNI
willing 20 have their family and pri-
yate affairs pried into and published
before the world, after the manner in
which other witnesses who had an.
pcared had been Intercepted. No pro-
cess had ever been served upon them.
and they did not propose to place
themselves IN position such as others
had occupied. Nobody was responsible
for their action IN this respect but
themselves. and The Interiors idea
that because they resigned their posi-.
ton, anybody here is conceallng them.
either from civil or criminal process
nj law. can scarcely be considered ra.
tioual or even sane
Nobody that We are aware Of has
ever preferred a charge against those
alleged Offenders and therefore no
necessity exists for the President or
amy Of his associates TO DO anything by
way OF their conccalment We have
noticed the remarks Of The Interior
because It Is a respectable journal. but
i is evident that, unfortunately, It has
been drawing for It's information G.?
upon sources that are not only entirely