A REIGN OF JUDICIAL TERROR—JUDGES WITH A MISSION—JAMES B. MCKEAN—A JUDICIAL CRUSADE—A SYSTEM ON TRIAL—THE HIGH-HANDED MEASURES STOPPED BY THE SUPREME COURT—"MASTERLY INACTIVITY"—ELDER TAYLOR ON THE CRUSADE—"BE QUIET"—THE COUNSEL VINDICATED.
The years from 1871 to 1875 are notable in the history of Utah for the judicial reign of terror which prevailed. In the spring of 1871, James B. McKean, of New York, arrived in Salt Lake City and entered upon the duties of his office as Chief Justice of the Territory. He was a man of moderate capacity, a sectarian bigot, fanatical in his opposition to the Mormon people: in a word, he was "a judge with a mission," and utterly reckless in his methods of executing it.
His conception of the work appointed to him to perform as Chief Justice of Utah, is best expressed in what are said to be his own words to Judge Louis Dent, brother-in-law to President Grant:
"Judge Dent, the mission which God has called upon me to perform in Utah, is as much above the duties of other courts and judges as the heavens are above the earth, and whenever or wherever I may find the local or federal laws obstructing or interfering therewith, by God's blessing I shall trample them under my feet."
While it seems too monstrous for belief that a United States judge should make such remarks as these, it is a stubborn fact, borne out by the records of the proceedings of his court, that James B. McKean did all he threatened to do in the above reported conversation.
His first attack was upon the Territorial attorney-general and marshal, both of whom, without the authority of law, were pushed out of office and their duties performed by the United States district attorney and marshal. The next step was to ignore the Territorial statutes providing for the impanelling of grand and petit jurors; and authorizing the United States marshal to select them at his own pleasure. The result was packed juries of pronounced anti-Mormons, chosen to convict the Church leaders. One more step and the machinery of the court was ready for the evidently contemplated judicial crusade; the United States prosecuting attorney having resigned, Judge McKean appointed as his successor R. N. Baskin, a man as bitter in his hatred of the Church of Jesus Christ and its chief officers as the judge himself; and not one whit behind him in recklessness. This appointment was made in violation of law, since only the President of the United States with the consent of the senate, has power to appoint that officer.
The machinery all being ready, a number of indictments were found against men high in authority in the Church, under an old Territorial statute defining and punishing adultery. It was notorious throughout the United States that if these men in their polygamous relations were guilty of any offense at all, it must have been the violation of the anti-polygamy laws of Congress, and not the aforesaid Territorial law enacted by a legislature the members of which were chiefly polygamists.
Among those indicated under thisregimewas President Brigham Young, against whom an indictment with sixteen separate counts was found. Each count constituting a separate offense. He appeared in court to answer to these charges; and the judge in over-ruling a motion to quash the indictment took occasion to say:
"Courts are bound to take notice of the political and social condition of the country which they judicially rule. It is therefore proper to say, that while the case at bar is called 'The PeopleversusBrigham Young,' its other and real name is 'Federal AuthorityversusPolygamous Theocracy."'
Public sentiment was outraged by the high-handed measures of Judge McKean. Popular excitement ran high. For a time there was a threatened collision between the court and the people. It was at this juncture that Elder Taylor published five letters in theDeseret News, reviewing the situation in Utah, and denouncing the Territorial government as un-American in principle and oppressive in its operation; but at the same time warned the people against violent resistance to the court, insolent and oppressive as it was.
He was in court with President Young when Judge McKean made the statement: "It is therefore proper to say that while the case at bar is called 'The PeopleversusBrigham Young,' its other and real name is 'Federal AuthorityversusPolygamous Theocracy.' * * A system is on trial in the person of Brigham Young." This he took for his text in the letters above referred to, and interpreted it to mean, which it did, that war was declared against the Church of Jesus Christ. "Stripped of all its tinsel and wrappings," said he, "it simply resolves itself into this: that the government of the United States is at war with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
Elder Taylor then proceeds to show that in making war on a system of religion, the great principle of religious liberty itself is threatened, and that such a crusade as that foreshadowed in the declaration of Judge McKean, could but end in disaster to the liberties of the people.
Giving himself wide latitude in the discussion, he inquired into the principles underlying American institutions, and from that inquiry arrives at the following conclusion:
"The whole foundation and superstructure of American ethics or jurisprudence is based upon the popular will. That its executive, legislative and judicial powers originate with the people, and that the people having granted to the men of their choice, certain powers, agencies and authorities, to act for and in their behalf; limiting all of them by the provisions of the Constitution which all of them take an oath to support, they reserve to themselves, to their state or to 'the people,' all the remainder.
