| 1898 Digest |
| January 4, 1898 | Heber J. Grant diary | |||
| John Henry Smith: President Cannon is gifted, diplomat, blunt, straight-forward | [Council meeting, John Henry Smith:] As [President Woodruff's] First Counselor we have one of the most gifted of men, perhaps no man among us who is as gifted as he is. He is a writer, a diplomat, and an author. The other counselor is a plain blunt man and is lacking in cunning and the ability to shape things to suit his opinions. | |||
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President Cannon is leading, not President Woodruff President Woodruff would not have borrowed for Ogden Power, Saltair, Bulliion Beck President Cannon desperate, plunging |
I feel that there is one man in the presidency and he is not the man at the lead who is at present dominating the affairs of the church. If left to himself the question is would President Woodruff have consented to have borrowed a million and a half for the Ogden Power Plant. Would he of his own accord have borrowed the money with which to build Saltair, and would he have spent several hundred thousand dollars in a mine in Nevada. We all know that he would not have done these things. I fear that the great burdens which are now on President Cannon are such that he has become desperate and he is plunging, so to speak. | |||
| January 4, 1898 | Church, State, and Politics, 387. | |||
| Council discusses positions of First Presidency and Twelve | At 10 a.m. Lorenzo Snow, F. D. Richards, Brigham Young, Myself, Geo. Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, and Abraham O. Woodruff met in the Apostles' room of the Temple. We spent the day talking over the Relative positions of the first Presidency and Twelve Apostles on all great questions in the Church. All spoke and gave their views. | |||
| January 4, 1898 | Brigham Young Jr. diary | |||
| Complaints of the Twelve | [Quorum meeting at 10 a.m.] President Snow called upon Brother Woodruff followed by Bro Taylor. Then Pres. Snow spoke on condition of First Presidency, followed by Bro. Teasdale (who was in favor of our minding our own business), John Henry Smith, Brigham Young & Franklin D. Richards. We all had complaints to make. | |||
| Brigham
Young Jr.: Appoint a new trustee-in-trust Drop John Q. and Frank as soon as First Presidency is dissolved |
I wanted a trustee in trust appointed to relieve President Woodruff and for the First Presidency to correct all mistakes, especially President Cannon, so that he would not be humiliated when the first quorum was dissolved. John Q. Cannon and Frank C[annon]. would be relieved as soon as the Twelve arranged matters. | |||
| January 4, 1898 | Brigham Young Jr. diary | |||
| Twelve
satisfied with Presidents Woodruff and Smith, but not George Q.'s financial
dealings |
We are all thoroughly convinced that Presidents Woodruff and Smith are all right but president Cannon is wrong in many things in financial business. | In attendance at the morning meeting of the Twelve: Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young Jr. John Henry Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merrill, Owen Woodruff. | ||
| Brigham Young Jr.: Let Saints pay debt, stay in touch with the people | I proposed that we trust the people with the labor of helping the church out of its indebtedness. We must keep in touch with the people. … we seem to be agreed. | |||
| President Snow to present concerns to the First Presidency, Twelve should be informed | Met at 3 p.m. It was agreed that President Snow lay our feelings before the presidency and we feel that Pres. Snow and 1 or 2 others of the quorum should be in perfect harmony and knowledge of financial affairs. | |||
| January 6, 1898 | Brigham Young Jr. diary | |||
| Snow,
Richards, Young address the First Presidency Young: President Cannon takes too much authority Should not have named Frank J. as church agent President Cannon responsible for financial strain |
[Temple meeting, 10:20 a.m.] President Snow asked to present the views of the Council to the presidency. They came at 11:30. Pres S. spoke very gently and to the point. Bro Franklin D. Richards followed in the same strain. I followed and charged Bro Cannon of taking on himself too much of presidential authority and keeping a man who did not live as a Latter-day Saint but drank and played billiards as the chief head of the church official organ; and that if the presidency had submitted the question of appointing Frank J. Cannon as the church agent to borrow money in the east to the Twelve he would not have been sustained; and that many people believe that President C. is the responsible person for all of our present financial difficulties. | Snow, Richards, and Young were the three senior apostles. | ||
