The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-10-03

Gcntlemen:-By the exercise of my
own reason, otherwise known as "By
the grace Of God,'' | am no longer
under your spiritual and temporal
thumbs Two years ago last March
you did me the kindness to fire me
l"from your midst" because | publicly
denounced the insincerity, deception
and driveling hypocrisy manifested by
you in your testimony before the com
mittee on privileges and elections at
Washington, ID. c., when you were en-
gagged IN anchoring your servile agent
and tool, Apostle Reed Smoot, in the
United States senate.
While confessing to the senate com.
mittec that, as prophets, seers and
revelators,' you were breaking the law
of God, as well as the law of your
own state, BY the practice of polyg-
| amouS cohabltatlon, you were at
tempting TO throw dust in the eyes of
the senate committee, and IN the eyes
of the people of this nation. by assert
ing under oath that the Mormon church
had abandoned plural marriage and un-
lawful living in polygamy
1t is not forgotten that the senior
member Of your grating firm of
mittee that while he (Joseph +. SMITH
was not keeping his pledge with the
people of the United States in the mat
ter of polygamous living, that the rank
and file of the saints were observing
"the law" Also, it is not forgotten
that you, President Lyman, as
prophet, seer and revelator,' became
hopelcssly entangled in a web by the
uninspred Senator Hoar, and that with
even the Mormon god behind you,
You squlrmed like ten.year-old kid
when he forced you to silently confess
that you had perjured yourself, or.
taking the more charitable view, that
the. Esprit of God by which, you
claimed YOU were being Corrected in
your testimony, was as much OF a myth
as the other selfevldcnt fact that when
you pose as a "prophet, seer and
revelator " during the approaching con
ference you are wilfully trying to de
celve the body of the saints whose only
fault is that they accept without
question such thinly disguised tommy
! rot.
Before proceeding with the subject
in view, will you not, President Ly-
man. traverse with me the somewhat
dim path that leads backward nearly
forty years, and so to that pleasant
hamlet known as Fillmore, Millard
county, Utah7 We were then young
| ana ROBUST men, Win UHe OldU "DTlus
such as it was, before us. If my
memory serves me you were on a mis-
sion to the British Isles in 1871, or at
the time of the incidents / am about to
relate.
had been home from long mis-
sion about one year. The priesthood
was called together by Bishop Thomas
Callister, the father of two OF your
plural wives, and we were Informed
that city convention" would be
held for the purpose of nominating
mayor and a couple of councilmen,
more or less. The voting as in the
church meetings. was by "ralsing the
right hand. -
The First Revolt
A few days after the convention "
a number of young men-embryo
American citizens-happened to meet
near the Coop store. The subject of
priesthood nominations for civil office
came up, and those young American
citizens unanimously resolved that it
was not in harmony with the spirit Of
| liberty as enunciated in the Declara-
tion of independence. Then and there
we issued local declaration of indie
pendence. and resolved to place an in
dependent nominee in the field for
mayorality honors. A committee was
selected to wait upon Bishop Calllster
|
Webb, John Compton and myself were
that committee. Bishop Callister, and,
according to his light, God never
created a better man, listened to and
sympathized with us. He told us to
Ego ahead and even consented that
his son, Thomas c. Callister, recently
secretary of the state land board, be
or two Bishop Callister apparently dis
covered that the new born Americanism
would create trouble in the ward, He
called the independent committee to-
gether and told them that ''Thomas is
too young to serve, even if elected, y
and suggested that we nominate some
one else. But there was no objection
to our going ahead with our programme
of independence. We then again called
convention, which met on the
street, and nominated Gilbert Webb
for mayor, and began vigorous cam
paign. The priesthood regarded it as
Joke. but they came within thirteen
votes of being defeated.
| The tickets were written in those
days, and we appointed committee to
write the independent ballots. Others
the polls. We knew nothing about
"politics,' but were on the right
| track.
An hour before sunsetn the Judges
of election counted "noses' and dis
covered that they were about thirteen
votes ahead, Benjamin Robson. the
chief Judge of election, declared the
city election closed. but continued the
county election until sunset. The rea-
son for the premature closing of the
city polls was that the election judges
looked out of the window and saw that
we had two wagon loads of voters in
cludinp the entire Bartholomew family
or enough to bury under a half-dozen
votes the priesthood ticket.
You will recollect, President Lyman,
that that was the first independent
election ever held III Utah.
You will also remember that the next
convention of the priesthood nominated
you for the next territorial legislature
while you were yet in England. The
independents went to the "conven-
tom and tried TO defeat you. 1t was
failure. The meeting was adjourned
10, oil ba ha