"If indeed the above is a correct exposition of our rights and privileges as American citizens," he writes, "how is it that such infamies can transpire as have lately been exhibited in our courts? I may be here met with the statement that we are only a territory; but we are American citizens, and have never abjured our citizenship nor relinquished our Constitutional guarantees. * * If the above be true, and the axiom of the declarers of Independence be correct, that governments 'derive their just powers from the consent of the governed,' what becomes of our federal officers? For not one of our citizens invited them here, or had any vote in their coming, nor was their consent asked. If all just powers are derived from the consent of the governed, then the powers exercised by them [the Territorial officials appointed by the President] must be unjust.
" * * The facts are the people, one hundred thousand American citizens, living in the Territory of Utah, with the full rights of free men, and the protecting guarantees of a written constitution, find in the persons of federal officers 'another government' not of the people, and in violation of Constitutional guarantees and authority; claiming to come from the United States, 'imperium in imperio,' whose policy and practices are in grave particulars at variance with its own; and I ask by what authority it presumes to set itself up against the legitimately constituted authority of the people of the territory or state; by what authority it ignores its laws; by what authority it over-rides and tears down the safeguards of society, fosters in our midst drunkenness, gambling and whoredoms, those infamous adjuncts and institutions of professed civilization; by what authority it repudiates its officers; by what authority it interferes with the religion of the people, with their social, religious, political and moral rights?"
He then proceeds at some length to show that some of the most eminent statesmen of America held to the view that the people of the territories possessed the right to manage their own municipal, social and domestic affairs in that way which to them seemed best, limited only in the exercise of these powers by the Constitution of the United States.
These letters, however, were most valuable in allaying the excitement of the people, who by the infamous proceedings of the courts were fast approaching that condition of mind when men throw off all restraint, and regardless of consequences avenge their own wrongs. He called the attention of the people to the fact that this was probably the object of the crusade, that a pretext might be found for further oppression and robbery.
"The lamb is drinking below, the wolf is fouling the water above. The big boy is strutting about with a chip on his shoulder, daring you to knock it off. Some pretext is needed. Don't give it to them. * * Let the same wisdom that has governed your acts hitherto still be continued. They want a cause of quarrel, that they may rob and pillage according to law. Don't give it to them. * * Let them pack juries fresh from houses of ill-fame to try you on virtue. Never mind, it is their virtue that suffers, not yours. Let them try you for living with and protecting your wives and providing for your children; fidelity and virtue are not crimes in the eyes of the Almighty, only in theirs.
"' * * But they are accusing some of our best and most honorable men of murder!' What of that? Who have they suborned as their accusers? They themselves call them by the mild name of assassins—these are their fellow-pirates with whom they hob nob and associate. Be quiet!
"'But other aggressions are contemplated; they are bent on provoking a quarrel and mischief.' No matter, it takes two to make a quarrel, don't you be one of them.
"'They offer themselves to be kicked.' Don't do it, have some respect for your boots.
"'But they insult us on every hand.' What! they insult you! Nature has provided for many animals and insects a certain species of aggression and defense. Some snakes crush their victims in their folds; others carry poison in their teeth; the wasp and scorpion sting you; the ant poisons with its bite; the vampire sucks your blood; while the pole-cat protects itself by its insufferable odor—
"'Their power to hurt each little creature feels,Bulls use their horns and asses use their heels.'
"'Their power to hurt each little creature feels,Bulls use their horns and asses use their heels.'
"Now who would consider himself insulted by the hissing of a snake, the attack of the wasp, or the odor of a skunk? You would simply avoid them. It is not in their power to insult you.'
"There is no law they can place us under which we cannot obey. We must live above all law, and nothing can harm us if we are 'followers of that which is good,' so keep quiet!'
" * * There is something heroic in being able calmly to view with firm nerves and unblanched cheek the acts of your petty tormentors. Filled with the light of eternal truth, rejoicing in the possession of the favor of God, 'having the promise of the life which now is, and that which is to come," standing on a more elevated platform, you can smile with complacency on their feeble attacks, and"
'Like Moses' bush ascend the higher,And flourish unconsumed by fire.'
'Like Moses' bush ascend the higher,And flourish unconsumed by fire.'