| President
Cannon offended Brigham the scape goat |
President Cannon resented what I said. Tried to pin me down to day and date. Many things were said that were better unsaid, but I was the scape goat and President Woodruff notified to be at the office at 10:30 tomorrow morning. | |||
| Twelve support Brigham | Afterwards I talked with the Twelve and every man stood by me and it was the voice of the quorum that I stand firm in what I had already said. | |||
| January 6, 1898 | Church, State, and Politics, 387. | |||
| Lorenzo:
What should Twelve know about finances? Apostles speak plainly Brigham: President Cannon caused debt |
All of the Apostles but F. M. Lyman, Anthon H. Lund, and M. F. Cowley met at the Temple at 10:30 a.m. At 11 a.m. all of the First Presidency came in. President Lorenzo Snow asked the Presidency as to the duties of the Apostles in Connection with the Presidency in the financial affairs of the Church. All of the Apostles present spoke very plain and Elder Brigham Young made a very sweeping statement in which he said President Geo. Q. Cannon was the cause of the great indebtedness of the Church. | |||
| Presidency agree Twelve should be informed | All three of the Presidency said it was their view that the two Quorums should be united in the consideration of the more weighty problems that affect the whole Church. | |||
| George Q. offended by Brigham and Heber | Prest. Geo. Q. Cannon felt very much hurt over the remarks of Elders Brigham Young and Heber J. Grant. | |||
| January 7, 1898 | Brigham Young Jr. diary | |||
| Council
meeting George Q.: President Taylor gave me control of Bullion Beck and Champion dedicated stock |
Met Presidency in temple at 12 noon. Considerable talk was had and President Cannon read a document purporting to have been written under President John Taylor's dictation which gave C. complete control over all the Bullion and Beck dedicated stock which he afterwards gave up to claimants, and now claims that he is responsible to God alone for the management of his dedicated Bullion and Beck stock. | |||
| Twelve
surprised. Brigham: I thought stock was to be held by Church president |
This was all news to the council for brother C. had carried the idea that his stock was still dedicated as we understood it. I was shocked to hear brother C. make the statement, I am the sole custodian of the dedicated stock. I understood President Taylor [said] that this stock would be held independently by his successor in office to which it would be duly transferred at proper time. | |||
| Sacrament | All was forgiven by us all and we partook of the sacrament I think worthily before God. | |||
| January 7, 1898 | Church, State, and Politics, 388. | |||
| Council | All of the first Presidency and all of the Apostles but F. M. Lyman, A. H. Lund, and M. F. Cowley met at 12 noon in the Apostles' room in the Temple. | |||
| Franklin
D. : Forgive each other Joseph F.: Presidency and Twelve act together |
After some explanations of yesterday[‘s] sayings, Prest. Franklin D. Richards moved we forgive each other for Harsh words spoken and that we partake of the sacrament. President Joseph F. Smith seconded the motion and said it now being about to be determined by joint vote of the joint Councils of the presidency and Twelve that they shall act together upon all questions of great moment to the Church, he felt to ad his hearty endorsement of this action. | |||
| Sacrament | The vote was unanimous. We partook of the Sacrament together. | |||
| Lorenzo: Lord approves | After the Presidency withdrew, President Lorenzo Snow said, brethren the Lord approves of our action and in the future the Quorums will understand each other better. | |||
| Between January 7 and 17, 1898 | George Q. Cannon diary | |||
| No. 2. | ||||
| Dedicated
Bullion Beck stock Twelve: turn it over |
Fourth. There was considerable talk in relation to the dedicated stock of the Bullion, Beck & Champion Mining Company, and it was plainly stated that it was my duty to turn over that dedicated stock into the hands of President Woodruff as trustee in trust. | |||
| George Q. : others withdrew theirs | Had this dedicated stock, transferred
to me by President Taylor, remained intact, I should never have thought
of holding it in my hands any longer than to get it out of debt; but when
everyone withdrew their stock and my dedicated stock only was left, I did
not feel that I was guilty of the least impropriety in retaining control
of it myself. |
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| I should keep it | I have made a provision in my will concerning it. I have kept up to the present time a strict account of it, and hope to be able to make a full accounting at the proper time to my brethren of all that I have done with this. I have not felt, however, up to the present that it was either advisable or necessary that I should transfer it out of my own hands. | |||
