--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Smoot, Reed collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 23 number: 3 published: 1920-01 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Smoot, Reed, "In Defense of the Latter-day Saints," *Improvement Era* 23, no. 3 (January 1920): 206–213.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2303unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2303unse start_page: 206 end_page: 213 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1920-01) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2303unse publication_year: 1920 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1920, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # In Defense of the Latter-day Saints : — 268 IMPROVEMENT ERA Mr. President, the Commercial Club of Salt Lake City, the leading business club of the State of Utah, upon seeing this scurrilous article against the "Mormon" Church published throughout the United States, prepared and issued a statement, dated November 4, 1919, entitled "Refutation issued by the board of governors of the Commercial Club of Salt Lake City," which I desire to read, as follows (Here Senator Smoot read the refutation published in full in Dr. Talmage's article in this number of the Era, pa.'e 202. Editors.) Mr. President, I protest against the libelous press matter that has been published throughout the country, that the blatantly heralded announcement of the falsehoods an English writer of fiction has come here to tell. The Church has nothing to conceal. I want the people of the United States to know that as far as polygamy is concerned it is dead, and scandalmongers in the future must find some other hobby to ride. All I ask is that the "Mormon" Church and its adherents be judged by the fruit of the tree. No one can examine the record made by that people during the World War without coming to the conclusion that no more loyal people live on this earth. No call was made upon them without an immediate response, and not only for the amount asked for but for nearly double the amount in most every case. They not only furnished their quota of soldiers but in some of the calls 100 and 200 per cent more. Mr. President, I would not have taken the time of the Senate to make this short statement if it had not been requested of me. I will say: The signers of the statement of refutation are at least three-fourths non-members of the "Mormon" Church, and they are the leading business men of the State. It seems to me that the people of this country ought now to understand the true situation; and if the New York World or the New York American desires to learn the truth about the "Mormon" people, I will gladly pay all expenses of a representative of either paper if it is desired to make an honest investigation. I am a Senator of the United States. I represent all the people of Utah and not any church as such. I have never felt called upon to defend the "Mormon" Church against false attacks, because I felt that sooner or later the truth would be understood by all the people. I am not making this statement as a representative of the 'Mormon" Church but as a United States Senator. The "Mormon" Church has been foully misrepresented from many sources in the past. I confidently look forward to the day when the "Mormon" people will be known as they are and not as represented. IN DEFENSE OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS 209 By Senator Ashurst, of Arizona Mr. Ashurst. Mr. President, I am very glad that the Senator from Utah [Mr. Smoot] has spoken as he has. It was time for such a speech. A matchless maker of epigrams said that when "once a lie or a counterfeit statement gets into circulation it is well-nigh impossible to overtake it"; and therefore I believe the Senator has done a service to his country in exposing this infamous slander, which has been published broadcast against so many worthy people. When I read the article, I felt offended because there are in Arizona a large number of "Mormon" people, or people who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and I would be false to that principle of fair play for which I have always pretended that I stood if I failed at this time to say a word on the subject. It may be true that I do not understand fully the theology of the Mormon Church; but, Mr. President, the first church I ever attended was a Mormon Church. When there was no other church within 100 miles of the lonely frontier cabin where my parents lived, we found solace and comfort in attending the — Mormon Church situated 9 miles distant. Our nearest in fact, our only neighbors for years were the Mormon people. Better neighbors no pioneer ever had. I am proud of the Mormon people. I am proud of the friendship that I have for them, and that I believe they have for me and while, as I said before, ; I do not completely understand their theology, I am able to say here, in the Senate of the United States, that their church has elevated many intellects and purified many hearts in my State. As pioneers in a new country, the Mormons are unrivaled. They are sober, industrious, frugal, honest. They are pre-eminently state builders; and today, if called upon to name a people who could most expeditiously transform a desert of swirling and heated sands into splendid fields and farms, I would unhesitatingly choose the Mormon people. In many places where once cacti lifted their thorny arms into the brazen and heated air, Mormon industry has reared temples, hospitals, homes, factories, and schools. Moreover, I never saw a Mormon I. W. W.; but I have, at some county courthouses in my State, heard disgruntled, lazy, and indolent men who did not belong to the Mormon Church sit on the steps of the courthouse and curse the Government and curse the President, while Mormon citizens were going into the same county courthouse to pay taxes without complaint. Mr. Owen. Mr. President Mr. Ashurst. I yield for a question. Mr. Owen. I should like to ask the Senator if it i» not a 210 IMPROVEMENT ERA tenet of the Mormons to teach and preach industry and thrift? Mr. Ashurst. I am able to state that industry and thrift are amongst the foundation stones of the Mormon Church. Absolute and unquestioned obedience to law is a tenet of the Mormon Church. Respect for authority is one of the tenets of the Mormon Church. We need more of such people in these perilous times of the Republic; and again I would be false to every principle of justice and to every sentiment of gratitude if I failed to state at this time that when savage