"But independent of this, it is our very best policy to be quiet. The court can proceed, yet the sun will rise and set, the earth will roll on its axis, potatoes and corn will grow irrespective of the decrees of courts. Hitherto you have been subject to the misrepresentations and manufactured lies from the small fry of this coterie—little whelps who lick the hands of their master, and vomit their lies by wholesale, to pervert public opinion; but they are found out. They have run their erratic race. You have no fear from them. Your cause is before the public. The eyes of the great American nation are now upon you, and men of honor, probity and position represent your acts. (And to their honor be it spoken the intelligent press, irrespective of party, denounce your persecutors.) This clique are not representatives of American sentiment. The majority of strangers in our midst repudiate them; and there are hundreds of thousands of honest, high-minded, honorable men throughout the land, who despise as much as you do, these infamous acts. We live in the most liberal and enlightened nation in the world; if there are evils, they can be corrected; but the undercurrent, the vital, strong, living sentiment of America is fair play, justice for all, equal rights, liberty, equality and brotherhood; they are opposed to hypocrisy, fraud, injustice and piracy, and will sustain republicanism, democracy, equity and the inalienable rights of man. Men of standing and position are now noting your acts, and they will report them truly and correctly; therefore keep quiet, and do not play into your enemies' hands. For they war, not only against you, but against the liberal, enlightened sentiment of the nation, against the time-honored principles of republicanism and equal rights."
The wisdom of the policy advised by Elder Taylor was soon vindicated by glorious results. The Supreme Court of the United States decided that the grand and petit jurors summoned by McKean, were both drawn in violation of law, and as "a legal consequence, all the indictments now pending in the courts of Utah are null and void. Brigham Young and his Mormon brethren must be discharged from confinement, and the records of this judicial conspiracy expunged." McKean had the mortification of setting in the Supreme Court at Washington during the reading of this decision which so utterly condemned his fanatical and illegal proceedings.
But the end was not yet. McKean still had sole control of judicial affairs in Utah, in the district courts; and not being able to prosecute Mormons according to the plan he had first adopted, he determined to follow the policy of "masterly inactivity," by which he hindered and delayed the business of the courts, both civil and criminal, by refusing to empanel either grand or petit juries, hoping by this means to compel Congress to enact such a jury law for Utah as would keep Mormons off all juries, whether they were actual polygamists or only believers in it; and thus enable him to drag the class of men he had singled out as his victims, before their avowed enemies for trial. In these measures he was partially successful for Congress passed the Poland Bill in 1874, which virtually abolished the office of Territorial marshal and Territorial attorney general, by enlarging the duties and powers of the United States marshal and United States prosecuting attorney. The powers of the probate courts were also cut down, being limited by the Poland Bill to jurisdiction in the settlement of the estates of deceased persons and their descendants, guardianship and other like matters; but otherwise they were to have no civil, chancery or criminal jurisdiction whatever. They were permitted to hold concurrent jurisdiction in divorce cases with the United States district courts, but an appeal could be taken from them after appearance, before plea or answer. Thus the courts of the people were practically abolished and others set up in their place. Changes were also made in the manner of selecting juries, so that the Gentile population—at the time but an insignificant minority of the inhabitants of Utah—was given equal representation on the juries with the overwhelming majority of the people.
The conduct of Judge McKean and the measures introduced into Congress respecting Utah affairs, again brought Elder Taylor out in a series of six letters to the press, in which he made a scathing exposure of federal official corruption in our Territory, and a searching criticism of the various measures pending in Congress, previous to the passage of the Poland Bill. In closing one of these letters that reviewed some of the bills in Congress, he made the following stirring appeal to the national legislators:
"With all the reverence and respect due to the rulers of a mighty nation, from the tops of these distant mountains I call upon you to pause in your career, for I also am a teacher, and have a right to be heard. I speak in behalf of one hundred and fifty thousand citizens of Utah. I speak in behalf of forty millions of free American citizens in the United States. I conjure you out of respect for the memory of the dead, as the rightful guardians of the liberties of a vast nation, that stands proudly prominent among the nations of the earth, and in behalf of unborn millions, to pause. I conjure you, in behalf of our honor and integrity, in behalf of republican principles, and the cause of freedom throughout the world. I plead with you in behalf of our common humanity, and the rights of man, to reflect. Would you, to gratify a morbid sentimentality desecrate and tear down one of the most magnificent temples of human liberty, ever erected? Would you wantonly deliver up the sacred principles of liberty, equity and justice, bequeathed by your fathers, to the grim Moloch of party who is crushing, grinding and trampling under foot our God-given rights, and whose sanguinary jaws are extended to gorge and devour the quivering remnants of our feeble, expiring liberty? Have we not had more than enough trouble already with Virginia, North Carolina, Louisana and Utah? Can we ever be satisfied? 'Let us have peace.'"
