Opening the text

Under the Prophet in Utah; the National Menace of a Political PriestcraftCannon, Frank J.

History

Under the Prophet in Utah; the National Menace of a Political Priestcraft

Name: Under the Prophet in Utah; the National Menace of a Political Priestcraft
Author: Cannon, Frank J.

Cannon, Frank J.

Latter Day Saint churches; Latter Day Saints; Utah -- Politics and government

In the early spring of 1888, I was in Washington, where measures of
proscription were then being prepared against our people; and, early in
the morning, as I walked up Massachusetts Avenue, I saw Joseph F. Smith
approaching me. For several years he had been "on the underground" under
the name of "Joseph Mack"--now in the Hawaiian Islands with one wife;
now hidden, with another, among the faithful in some Mormon village; or
again with a third, in Washington (which was probably as safe a place as
any) presiding secretly over the Church lobby. As he passed me, with
his head down, preoccupied, I said: "Good morning, President Smith."
He jumped as if I had been a Deputy Marshal with such a sudden start of
fear that his silk hat rolled on the pavement and his umbrella dropped
from his hand. He drew back from me as if he were about to take to his
heels. Then he recognized me, of course, and was quickly reassured; but
his embarrassment continued for some time, awkwardly.

But a short time ago the President of the United States stood in the
Salt Lake Tabernacle (which is "Joseph Mack's" capitol and vatican) and
addressed a multitude that had assembled not more to honor the Chief
Executive of the nation than to pay their almost idolatrous tribute
of devotion to the head of their Church, who was reigning there in
the pulpit with President Taft. "Joseph Mack" no longer fears Deputy
Marshals--he appoints them; and the present United States Marshal of
Utah would refuse to serve a paper under the direction of the entire
power of the United States government if "Joseph Mack" forbade the
service. He no longer fears the proscriptions of legislators at
Washington; they come to him, through the leaders of their parties,
and arrange with him for the support of the trans-Mississippi states in
which the influence of his Church control is determinative. He no longer
hides his wives, at the ends of the earth, and visits them by stealth;
they occupy a row of houses along one of the principal streets of Salt
Lake City, and the pilgrim and the tourist alike admire his magnificence
as they go by. He is still a law-breaker. He stands even more in
defiance of the authority of the nation than he did in 1888, and he
hates that authority as much as ever. But he is today not only the
Prophet of the Church; he is the Prophet of Mammon; and all the powers
and principalities of Mammon now give him gloriously: "All Hail!"



Chapter XIX. The Subjects of the Kingdom

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Under the Prophet in Utah; the National Menace of a Political PriestcraftCannon, Frank J.

History

Under the Prophet in Utah; the National Menace of a Political Priestcraft

Cannon, Frank J.

Latter Day Saint churches; Latter Day Saints; Utah -- Politics and government

In the early spring of 1888, I was in Washington, where measures of
proscription were then being prepared against our people; and, early in
the morning, as I walked up Massachusetts Avenue, I saw Joseph F. Smith
approaching me. For several years he had been "on the underground" under
the name of "Joseph Mack"--now in the Hawaiian Islands with one wife;
now hidden, with another, among the faithful in some Mormon village; or
again with a third, in Washington (which was probably as safe a place as
any) presiding secretly over the Church lobby. As he passed me, with
his head down, preoccupied, I said: "Good morning, President Smith."
He jumped as if I had been a Deputy Marshal with such a sudden start of
fear that his silk hat rolled on the pavement and his umbrella dropped
from his hand. He drew back from me as if he were about to take to his
heels. Then he recognized me, of course, and was quickly reassured; but
his embarrassment continued for some time, awkwardly.

But a short time ago the President of the United States stood in the
Salt Lake Tabernacle (which is "Joseph Mack's" capitol and vatican) and
addressed a multitude that had assembled not more to honor the Chief
Executive of the nation than to pay their almost idolatrous tribute
of devotion to the head of their Church, who was reigning there in
the pulpit with President Taft. "Joseph Mack" no longer fears Deputy
Marshals--he appoints them; and the present United States Marshal of
Utah would refuse to serve a paper under the direction of the entire
power of the United States government if "Joseph Mack" forbade the
service. He no longer fears the proscriptions of legislators at
Washington; they come to him, through the leaders of their parties,
and arrange with him for the support of the trans-Mississippi states in
which the influence of his Church control is determinative. He no longer
hides his wives, at the ends of the earth, and visits them by stealth;
they occupy a row of houses along one of the principal streets of Salt
Lake City, and the pilgrim and the tourist alike admire his magnificence
as they go by. He is still a law-breaker. He stands even more in
defiance of the authority of the nation than he did in 1888, and he
hates that authority as much as ever. But he is today not only the
Prophet of the Church; he is the Prophet of Mammon; and all the powers
and principalities of Mammon now give him gloriously: "All Hail!"



Chapter XIX. The Subjects of the Kingdom

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Under the Prophet in Utah; the National Menace of a Political Priestcraft

Under the Prophet in Utah; the National Menace of a Political Priestcraft

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