Indians galloped along by ovir pioneer homes, burning and murdering, plundering and scalping as they went, it was to the Mormon people that my defenseless but heroic parents went for refuge and defense. So, Mr. President, I say the Senator from Utah has done well in "scotching" this falsehood, which has been given such wide circulation. I believe the American people are coming at last fully to understand the Mormon people. Their temples, schools, fields, homes, industry, frugality, their morality and their patriotism testify for them in more eloquent terms than the Senator or I could speak. Then, again, observe their Representatives in the House and in the Senate. Look at the high class of public servants they send here. I ask that the Mormons be judged as a people, judged as a religion, as the Senator says, by their fruits; and if they be judged by their fruits the verdict of the world will be in their favor. It seems to me that the time should be welcomed in America when men shall not further be assailed because of their religion or lack of religion. Men ought not further 'o be assailed or discriminated against because of their particular view of how to follow the Master. America was built up, and one of the reasons why the migrations came from the old countries to these shores was that our ancestors desired to find a place to build free and strong states where such ignoble sentiments as bigotry could not survive. Mr. President, I do not forget that this splendid domain of Arizona, one of the imperial states of this Union, came into being largely through the brave exploits of the Mormon people. When Gen. Stephen Kearny was beleaguered near San Diego during the Mexican War, and it seemed as if the Mexicans were going to capture and annihilate him and his entire command, it was the "Mormon" battalion that marched all the long way from Iowa into Tucson, Ariz., and occupied in Mexican territory a domain we now know as the Gadsden Purchase, which was purchased by our Government in 1854. When the commanding officer, Lieut. Col. St. George Cooke, entered the Mexican town of Tucson and raised the American flag, he issued a pronunciamento, and I wish the German outragers had read that docu- IN DEFENSE OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS 211 ment before they invaded Belgium. The lieutenant colonel entering the city of Tucson, nearly 1,500 miles from civilization, said in his manifesto to the people of Mexico: We do not war upon civilians. We make war against men in uniform only. The property of individuals will be held sacred. All civil rights will be upheld. Those who obey the law and conform to order will be protected. The command remained there some days to refresh itself and then marched on to the relief of Gen. Kearny, who, as I said, was beleagured and surrounded near San Diego. So, Mr. President, the Mormon people, as pioneers, as state builders, as statesmen, as people of industry and patriotism, in every department of life, compare well and favorably with the general mass of their fellow citizens. This much I feel I should have said; more than that I need not say. By Senator Thomas, of Colorado Mr. Thomas. Mr. President, I am not and never have been a communicant of any church, and if I live to be as old again as I am now, I would not change. In my youth I was greatly impressed with a remark of Gibbon, that "all religions are to the vulgar equally true, to the philosopher equally fake, and to the statesman equally useful," and the experience of mature years has served to deepen the impression. I have never been able to reconcile the tenets and doctrines of all religious faiths with that spirit of persecution and fanaticism they develop toward each other, and which has so many times culminated in destructive and decimating wars. I believe in religious toleration, without any conditions whatever, except those required by the tenets of morality and of law and order. Hence I have remained aloof from identification with any faith. Up to this time I have never found occasion to publicly defend the Mormon people, because it has not seemed necessary; but I can not allow the occasion to pass without paying tribute to their morality and usefulness, not only to their own communities, but as exemplars to the whole country in perilous times like these. Mr. President, when respect for the law is the exception and not the rule, when the different forces of society are so antagonistic that the political structure is menaced with danger, it is refreshing to note that the adherents of this faith have at all times been the advocates and the exponents of peace, of justice, of law, and of order; and however just the criticisms aimed against former institutions, the fact remains, as established by more than half a century of practice, that the communities pro- 212 IMPROVEMENT ERA fessing the Mormon faith are among the best and highest exemplars of American citizenship. During the war there was much disloyalty in America. Scarcely any commonwealth was entirely free from it. During the war resistence to the draft occasionally punctuated our dispatches, and the expression of toleration or friendliness to the enemy was one of the commonest of occurrences. But during that critical period upon no occasion which I can remember did the people of Utah, Mormon and Gentile, fail to whole-heartedly, loyally, and enthusiastically respond to every call made by the Government for soldiers or for money. Not in a single instance did this people falter. Their splendid youth were given freely to our armies, and the blood of their boys sanctifies the soil of every battle field in France. Every loan drive was responded to, not by the quota, but far beyond it, and in everything that contributed to good citizenship, to patriotism, to loyalty, and to love of country, these people were ever conspicuous; and it is due to them, as one of the representatives from a neighboring state wherein many of these Deople are located, and are among our best citizens, that I should say so. We have not many Mormons in the State of Colorado. Some years ago a settlement was established in what is known as the San Luis Vallev- It has grown, it has flourished, it is prosperous. Its people are law-abiding, they are industrious, they are hard working, they pay their debts, they obey and support the authorities. Bolshevism, anarchism, and socialism are foreign to the atmosphere of that community. They can not take root in such a soil. These people are todav, therefore, one of the pillars of the social, economic, and political systems of the