The opening of the "Black Book," as he called his inquiry into the conduct of federal officials in Utah, revealed a lamentable state of affairs. Men who had come to the Territory for the ostensible purpose of administering the law were found to be among the chief transgressors thereof, and the aiders and abettors of criminals. But I allow Elder Taylor to make his own indictment against them, only adding that he demonstrated the truth of every item charged in it, by publishing the time when, the places where, and the names of the criminals they liberated. Elder Taylor writes:
"While our territorial courts, officers and municipal authorities, have been always foremost in punishing crime, whether committed by Mormons or Gentiles, some of the United States officials have shielded and protected criminals, and for this purpose every subterfuge known to the law has been brought into requisition. Thus, by writs of error, injunctions,habeas corpus, pardons, and officious and indecent interference, they have exhibited themselves as the abettors and protectors of crime. They have liberatedfelonsand murderers, encouraged drunkenness and riot, protected and shielded brothel-houses, winked at and sustained gambling, and so clogged the wheels of justice, in both civil and criminal cases, that they have brought the judiciary into such contempt that it has become a stink in the nostrils of honest men."
These charges and the facts he published to prove them he prefaced with the following:
"I am not writing under the very questionable shelter of anom de plume, and have nothing but facts to relate, for which I hold myself responsible."
The parties he indicted before the bar of public opinion made no attempt to refute his statements—a tacit admission of the truth of his charges.
Judge McKean and his coadjutors, however, continued their lawless course. The judge entertained a suit for divorce and alimony brought into his court by Ann Eliza Webb, the plural wife of President Brigham Young. The marriage between Ann Eliza Webb and Brigham Young was not recognized by the law of the land. It was illegal, and therefore void from the beginning; consequently there could be neither divorce nor alimony. Still Judge McKean entertained the suit, and ordered the defendant to pay $3,000 attorney's fees to plaintiff's counsel, $9,500 alimony to plaintiff, and also $500 per month to her, pending a decision in the case.
President Young, acting on the advice of his counsel, pending an appeal to the supreme court of the United States, did not obey the orders of the judge; whereupon he was found guilty of contempt of court, fined twenty-five dollars, and sentenced to one day's imprisonment in the penitentiary. In this James B. McKean displayed the petty, personal spite of a small man, instead of the courage of a dignified judge defending the honor of the bench. The rash and illegal act cost the Judge his official head. No sooner did the country become acquainted with the course he had taken than a storm of public indignation arose, and clamored loudly for his removal from office. Four days afterwards he was dismissed from the bench.
The federal officers which followed the McKean ring were a better class of men; and for some years Utah had a period of peace. A circumstance which vindicated the wisdom of Elder Taylor's counsel to "Be quiet."
INTEREST IN EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS—CHOSEN SUPERINTENDENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS—COMMENDED BY AUTHORITIES AT WASHINGTON—DEATH OF PRESIDENT YOUNG—THE NEW LEADER—STANDING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES—ELDER TAYLOR'S PLACE IN THE QUORUM—THE HAND OF THE LORD.
The interest which Elder Taylor had taken for some years in the educational affairs of Utah, resulted in his election, in 1877, to the office of Territorial Superintendent of district schools. His labor in that department of the public service, however, was considerably interfered with, at least as to details, by his being called to operate in a higher and more important sphere. Still school interests were, by no means, neglected. He called to his assistance the most competent educators in the Territory, and under his direction the work they accomplished, was perfectly satisfactory.
In his bi-annual reports to the Territorial Legislature, in addition to giving the usual general and statistical information from his own Territory, he incorporated a brief summary of important educational statistics for all the states and territories, which led Charles Warren, Esq., acting commissioner of education at Washington, to write him a letter of commendation, in which the following occurs:
"The example thus set is a good one, and only by this means, while Congress limits the circulation of our reports, can the statistics, laboriously collected at this central office, reach the vast body of minor school officers and teachers, for whose benefit they should be spread abroad. It is to be hoped that other superintendents will follow the pattern thus presented, and thus enable all school officers and teachers in their several states or territories, to compare their own statistics with those of others elsewhere."
