Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-18
Cutting and Wheeler Question
Smoot on Essays of
Brigham Young.
BIBLE ALSO DISCUSSED
IN ARGUMENT ON PLAN
Galleries Laugh When Couzens
Reads Exhibit Offered Dur
ing Discussion.

Clashes over the Bible and the essays
of Brigham Young, founder of the
Mormon Church, pierced the calm Of
the Senate tariff debate today during
speech by Senator Cutting, Repub-
lican, New Mexico, in favor of repeal
Of the customs ban on foreign literature
regarded as immoral.
Senator Wheeler, Democrat, Montana
interrupted Cutting to ask Senator
Smoot, Republican, Utah, high official
in the Mormon Church and advocate
of continuation of the customs censor
ship, whether any of Brigham Young's
essays would be barred under the
present law.
Smoot replied heatedly that If these
essays came within the scope Of the in
tent of the law they should be pro-
hibited from entry.
Gliding Smoot for distributing many
seized foreign books for Senators to pc
ruse during the debate, Senator Cutting
offered the Utahan copy Of "Por-
biography and Obscenity," by d. H. Law
renee, and said:
Clashes With SmoOt.
ST commend this to the Senator from
Utah. It might fill some of the hours
he previously used in reading Lady
Chatterly's Lover"
Jumping to his feet in rage, Smoot
asserted he had not spent 10 minutes
reading this book.
IT would not think of reading any,
thing the Senator suggested after hear
ing his speech today" .Smoot added.
A copy of Lady Chatterly's Lover"
at this juncture reposed in the hands
of Senator Copeland, Democrat, New
York, who sat near Smoot reading ex-
Pointing to the book, the lanky
Utahan shouted:
mo man would write book like
that unless his soul was so black 1t
would be a shining light in hell"
Makes Bible Point.
Smoot told Cutting If he would read
the Bible altogether" he would not
make the speech he was delivering.
That's just the point" Cutting re-
piled. adding that If one read it in its
entirety they found nothing wrong,
but If certain extracts were read some
objection might be found.
Senator Wheeler said there were GER
tain essays of Brigham Young which
might be banned as melting to stir up
rebellion, yet the country lived through
them.
"I'm not worried about the Senator
from New Mexico or the Senator from
Montana reading these books" put in
Smoot. But what about the boys and
girls?"
Wheeler said he had not read line
of any of the exhibits until yesterday,
when Smoot showed him an extract.
Intolerance Charged.
Charges of intolerance were leveled at
Smoot as Wheeler Joined Cutting in in
sistence that the Mormon church
"above all others" should maintain
tolerance.
Smoot met the barrage with story
of the prosecution" that preceded writ
ings of Mormon leaders, He pleaded for
father and mother" who, he said, were
driven from their homes" by persecu-
ton.
Wheeler and Cutting pressed that the
law Smoot was indorsing, If 1t had been
on the books at the time the church was
young, would have sent your own for
bears to prison for 10 years or 5 years.
Cutting produced a number of popu-
lar magazines and asserted that he
considered them lar more lnueCeHG III
every way" than the books which Smoot
had brought into the chamber.
Producing another book, he said It
contained the condensed indecency'
of English authors and was in the Con-
gressional Library.
Senator Causes Laughter.
When Cutting had finished with the
book Senator CouZens, Republican, OF
Michigan reached over for 1t and start
ed reading amid laughter from the
Senators and the galleries.
Pointing to Couzens, the New Mexico
Senator said:
"There is nothing indecent about this
book except what may be indecent in
the classics"
Leaping to his feet, Senator Smoot
asserted that there can't be words put
together more vile and rotten than are
in these books"
He referred to the collection he had
assembled.
IF the Senator will come around
sometime 1 will read him some ex-
cerpts," Cutting replied.
There is no more comparison De-
tween these books and Shakespeare
than there is between heaven and he'll,
Smoot retorted.
Couzens interrupted to suggest that
Smoot explain the difference In heaven
and hell"