country, whose removal might imperil the entire structure of our social, economic, and political life. Their faith I am not concerned with; their character and their achievements are a credit to them and an incalculable benefit to the country. By Senator Henderson, of Nevada Mr. Henderson. Mr. President, I wish to express my approval of and join in all that has been said by the senior Senator from Colorado [Mr. Thomas] relative to those of the Mormon faith. We have in eastern Nevada a number of Mormon settlements. I have visited a number of them. I wish to say that there are no better citizens in the country than those of that faith. In one community that I know of, established over 40 years ago,there has never been a jail. I believe that is true of the others. These people never have any use for jails. Where IN DEFENSE OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS 213 they go, law and order prevail, and thrift and economy are taught and practiced. Mr. President, the record of the Mormon people, throughout the war has been without a blemish. Their sons were amongst the first to enlist and their quota was quickly filled. They oversubscribed their proportion of Liberty bonds. Their patriotism has been of the highest order and without question. There is much that can be said in their favor, Mr. President, but I shall not detain the Senate longer, as there are some Senators waiting to address the Senate on the proposed reservation to article 10. I am glad, however, of the opportunity to express my disapproval of the attack directed against the Mormons referred to by the Senator from Utah [Mr. Smoot]. © Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. LADY ASTOR WON THE ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT Lady Nancy Astor, wife of Viscount Waldorf Astor, of Hover Castle, with her family. Left to right: Miss Phyllis, John Jacob, Lady Astor, Robert Shaw, Michael David, William and Waldorf. In the parliamentary campaign, Lady Astor has been showing England what her sex can do in politics. Although a conservative candidate, she demonstrated during the campaign that she is a friend of all classes. Lady Astor is her husband's successor as member of Parliament from Plymouth. She is one of the famous Laghorne beauties of Virginia. Her opponent made a claim during the election, that he should be elected because he had a larger family than Lady Astor. He has seven children. She replied, "If voting is to go by children, I have only six, but I haven't finished yet. FORT DESERET A relic of the old defense walls built in Utah in early days, as a shield against the Indians. The view is northwest, along the west ivall from the inside. Four Mud Walls and Safety By J. Cecil Alter, Meteorologist, United States Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau Old Fort Deseret, a few minutes' walk beyond the farms to the south of the town of Deseret, in Millard county, is probably the most unique of all the remaining remnants of the walled inclosures or forts erected against the Indians in the early days by the "Mormon" pioneers. Built of raw mud and fresh straw, more than fifty-four years ago, the major portion of the walls are intact today, only the western two-thirds of the south wall and a fifty-foot section of the western wall having fallen. In these freshly broken parts the mud has separated in layers where the straw was most plentiful, and it shows as fresh and strong as when placed there by hands long since idle. Early in the Black Hawk war, the settlers in nearly all the remote parts of the state were urged to protect themselves as groups against any uprising of the Indians that might occur; hence, in June, 1865, according to the records compiled by the Church historian, Amasa M. Lyman, of the Council of the Twelve, with Bishop Thomas Callister, of Fillmore, and a few other Church authorities, visited the remote settlement of FOUR MUD WALLS AND SAFETY 215 Deseret, then nearly seven years old, but still young and small, and counseled the settlers to erect a mud fort. In the summer of 1858, when several men asked permission to settle the Pahvant, President Brigham Young consented only in case the party felt strong enough to defend themselves against the Indians; and while there was not always peaceful conditions among the Indians, the settlers had more trouble with their irrigation water than with the Indians, and thus had had no time to build forts. Moreover, rock was scarce and unhandy, and lumber had to come from Oak Creek, some twenty miles distant. A committee was at once formed and operations begun. The ninety-eight men in the settlement were divided into two companies, one under Elder Wm. S. Hawley, and the other under Elder Isaac W. Pierce; Elder John W. Radford became superintendent of construction. The site was chosen against the west bank of the Sevier river (now a dry bed) where water was convenient, and the ground level with good adobe soil convenient at the surface. The walls were laid off in a square, oriented with the compass, about 550 feet on a side. The rock foundation was a mark of superior judgment, as this held the adobe wall out of contact by capillarity with the ground soil and thus prevented its erosion many years ago. This foundation was about three feet wide; the wall tapered in its ten feet of height to one and one-half feet in diameter at the top, which has since shown some erosion, due to the weather and about eight inches of precipitation annually, and is now about nine feet in height and a foot in diameter at the top. The walls are still straight and level, with uniform top lines, evidences of great care in the original planning and construction, considering the times, and the facilities at hand. A gate was built in the middle of each wall, for ready u&e, and a few port holes for guns, widened on the inside, were provided in the walls. Unique and well planned bastions were constructed at the northeast and the southwest corners of the inclosure, each affording an unobstructed view and rifle range of one-half the horizon. Three port holes in each bastion gave promise of warm times for any marauding Indians, but the only Indians that ever came near were those of more recent years who chose the abandoned structure as a convenient camping site overnight. The ditches from which the mud was taken, around the outside of the fort, became moats across which not a little difficulty would have been met by an attacking party; moreover, the ditches gave good drainage for the fort and kept the interior dry. The straw, boards, rock, and labor contributed