The circumstances which called Elder Taylor to a higher sphere of labor than that of superintendent of district schools, was the death of President Brigham Young. He died on the afternoon of the 25th of August, 1877. It was a sorrowful event. For thirty-three years Brigham Young had stood as the earthly head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its President, and the Lord's prophet, seer and revelator to it. Under God's direction he delivered the Saints from the oppression of mob rule and violence at Nauvoo, and led them in an unparalleled exodus from civilization through wilderness and desert to the valleys of Utah. He located their settlements, taught them how to build forts for their protection from the savages; how to subdue the desert and make it fruitful; how to become self-sustaining, independent: and by these labors, he laid the foundation of a great commonwealth. He had not only been President of the people, he was, as well, their counselor, friend and brother. He had never betrayed their interests, they could and did trust him implicitly. In times of trial and sorrow they turned to him for comfort; in times of danger they looked to him to direct their action; in times of perplexity they went to him for the word of the Lord; and Brigham Young, full of a heaven-inspired wisdom, never failed them in any of these things. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the Saints had come to look upon him as well nigh indispensable to the work of the Lord, or that a cloud of sorrow settled upon all Israel at his death.
But the work the Lord has established in these last days is independent of any man, be he ever so wise, or influential. This has been so frequently demonstrated that it is now accepted as a truism by the faithful. The work, called by the world "Mormonism," is God's work. He is its founder and its Grand Head. Earthly leaders,—Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and others, operate under His directions. They are but instruments in His hands; and as one passes away, He raises up another competent to carry out His purposes. Brigham Young was dead, but the Church of Christ still lived; and its Great Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, though in heaven,—far above the power of death, of mobs or any earthly accident,—was watching over its interests and guiding its destiny. Surely He is able to raise up another earthly leader for Israel! Indeed the man is already at hand. The Saints while weeping for the departure of their late President, recognize him through the mists of their tears. It is the man who in a voice full of power and inspiration that thrills every soul in the vast congregation assembled to pay the last tribute of respect to the remains of Brigham Young—it is the man who is saying:
"We are not alone! God is with us, and He will continue with us from this time henceforth and forever. And while we mourn a good and great man dead, I see thousands of staunch and faithful ones around me, and before me, who are for Israel, for God and His kingdom; men who are desirous to see His will done on earth, as angels do it in heaven."
We are not alone! God is with us! Israel did not doubt it. How could they? He who proclaimed it knew whereof he spake; and the Spirit of God which penetrated the hearts of the Saints as he uttered those words, bore witness that they were true. It was John Taylor who thus spoke.
At the death of President Young, Elder John Taylor was President of the quorum of Twelve Apostles. It is a principle well established now by precedent, that at the death of the President of the Church, the authority of presidency devolves upon the next quorum—the Twelve Apostles: and as Elder Taylor was the President of the Twelve, he became the mouth-piece of the Lord to the people, by virtue of that position so long as that quorum presided over the Church. Not alone by precedent, however, did the Twelve succeed to the presidency of the Church with Elder Taylor at their head, the arrangement was also sanctioned by the spirit of inspiration.
On the 4th of September, 1877, the two counselors of the late President Young and ten of the Twelve Apostles—Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith, the other two members, were absent in England—held a meeting and waited upon the Lord. With humble, contrite and saddened hearts they earnestly sought to learn His will concerning themselves and the Church. The Lord blessed them with the spirit of union, and revealed to them what steps should be taken, and the following is what was done: Elder Taylor was unanimously sustained as the President of the Twelve; and with the same unanimity it was voted that the Twelve Apostles should be sustained as the presiding authority in the Church, while the counselors to the late President Young, John W. Young and Daniel H. Wells, were sustained as one with, counselors to and associated in action with the Twelve Apostles. To facilitate the transaction of business it was also voted that for the time being President Taylor should be assisted by John W. Young, Daniel H. Wells and George Q. Cannon, in attending to business connected with the temples, the public works and other financial affairs of the Church. They were a kind of executive committee. These preparations were made for pushing forward the work of the Lord in the earth, without even a halt or jostle.
Here it will be proper to note those circumstances which brought Elder Taylor to the exalted station he now occupied. The position in which the members of the Twelve stand in their quorum is determined by seniority of ordination, not of age. Therefore it is always the senior member by ordination that of right is the president of the quorum.
For a number of years, however, there were three members of the quorum living at the death of President Young whose names stood before President Taylor's: Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt and Wilford Woodruff. Doubtless Wilford Woodruff's name was placed upon the records before the name of John Taylor through some inadvertence, or perhaps through the incorrect idea that seniority of age decided the order in which the members of the quorum stood—Wilford Woodruff was the older man. John Taylor, however, was ordained before Wilford Woodruff, in fact, the former assisted at the ordination of the latter, so there could be no question as to his seniority of ordination. The attention of President Young and his counselors being called to these facts, it was decided—the Twelve also concurring—that John Taylor stood before Wilford Woodruff in the quorum, the names after this were so arranged.
During the troublous times at Far West, Missouri, Orson Hyde became involved in some difficulty, in connection with Thomas B. Marsh, which resulted in his excommunication, so that he lost his place in the quorum.
