The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-06-12
REPORT CALLS ON SHOOT ID RESIGN Majority Gives Reasons for Ad-
 verse Action MINORITY FAVORS APOSTLE Says That the Utah Senator Is In No Way to Blame for the Conditions
 That Now Exist In
 Utah.

NdsnngtOni June lls-Ine reasons for the action of the Senate committee on privileges and elections in declaring by majority vote that Reed Shoot Is not entitled to seat in the Senate as sen ator from Utah are stated in a report submitted to the Senate today by Chair man Burrows and signed by Senators Burrows, Deliver, Dubois, Pettus, Bailey, Overman and Frazier to be as follows:
 That MT. Shoot is one of a set of a perpetuating body of men known as the first presidency and twelve apostles of the church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon church; that these men claim divine au- thority to control the members of said church in all things temporal as well as spiritual; that this authority is and has been for several years past so exercised by the said first presidency and twelve apostles as to encourage the practice of polygamy and polygamous cohabitation in the state of Utah and elsewhere, con- trary to the constitution and laws of the state of Utah and the law of the land; that the said first presidency and twelve apostles do now control and for a long time past have controlled the political af- fairs of the state of Utah, and have thus brought about in said state a union of church and state contrary to the consti- tuition of said state of Utah and contrary to the constitution of the United States. and the said Reed Shoot comes here not as the accredited representative of the state of Utah in the Senate of the United States but the chief heirarchy which controls the church and has usurped the functions of the state in said state of Utah. q If
 Think PoIygamy Divine.
 The report says 1t is shown beyond reasonable doubt that the authority of the first presidency and twelve apostles is so exercised over the members of the Mormon church as to inculcate a belief in the divine origin of polygamy and poly gamous cohabtation. Quotations from the book of Mormon and other publications are cited to prove the alleged Mormon be- lief that the revelation on the subject of polygamy Is of higher authority than the manifesto forbidding the practice.
 A sufficient number of specific instances of the taking of plural wives among of ficials of the Norman church since the manifesto of 1890 have been shown by the testimony. says the majority. to demon- strate that the leaders, the first presi- dency and the twelve apostles connive at the practive of taking plural wives, and have done so ever since the manifesto was issued which purported to put an end to the practice.
 Many Have Plural Wives.
 Tt has been shown by the testimony so clearly as to leave no doubt of the Foo 1,o4 1a Ia .illian Ia m lin became the plural wife of Abraham H. Cannon. who was then an apostle of the Mormon church. George Teasdale, an- other apostle of the Mormon church, con tracted a plural marriage with Marion Scholes since the manifesto of 1890. It Is also in evidence that Walter Steed,> a prominent Mormon, contracted plural marriage after the manifesto of 1890. Charles E. Merrill, bishop of the Nor mon church, took a plural wife in 1891, more than year after the issuing of the manifesto. the ceremony being performed by his father, who was then and until the time of his death an apostle In the Mormon church. It is also shown that John w. Taylor, another apostle of the Mormon church. has been married to two plural wives since the Issuing of the so- called manifesto. Matthias r. Cowley, an- other of the twelve apostles, also has taken one or more plural wives since the manifesto"
 It Is asserted the Abraham 1T. Cannon and Lillian Hamlin were married on the high seas off Los Angeles, Cal. by Joseph F. Smith, now president of the Mormon church. Of the marriages of apostles the | report says:
 ''whle the proof that Apostles Taylor and Cowley have married plural wives since the manifesto may not be so free from all possible doubt as the proof in the case of Abraham Cannon the >>ct that the proofs presented to the commit tee showing such marriages by Taylor and Cannon stand wholly uncontroverted and, the further fact that Apostles Tay- Tor and Cowley, instead of appearing be- fore the committee and denying the alle- | gation, evaded service of proses issued by the committee for their appearance. and refuse to appear after being requested fo do SO warrant the conclusion that