The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-01-05
HAYS FRUITFUL TESTIMONY.

| Interstate commerce commission.
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HAYS FRUITFUL TESTIMONY.
Pursuing his narrative of events at
Nauvoo Immediately following the de.
struction Of the Nauvoo Expositor, Hon
John Hay (the witness brought into
this discussion by the Dcscrct Ncws)
goes on in this fashion:
Foster and Law fed. like the van
9ulshed Marius. To Carthage. Although
the county authorities who had been
elected on the Democratic ticket and had
received the solid Mormon vote were
alsposed to dea! as gently as possible with
the autocrat uf Nauvoo. they could not
'cluse the warrants of arrest for which
the tugitiyes applied. These were grant.
"a e,i. against Joseph and HyrUm Smith. and
SiNtocn Others Of the rioters. But when
INC deputy sheriff went To Nauvoo the
Aormons smiled at his simplicity. and
went through tho forms of arrest, habcas
corpus, trial and acquittal before that
| singular municipal court OF which tho
prophet was, Judge, jury. counsel and
prisoner: IIl. with a nromp,ness and cclcrity
him back TO Carthage with significant
| admonitions.
For space VIC will here leave Mr.
Hays recital and turn to the Journal
of DIscourses. volume >, pages l64 and
|
getting from the lips of Joseph Smith
himself confirmation of what Mr.. Hay
says. While the speech which Joseph
made, and from which we quote. was
delivered Just a wear prior to the events
narrated by Mr.. Hay, il establishes the
defiant attitude and riotous conduct of
Joseph under the protection of that
wonderful Nauvoo charter and his per
sonal municipal court and its famous Cor
lnlamous) habcas corpus manipulations
In that address Joseph said:
have dragged these mon here by
my hand. and will do il again: but I
swear VIII not deal so mildly with them
again; Tor tho time has come when for
beerance Is no longer a virtue: and If YOU
or ! are again taken unlawfulIy. you arc
at liberty TO give loose TO blood and thun-
der But bo cool. be deliberate he wise
act with almighty power. and when YOU
pull do u ofTectually-make a sweep
I have no doubt but I shall be dis
charged by tho municipal court (Cer-
wish the lawyer who saws we have
death with his own words Don't employ
lawyers. or pay them money for their
knowledge. for l have learnt they don't
m
| they all.
These expressions are Indicative Of
the rebellious spirit that ran riot in
the midst Of the Mormon leaders at
Nauvoo, and of which Joseph Smith was
the chief example. Threats were made
IN profusion against what Smith and
other vicious lawbreakers called Heue
| ,r bn
ture Of the feeling there at tho time is
given in the precipitate flight of Foster
and Law. And it must he noted that
II was these men who procured the issue
OF the warrants, the ultimate conse
quence of which came in tho murders
at Carthage. And. it must not be for
gotten, these men were Mormons. It
avails nothing for the News TO saw that
they were excommunicate. because ali
OF their acts leading up TO the bloody
climax were consummated while they
were held as in good standing. But
now TO Mr.. Hay again, who describes
the intense feeling aroused as well as
the violent outhursts on the part of
some of the outside press, demanding
immediate and sanguDe vengeance, and
then proceeds as follows;
OF course the destruction Of the Ely
posllor was not enough. Of itself 10
| klndlc so intense a popular PASSION. II
| takes a great deal Of hammering to heat
an Iron bar, but IL reddens very rapidly
| al last. For four years the entire coun-
~ Ind been kept in state OF unwhole-
some excitement ny these people. AFTER
ALL THAT MAY BE SAID OF THE
FAULTS or BOTH SIDES. 1T is fM-
PoSSiBLE TO DENY THAT THE NOR
MONS WERE BAD NEIGHBORS. The
| large majority were ignorant, honest,
| hard working folk who were harmless
and peaceable. But the thieves and
Migrants who I'm other communities are
ferae naturse. were in Nauvoo patronized
and protected. for several reasons. The
| city charter granted by tho Legislature
in A sordid subservicncy. gave TO the
municipal court wide jurisdiction. The
| accused Mormon always appealed to this
| court for protection against the pcrse-
| cutting Gentle. and he always got of
stot-free; smith rather enjoyed dcfying
the outside world, and perhaps felt also
trouble. For years scarcely a criminal
! had been brought out OF Nauvoo The
evil was growing every day less cndura-
bic
Is there any wonder that tho people
were aroused. both the outsiders who
were outraged by this fearful condition
of affairs, and the Mormons whose dis.
affection caused them TO be also vic.
tins of the damnablc systcmf
More and more it becomes plain that
there was determination TO ignore
all law, defy all government. commit
all sorts Of crime, override the people
and play havoc generally. The majority