Orson Pratt was also involved in some difficulty in Nauvoo which led to his being dropped from his quorum, and Amasa Lyman was ordained to fill the vacancy.
Both Brother Hyde and Brother Pratt afterwards repented, were forgiven and received back into the quorum by ordination; and without any particular investigation or arrangement they took the positions formerly occupied by them. But both these brethren had been dropped from the quorum, and when they were received back by ordination, it is evident that all those who had remained in the quorum out-ranked them by seniority of ordination.
It was this consideration, doubtless, which led President Young, several years before his death, to have the name of John Taylor placed at the head of the quorum. Thus he stood in the same position that President Young did at the death of the Prophet Joseph; and like him was upheld "the President of the quorum of the Twelve, as one of the Twelve, and First Presidency of the Church."
But aside from his succeeding to this position by virtue of his standing in his quorum, his long experience in the Church, the love the Saints had for him, their confidence in his fidelity, together with his great abilities as a leader among men, pre-eminently qualified him for the position he was called upon to fill. And in those changes made under the direction of President Young, by which Elder Taylor was assigned his proper place in the quorum of the Apostles, may we not discern the inspiration of God preparing the way for the man whom the Lord designed to succeed to the leadership of His people, when President Brigham Young should be called home?
CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT TAYLOR'S ADMINISTRATION—THE GARDO HOUSE VOTED AS HIS RESIDENCE—THE GREAT JUBILEE CONFERENCE—A GREAT TESTIMONY MEETING.
Great energy characterized President Taylor's administration of affairs in the Church, both in Zion and abroad. He pushed forward with increased zeal the work on the temples, of which three were in course of erection, at the time of his taking control of affairs. He required bishops to hold weekly priesthood meetings in their wards; presidents of stakes to hold general priesthood meetings monthly in their respective stakes; and appointed quarterly conferences in all the stakes of Zion, publishing the dates of holding them for half a year in advance, a custom which has continued until the present.
He personally attended as many of these quarterly conferences as he could, without neglecting the executive branch of his calling, which necessarily occupied much of his time, and kept him at or within easy reach of Salt Lake City. But where he could not go himself, he sent members of his quorum, so that the Saints received much teaching and instruction from the Apostles, more perhaps than at any previous time in the history of the Church. The result was a great spiritual awakening among the Saints.
The work abroad received increased impetus by a greater number of elders being sent to the world. A missionary himself nearly all his life, it was but natural for President Taylor to be interested in the work of preaching the gospel abroad.
Pioneer Day—the 24th of July—1880, was celebrated with unusual grandeur in Salt Lake City. One feature of the splendid procession which marched through the gaily decorated streets of the city was three cars filled with representatives of the various countries where the gospel, as restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, had been received. A man and a woman, dressed in native costume, represented each country; the women bearing shields with the national colors and the name of the nation represented. In the tabernacle, these nationalities were arranged on a platform in front of the pulpits; and after Apostle Orson Pratt, the Church historian, finished reading a brief account of the introduction of the gospel to the various countries of the earth, the nationalities, twenty-five in number,[1]with their shields and banners, stepped forward in line, facing the congregation. President Taylor then rose behind them and said: "The Lord commanded His servants to go forth to all the world to preach the gospel to every creature. We have not yet been toallthe world, but here are twenty-five nations represented today, and thus far we have fulfilled our mission; and it is for us to continue our labors until all the world shall hear us, that all who are desirous may obey, and we fulfill the mission given us."
That mission, during the presidency of John Taylor, was faithfully pushed forward among all the nations who would receive it.
At the April conference of 1879, President Taylor was voted the use of the Gardo House as a family residence. The Gardo, located on the corner of South Temple and First East streets, at that time was doubtless the largest and finest residence in Salt Lake City. I call attention to this fact, not because of any petty pride the subject of this writing had in mansions, splendid furnishings, soft carpets, statuary, paintings,—the gewgaws that flatter and engross small minds—but to call attention to a prophecy made by Elder Heber C. Kimball, who, when President Taylor's circumstances were the poorest, boldly prophesied that he would yet live in the largest and best house in Salt Lake City—a prediction that was fulfilled when President Taylor took possession of the Gardo House as his family residence.
