The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-07
IMPOSING ON TIE SCHOOLS.

| iroduCcd rs Il textbook IN Inc puDDt
schools of this city. lis title Is "Thc
Making Of n State |; has TO the full
the faint that ran so Extensively through
tho '.Ilistory of Utah by the same
q history iu amy true sense, was simply
a summing mp Of the Mormon side OF
every question and situation.
! This ncwly.introduccd text book is "A
sort cf abridgcmcnt of the larger work,
aud is animated by the same spirit
| All through it is the Mormon view that
| is presented, aud this in such biased
way as TO utterly disgust any ono who
| knows the facts. 1t is not only deeply
! partisan on all questions in dispute,
il is cowardly and cyasivc in the most
craven and contcmptiblc degree. An
instance Of It's methods is its treatment
of the subject of the move made by
President Woodruff 10 head of the pas
sage of The Strublc bill that was pending
in Congress with excellent prospect Of
passage, which in effect applied to Utah
the franchise restriction against voters
who believed in and supported the doe
irne of poIygamy that was earlier put
in the constitution of the State of
Idaho. The account is found on
characteristic of tho "cbidlikc and
bland duplcity with which the book
so much abounds.
After mentioning the agitation for
the disfranchisoment of every person
who maintained the rightfulness of
poIygamy (''the form of marriage
which these laws the Edmunds law
and the EdmundS Tucker law amending
it, both of which disfrancbiscd actual
polygamistsl condemned as Whitney
puts it in this book, being chary of
using the right word,) through the Cul
lom and Struble bills, Whitney pro-
cccds. after the subtitle, "Thc Man
ifesto:'
tcmbcr, 1890, Wilford Woodruff. president
OF the Church OF Jesus Christ oi Latter
day Saints. issued The Manifesto" The
Supreme Court OF the United States had
declared the EdmuDds Law and the Ed
munds Tucker Law constitutional, and
President Woodruff now advised all con-
eerned to refrain from contracting any
marriages forbidden by the law OF The
land The Manifesto was ratified by the
vote of the General Conference OF the
church in the following October.
This was an important event, and
great changes resulted from it. One
cause OF the incessant strife in Utah.
one main obstacle 10 the admission OF
the Territory into the Union as a State.
a length rpD1nvp1 The ('nllprp and
Strublc bills failed 10 pass. The Presi
dent OF the United states pardoned all
who had broken the Edmunds Law, and
by act of Congress the conGscated church
property was restored.
Ingenious, cvasivc, smooth. and
plausible. But utterly ignoring the
core of the whole matter. The mani
festo did not merely 'Eadvise all con.
cerned TO refrain from contracting any
marriage forbidden by the law of tho
land.' 1t not only barred plural mar
riages, but declared President Wood
ruff's ''intention to submit to those
laws, and TO use his influence with the
members of the church over which he
presided To have them do likewise
President Woodruff expressly made oath
later that this meant obedience also
TO the law forbidding unlawful cohabi.
tation. President Snow, President Jo-
seph F. Smith and others swore to the
same meaning. SO that Whitney puts
restrictions upon the meaning of this
manifesto which President Woodruff
and every president of the Mormon
church since have sworn do not belong
there. The purpose of this minimizing
or the manifesto can only be to dis
credit IL. and 10 help on the scheme for
Ignoring il altogether, as now seems to
be the plan, which is well on in its prac.
tical and successful operation
1t was an important event, bui the re-
suits anticipated did not follow, Those
who made the compact did not conform
10 IT themselves. President Joseph L.
Smith expressly testified in the Smoot
case that he had not kept faith, and
that others had also failed to do so.
President Lyman specifically swore that
he had repudiated his word, that he
had been living, and intended to con
tiuue TO live, in defiance of the laws
of God and man. Thus the pledge of
obedience TO the laws which was car.
ricd in the manifesto has been rcpudi-
atcd. and while Statehood has been OBJ.
tanned, the condition under which IL
was granted has been violated No hint
OF this, however, in Whinev's book
''Thc President Of the United States
pardoned all who had broken the Ed.
munds Law saws Whitney. inaccur-
atcly. 1t was the law against poygamy
that they had violated the Cnllom law
of 1862; but it suits Whitney TO limit.
ignore, aud give false lend And
though the pardon SO glibly referred
10 contained the express condition that
1t applied only to those who should in
the future obey the laws, not word
Of this does Whitney carry. in this
" history. And precious few of the
polygamists did obey the laws, most of
them continuing right along as Prcsi-
denis Smith and LYMAN syyorc tbc,- had