The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-11-30
ITS LACK OF FACTS.

! The Deseret News returns 10 its offal
II saws that "efforts to create the i'm
preston that the Church of Jesus
| Christ of Lattcr.day Saints has broken
any pledges, or promises. in order to Sc
cure Statehood for Utah. or for any
other purpose. are futile, because of the
| lack of facts upon which they are
based - To this brazen recurrence
to its lie. the News adds that the
Mormons have kept their part of the
covenant and that any statement to
the contrary "must he branded as
malicious falsehood." "
To bolster up its claim that no
covenant was made for a cessation of
polygamous marriage relations, it
quotes from Judge Powers, Ex-Governor
Mcconnell of Idaho, T. H. Holz-
heimer, q lawyer of Idaho. and Glen
Miller, former United States Marshal
for the district of Utah, who testified
before the Senate Committee on
Privileges and Elections TO the gen
cral effect that there had been a re-
luctancc on the part of the people
in Utah To become informers or to en-
gage personally in the prosecution of
polygamous offenders. And that pre-
scntation of the case is what the News
relies upon to disprovc the specific
covenant! What has the reluctance of
any man in this community to become
an informer to do with the solemn
pledge made by the church, If all the
Gentiles in Utah were now TO meet to-
gether and soIemnly acquiesce in the
polygamous living of Joseph F. Smith
and his polygamous crowd, that would
not absolve Smith and the rest of them
from their own pledge.
The Deseret News continues its in
defensible misleading of its own people
when it says that there is lack Of
facts upon which to base the accusation
of pledge breaking, made against the
leaders of tho church.
Here are the facts
The law forbade, and the law still
forbids polygamous living. The Nor
mon leaders pledged their honor to
obey the law, They pledged the honor
of their people that the law would be
obeyed.
The manifesto forbade. and still for
bids polygamous living. Wilford
Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph
+. Smith sworc to this Interpretation
of the manifesto when they appeared
before the master in chancery in
Salt Lake City in 1891. Joseph f.
Smith swore to this construction Of
the manifesto when he gave his testi-
mony before the Senate Committee on
Privileges and Elections. Wilford
Woodruff and other prominent men of
the church publicly announced that
they had "placed their families in
order to comply with the law of God
and the law of man, and TO fulfill their
pledge of observance.
The President of the United States
granted amnesty to the men who were
guilty Of polygamous living in answer
TO their petition and upon cond-
tion that they would thereafter no more
violate the law against polygamous liv-
ing, They accepted the amnesty upon
this condition, and every one among
tHtHi hHb NaeltlsfS Iu' lIdUCulSt 10
day is exercising it because of the
pledge which he gave to President
Harrison to refrain from cohabitation
with his plural wives.
The Mormon Legislature, directed by
the hierarchy of the church. passed the
law which fixed January ], 1896, as the
time-limit within which legitimiza-
tion would be given to the children
born of polygamous living. Beyond
that date, by tho assent of the
hierarchy and the whole of the Nor
mon people, to bring polygamous
children into the world would be to
brand them with the bar sinister,
After all these plcdges-which are
facts, although somewhat broken in
their handling by the polygamous
crowd-on the twenty-third day of No
vember. 1906, Joseph f., Smith. presi-
dent, prophet, seer and rcvelator of the
Mormon church, appeared before the
Third district court Of the State of
Utah and pleaded guilty to polygamous
living.
And in the face of this awful ar.
ray the ignobe Deseret News dares
to tell its people that there is a
lack Of facts upon which to base the
charge of pledge breaking OF all
the shameful spcctaclcs ever presented
by pretended religious leaders in any
age of the world, the attitude of tho
Mormon chiefs is the most degraded. |
They lied to their God, they lied to
the country. they lied to civilizations:
and now they are trying to drag the |
whole people into the mire of false |
hood and infamy to protect themselves
from the Just consequences Of their |
selfish and barbarous living.
The only defense which the News