It was with considerable reluctance that he accepted the proposition of his brethren. His habits of life were simple; free from ostentation, as were also those of his family; and had he followed the bent of his own inclination he would have remained in his own humbler home. Not until the change was repeatedly urged upon him did he consent to it. The spirit in which he accepted the house as a residence may be best judged from his own words at the conference which voted its use to him:
"I will state that I feel very much obliged to my brethren for the generous feeling manifested to myself. Permit me, however, to say with regard to some of these ideas presented to the conference by Brother George Q. Cannon, and which, as he he has said, he has frequently presented to me and others of the Twelve, that while I duly appreciate the feelings and views of my brethren, and am not ignorant of the proprieties of life, individually I would not wish to change my position. Personally I care nothing about the outside show, the glitter and the appearance of men; but I do care about the great and eternal principles associated with the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. And as stated it was some time before I could make up my mind to accept a proposition of this kind, and I accept it now simply in the capacity of your servant for Christ's sake, for the benefit of the kingdom of God, and that all things may be conducted in a proper manner."
The general conferences of the Church—those mammoth semi-annual gatherings of the Saints of God, where representatives from all the Stakes of Zion assemble to hear instruction, council, reproof and the word of the Lord—under President Taylor's administration were spirited, valuable and soul-stirring. The one held in April, 1880, known as the Jubilee Conference, was especially so. The Church had just completed the fiftieth year of its existence. Half a century before it had been organized in a log room, possibly fourteen feet square, with six members. During that time a knowledge of the work had spread throughout the civilized world, and among some of the tribes of the heathen.
The Church had survived the ridicule of the worldly-wise, the clamor of bigots, the intrigues of demagogues, the violence of mobs, its banishment from civilization. Neither fire nor sword, nor intrigue, nor ridicule, nor banishment, nor its journey through the wilderness, nor any other thing had prevailed against the Church of Christ. It was fitting, then, at the close of the first half century of its existence that the Saints should rejoice mightily before the Lord.
To ancient Israel every fiftieth year was a jubilee. In it the inheritance which had been sold in the days of misfortune or poverty was restored to the original possessor, and his family returned to the old homestead. The poor debtor was released; the man who had sold himself to his brother, to be his hired servant, was set free, together with all that was his, his wives and his children and they returned to their inheritance.
"Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year," was the word of the Lord to them, "and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." President Taylor resolved that something of this spirit should enter into the teachings and proceedings of the Jubilee Conference. "It occurred to me," said he to the Saints assembled on that occasion, "that we ought to do something, as they did in former times, to relieve those that are oppressed with debt, to assist those that are needy, to break off the yoke of those that may feel themselves crowded upon, and to make it a time of general rejoicing."
Many of the Saints had been gathered from the Eastern States and the countries of the old world through means furnished by the Perpetual Emigration Fund Company. A company organized for the gathering of the poor. The manner in which the poor were assisted to emigrate by this company was as follows:
The company forwarded the means necessary for their emigration and took their notes at the legal rate of interest. When the notes were paid, the money was thrown back into the fund to be used again in assisting others. But many of those thus assisted were old and decrepit; and after their arrival in Utah, poverty refused to release his clutch upon them, and they found it difficult and in some instances impossible to meet their obligations. Then others, the fund company not being importunate in its demands upon them, became careless and neglected to take up their notes. Others lost the faith, and with it, in most cases, all sense of honor, and ignored their obligations. Through these causes a large indebtedness to the fund had accumulated by the year 1880. The principal of the indebtedness amounted to $704,000. The interest, extending along for many years, at 10 per cent. per annum, amounted to $900,000, making in all $1,604,000.
President Taylor proposed that one-half of this amount of the people's indebtedness to the Fund, $802,000, be released; that is, that the worthy poor throughout Zion who were unable to meet their engagements with the Fund be forgiven their indebtedness, not half of it, but the whole. The amount released was to be applied to their benefit in this way. The debtors able to pay were to be held accountable for the amounts they owed. "In former times," said President Taylor, in explaining this matter, "they did not release the rich, it was the poor. The rich can always take care of themselves—that is, so far as this world is concerned."
Then there was a tithing indebtedness on the books of the bishop of the Church against the Saints, amounting to $151,798. President Taylor proposed that one half of that, $75,899, be released to the poor on the same principle that one-half of the Fund indebtedness was released. Both of these propositions were carried by the unanimous vote of the conference.
The year 1879 was a very trying one in Utah. The drouth was excessive, and crops consequently light. The winter was one of the severest ever experienced, and thousands of cattle and sheep perished. Some people had lost their last cow, and others all the sheep they had. "Now," said President Taylor, "we propose to raise 1000 head of cows—not old cows which do not give any milk, nor any one teated cows, but good milk cows—and have them distributed among those that may be destitute in the different stakes, under the direction of the authorities thereof." The Church was to put in 300 head of the 1,000, the other 700 head to be furnished by the stakes.
