The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-05-26
FURTHER TAKING HIS CHANCES

revelatorn has been caught "taking
his chances against the law"
The public has been officially mott
fled by the Secretary of Agriculture
Hon. James Wilson, that the Inland
Crystal Salt company has been selling
misbrandcd salt, contrary 10 the pro.
visions of the Pure Food Act. Joseph
+. Smith president, prophet, seer, and
revelator of. and trustee.in-tr trust for,
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter.
day Saints. more familiarly known as
the Mormon church, is president of the
Inland Crystal Salt company.
There is some history connected with
the salt industry OF Utah, and more par
tlcularlv as concerning this particular
Inland Crystal Salt company, of which
President Smith Of the Mormon church
is president, and which has been deemed
guilty of fraud in its marketings.
In the very earlier days of Utah the
settlers used to 90 down to the shores
of the Great Salt Lake and shovel up
from the natural depressions along the
higher meander line the salt resulting
from evaporation of waters deposited
in them when the lake was at it's food
period This was taken home and
boiled in water in crude home pots and
kettles. and the salt thus partially re-
fined served for all household purposes
While some of the undesirable minerals
were not extracted by means of this
10 bo
manned otherwise unadulterated-in
other words, that salt was salty. As
the community grew, the farseeing ones
naturally recognized IN these circum-
stances an opportunity to make wealth
for themselves in "cornering, - in the
modest way Of their day, the salt pro-
ducing possibilities of the Great Salt
Lake. Men began to file on the lands
contiguouslv surrounding our much
vaunted inland sea Wherever there
was possible opportunity to dig a
ditch from the lake to some near de
preston. this was done, and during
high water the depression would natu-
rally Gil, and during low water and
the hot sun period il would dry out
and the salt residue would be gathered
up. From this the industry went to
the making of ponds by grading and
small dyking, and still later the process
was carried to larger scale by broad
ening the area of the salt gardens and
extending them to higher lands, using
power operated pumps to raise the salt
s LII 4.
high point in gravity fumes TO carry
it 10 the desired locality. Gradually
the industry has evolved from thing
of primitive simplicity to one of mod
ern science, eliminating in the great
salt gardens and big salt refneries of
the Inland Crystal Salt company.
AS a rule (and this fact will have
been observed in the historical claims
to special originality on the part of
the chiefs of the Mormon cult) the
Mormon church usually discovers some
thing after someone else has solved the
problem. And so it comes about that,
in this particular case, the chiefs of
the church observed that there was
money to be made in the salt business
because others were and had been gath
ering some modest profits 1t was finally
seen that by cornering the salt land
holdings Of the various individuals who
had pioneered the business, corner
on salt production and disposal in this
region could be achieved, Emissaries
of the eccleSiasts went out and bought
up those whom they could buy, and
those who were unpurchasable were
left to get along as best they could
after the coalition Of such individual
interests as had been bought up,
Through the different methods availa-
bic to the all-governing priestly author
ity exerted by the Mormon chiefs, con-
troll by them of the salt market was
had. This condition having been
reached the process of freezing out
the small holders of salt gardens was
a lower figure than that originally of
fered, others held on until their bust
ness was ruined, and still others were
absolutely wiped out of existence un-
der the priestly heel.
Let us illustrate:
Jerry Langford, for instance, was a
somewhat extensive owner of salt lands
right at and surrounding what is now
the Saltair resort, OF course, he must
be dealt with, In a somewhat round
about way he is connected with "the
Lord IS anointed' who now control the
Mormon church, He had worked hard
in his salt gardens as common Ia
horer. He was thrifty, and shrewd IN
looking after his interests. And so
a swap was made between the Mormon
church and Jerry. The church was to
give Jerry a bunch of stock in the
Saltair Beach company and the Salt
Lake G. Los Angeles Railroad company,
and Jerry was to give to the church
his salt land. While this portion Of
the story may be somewhat aside, it
indicates by what lateral pressures the
money grabbing hierarchs of Mormon