The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-06-05
JOSEPH AGAINST BRIGHAM.

| day anniversary OF the late Brigham,
Joseph +, Smith pretended to pay trib.
ute to the memory of the great Mormon
leader. But the affair seems TO have
reminded the present prophet of fu-
neral; because he could not finish his
remarks without some belittlemcnt of
the man whose shoes Joseph f.. Smith
is now and forever will be, unworthy
TO unloose. After uttering such things
as the Smith considered to be praise,
he said:
I knew Brigham Young as intimately,
perhaps. as any man living, | give him
every need OF credit and praise for the
great work he has accomplished; but,
my friends, ] say this is not the work
OF Brigham Young alone
OF course not The particular Smith
had his mighty share in it, did he not9
He it was who accepted the protection
afforded by the courage of Brigham
Young until such time as he could sit
in the councils of the mighty ones Of
Israel. And then and there he sat in
grim silence, strolSing his beard, but
saying nothing; because his word was
not considered worth listening to, But
there he sat, waitlng-for years simply
waiting And for what' Joseph f.
Smith sat in greedy anticipation of the
time when into his hands should fall the
power of the chief, and when
upon his head should be
placed the crown. No other
thought seems to have traversed the
Smith mind; for he was never heard,
except occasionally in the tabernacle
to have his coat-tail pulled when he had
gone foolishly far enough
Nowhere in his address on Brigham
Young day, however, is there any ref
erence to the thought that the greatest
leader the Mormon church ever had was
prophet of God, AT no time did the
Smith intimate that Brigham was
called of God The nearest ap.
proach 10 anything Of the sort was when
ne declared that he found in Brigham
Young "all that one could expect Of
wise counsellor and great and inspired
man 1t would not do for Joseph L
Smith TO give has predecessor too muci
credit, nor to attribute to him author
ity from heaven, such as the aw.break,
ing Smith claims for himself and his
ancestors. Joseph f. has already de.
clared himself in opposition to this
proposition. He has expressed himself
with regard to the authority of Brig.
ham Young as a prophet, seer, and rev.
elator of the Mormon church; and his
opinion would lead any sane man to
discover that Smith considered Young
TO be a usurpeT. In a special conference
Of the Saints. held in the tabernacle on
November 10, 1901, when he was
crowned king of the kingdom of God
on earth, ne is reported by the Deseret
News (the report appearing In the is
sue of that organ of November l6) to
have said:
| desire TO read a little from the reve-
lation in relation 10 the order OF the holy
priesthood, that you may understand our
We can TO the holy order Of government
that has been established by revelation
through the Prophet Joseph Smith In the
dispcnsatiou OF the fullDess of times, We
cannot deny the fact that the Lord has
effected one OF the most perfect organi-
cations In this church that ever existed
more perfect organization than exists in
the Church OF Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints today. We have not always car
rled out strictly the order OF the priest
hood; we have varied from It TO some eX-
tent; but we hope in due time that by
the prcmptugs Of the Holy Spirit We
and course tha, the Lord has marked
ont for us to pursue. and adhere strict
ly to the order that he has established.
! will read from a revelation that was
Nauvoo, Hancock county. Illinois. Janu-
airy 10, 1871. which stands. as the Law, OF
the church, and from which l feel that
we have no right 10 depart. The Lord
says;
First. I sive unto you Hyrum Smith
10 be patriarch unto YOU, TO hold the
sealing blessings OF my church, even the
holy spirit OF promise. whereby ye are
sealed up unto the day Of redemption.
that We may not fall. notwithstanding the
hour OF temptation that may come upon
you"
II may seem strange that the Lord
should give first of all the patriarch: yet
tion or any commandment from God 10
the contrary, that has ever been given
through any OF the prophets or presidents
OF tho church. At the same time we we'll
know that this order has not occn strict
" followed from the day we came into
these valleys until now-and we will not
make any change at present But we
will first take IL into consdera tjon: We
VIII pray over IL; we will get the mind
of the Spirit Of God upon IT., as upon
other subjects and he united before we
has been done
That is a sufficiently plain expression
of the Smith fancy that Brigham
Young was not prophet of God. and
that this is purely Smith church
no more, and no, less, Joseph + therein
claims that the whole matter of sue.
cessiou in the church has been crrone-
Gus; but he is careful to point out that
the first in the church was the patriarch
whose son is Joseph F. Smith But
if the present prophet shall persist in
his pre.eusions, then he is wrongfully
president of the Mormon church: for he
has followed in an illegal line of sue
cession to that office.
But that is not so much here nor
there as was the Smith anxiety TO come
to what he looked upon as his very
own, President Snow, who immediate
ly preceded this particular Smith in
the presidency, died in October, 1901;