He also proposed that 5,000 head of sheep be appropriated to the poor, to be distributed by the same authorities, 2,000 of which the Church was to furnish, and the stakes the remainder.
For years the servants of the Lord had urged the Saints to store up grain, but only a few had acted upon their advice. The result was that many were without grain even for seed. The Female Relief Society, however, had been wiser than individuals, and had stored up wheat in nearly all the settlements of the Saints. President Taylor now saw an opportunity to use it, and give a practical illustration of the wisdom that had counseled storing up grain. "Inasmuch as the brethren," he remarked, "had been careless and slow to heed the counsel of President Young in relation to storing away wheat, he [President Young] requested the sisters to do it, and some of us 'lords of creation' thought it a very little thing for our sisters to be engaged in. But we find now they are of some use, and that the 'ladies of creation' can do something as well as we 'lords.' * * They have 34,761 bushels of wheat? Who of you men can raise that much? Where's your wheat?" (Laughter.)
"Now," he continued, "those 34,761 bushels of wheat will be of considerable importance judiciously managed, and loaned out to some of our poor brethren. It will furnish seed wheat and after harvest they can return it again. We do not want any more harsh talk about the woman question after this."
A voice. "May they [the sisters] vote now?"
President Taylor. "Oh, yes, they may vote now if they choose to, everybody is willing they should vote now. [Laughter.] That is, they are willing the sisters shall vote on the wheat question. [Renewed laughter.] We may as well call a vote on this question now. All you sisters who are in favor of carrying out this request, hold up your right hand. [A forest of hands went up.] There they go, you see! [Laughter.] I think that is the most hearty vote yet. I knew they would do it."
A voice. "Is it to be loaned without interest?"
President Taylor. "Somebody asks if it is to be loaned without interest. Why, of course it is; we do not want any nonsense of that kind." Then raising his splendid voice to its grandest notes, so that it sent a thrill through the entire audience, he exclaimed, "IT IS THE TIME OF JUBILEE!"
Having finished with these public matters, President Taylor reminded the brethren that it was just as praiseworthy for private people to forgive one another their debts as it was for corporations to do it.
"If you find people owing you who are distressed, if you will go to work and try to relieve them as much as you can, under the circumstances, God will relieve you when you get into difficulties. I will tell you that in the name of the Lord."
Then in a circular issued to the officers of the Church a few days after the close of the conference, he added: "The rich * * * have a fitting opportunity for remembering the Lord's poor. If you are holding their notes and they are unable to pay, forgive the interest and the principal, or as much thereof as you might desire them to forgive were their and your circumstances reversed, thus doing unto others as you would that others should do unto you. For upon this hang the law and the prophets. If you have mortgages upon the homes of your brethren and sisters who are poor, worthy and honest, and who desire to pay you but cannot, free them in whole or in part. Extend to them a jubilee, if you can consistently. You will have their faith and prayers and confidence, which may be worth more than money. We invite Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution as the parent, all other co-operative institutions as the children, and our brethren who are engaged in profitable railroad, banking, mercantile, manufacturing or other remunerative enterprises, to extend a helping hand. Free the worthy, debt-bound brother if you can. Let there be no rich among us from whose tables fall only crumbs to feed a wounded Lazarus. * * The Church of Christ has set us a worthy example, let us follow it, so that God may forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors."
I have given a detailed account of these philanthropic transactions connected with the Jubilee Conference, hoping that the transactions themselves may not prove uninteresting, but more especially because they throw out in bold relief the noble generosity of President Taylor's character.
Apart from these acts of generosity, looking to the relief and blessing of the poor, the Jubilee Conference was noted for the out-pouring of spiritual power upon the Apostles and other Elders in their teachings, admonitions and testimonies. The regular conference was preceded by a two days' meeting in the Salt Lake Assembly Hall, and the last meeting of the conference was made memorable by ten of the Apostles bearing testimony to the truth of the great work of the last days, President Taylor closing that grand testimony meeting with these words:
"I testify as my brethren have done, that this is the work of God that has been revealed by the Almighty, and I know it. God will sustain Israel; no power can injure us if we will do what is right. This kingdom will roll on, the purposes of God will progress, Zion will arise and shine, and the glory of God will rest upon her. We will continue to grow and increase, until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and He will reign forever and forever."
1. The nations and peoples represented were: United States, American Indians, Canada, Hawaii, Holland, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Schleswig-Holstein, Russia, Ancient Britain, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, British India and Australasia. In the procession they carried a banner on which was emblazoned the text: "I will gather you from all nations."