Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-02-19
HON. REED SMooT,

get rid of the whole question,-to let the
Old time relations end in death. There
was a general acquiescence by the peo-
pie in this solution, and it is working
out complete and final solution.
NUMBER OF PoLYGAMoUs HOUSE.
HOLDS.
AT the time the manifesto was
adopted there were 2,451 polygamous
households In the Church. Careful sta
tistics have been taken and preserved
and will be found in the testimony,
which show that this number has grad
ually decreased until there was at the
time the testimony closed not to ex-
coed 500 such households In existence.
CHURCH AUTHORITIES
''There are &c general authorities of
the Mormon Church. including the first
presidency, patriarch, apostles, first
council Of seventy and presiding bish-
ops, In 1890 this list of officials was
composed OF % polygamists and three
monogamists.
THE first presidency and council OF
apostles, prior to my selection as an
apostle in 1900, was composed of 10 poly
garnsts and FIVE mouogamists. In 1906.
these same quorulns comprised five
polysarnsts and 10 monogamists. or
the IA general authorities chosen since
1890, only two Were polysamists, the
other u monogamists.
NEW APOSTLES.
"of the seven apostles chosen since
April, 1900, when I was narned, only one
was n polygamist, the other six being
monosamists, Tho only polygamist
chosen an apostle since 1897 is now 10
years OF age and entered into that re-
lationship before the manifesto. AT the
time of his selection as an apostle his
youngest child was % years of age. He
has been member of the Church for
over half century. performing faith
full and distinguished church service
during most of this long period. 1t
was on account of this long and faithful
service that ! voted for him to be an
apostle. Nothing would have induced
me to have voted for him II he had
been guilty of taking plural wife since
the manifesto.
vi lHt 70 IleIllDtIN VI lT6 pTtblQtH~
cies of the stakes Cecclesias teal SUBJ
divisions), in 1890, ~, or about one half.
were polygamists. OF 1876 prominent
Church officials in 1897, the increase In
number being because OF creation OF
new stakes only 16, or less than 10 per
cent, were polygamists.
NEW PoLYGAMoUs MARRIAG GEES.
"But. Mr.. President, 1t is claimed that
there have been new cases of polyga-
nous marriages since the manifesto and
this presents altogether different
question. / have no hesitation In de-
cIaring 10 the senate and TO the Amer
lean people that in my opinion any
man who has married a poiygamOus
wife since the manifesto should be
prosecuted and, II convicted, should suf-
fer the penalty OF the law; and care
not who the man might be, or what
position he might hold in the Church.
he should receive the punishment pro-
nounced by the law against his crime.
'The testimony taken before the COM
mittee tends 10 show that there have
been some polygamons marriages since
the manifesto. believe sincerely, Mr..
President. that such cases have been
rare. They have not received the sane
ton or encouragement of the Church.
SEARCH FOR CASES.
"In respect TO the thoroughness Of the
search made by the committee for such
violations OF the law, witness before
the committee testified that he had been
employed since 1898 in hunting down
such cases: that he had undoubtedly
the closest Information possible on this
matter. This witness gathered and pre-
scented all the rumors and suspicious
me could discover on the polygamous re-
latlons in the United States, Canada,
Mexico, or elsewhere, and the whole
number suggested, though not proved,
is less than an average OF two cases for
each year since the manifesto. In all
these communities, numbering over 300
900 people, In most of the cases such
persons are and have been fugitiyos
from justice and the alleged marriages
have mono OF them been charged to
have occurred within the Jurisdiction u