| Are we all ready to account for our dedicated property? | In making my remarks I said to the
brethren that we all had dedicated property to the Lord, just as much as
this stock had been dedicated. I asked the question, Are we ready to account
for this dedication. |
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| Twelve: No |
The reply was made that no one had asked for an accounting. |
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| George Q. : You should know how it was dedicated | I then said, in order to understand this quorum as it should be understood, it is proper that you should know the terms on which this stock was dedicated, how it was done and why it was done. | |||
| Transfer d ocument | I then proceeded to read the document which President Taylor, John Beck and myself had signed, by which this stock was given to President Taylor. We say: | |||
| Set aside 3/5 shares (60,000) to Presaident Taylor as his personal property |
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| For church purposes |
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| President Taylor transferred it to George Q. | President John Taylor, in the document signed by him twenty-three days before his demise confers "upon the said George Q. Cannon all the rights, powers and authority held, had or enjoyed by him, the said John Taylor, individually or otherwise, by virtue of the written instrument aforesaid in and to said shares." | President Taylor died on July 25, 1887 in Kaysville, Utah. His physical and mental condition had been such that President Cannon had been, in effect, running the church for several months. | ||
| Possibly for Jackson county property | President Taylor mentioned the purchase of the Temple Block in Jackson county, that was designated and set apart by the Prophet Joseph as a site for a temple of God, as something that I was authorized to do [2] with that fund. | |||
| The closing paragraph to his deed says: | ||||
| George
Q. not accountable to the church or authorities Not for private use or benefit heirs |
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| These extracts show conclusively
that I have not exceeded any of the powers entrusted to me, in my management
of my own dedicated stock. I have not used in any form one dollar of anybody
else's dedicated stock or its proceeds. |
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| George
Q.: the fund is sacred Will make accounting later |
As I have said before, I consider
this fund in my hand sacred, and will be able to make a satisfactory accounting
for it at the proper time. |
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| This for historical purposes | I have been thus particular in alluding
to these different matters, because they were mentioned almost in the form
of charges against me. They appear on the official minutes of our meeting.
I have not, in any remarks that I have made, explained them sufficiently
to clear them up. It is with the view that the truth in history may be vindicated
and my action be clearly explained that I write these explanations. pp--50-51. |
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| George Q. Cannon diary | ||||
| From Journal G Q. Cannon | ||||
| F. J. Cannon & his Relationship to First Pres. | ||||
| Monday, January 17, 1898 | ||||
| Brigham
Jr. has told George Q. of Frank's drinking Frank's letters encouraging He has reached agreement with Banigan. |
[President Cannon has been informed
of his son Frank's intemperance by apostle B. Young and he has made inquiries
of /Hugh Cannon and G. F. Gibbs/ & masses testimony to shield Frank.
Then] . . . the First Presidency received a large number of letters from
Frank this morning, very gratifying & exilerating to us. [Frank at the
time /and for some time previous/ has been the financial agent of the Presidency
at the time in the East.], as they evinced a good spirit and show the zeal
with which he is working. He has /effected a/ settlement with Mr. Bannigan
that we think very satisfactory. |
Bracketed
text is Roberts'. Joseph Banigan was a venture capitalist in New Jersey. "During the 1890s, capitalists such as Joseph Banigan and Charles K. Bannister exercised as much influence on Utah enterprise as did Wilford Woodruff and George Q. Cannon." Utah: The Right Place, 451. |
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| George Q. admits telling Frank about Council meeting last week. | I told President Woodruff and Smith that I had written a private letter to F. (which was sent to him last Wednesday) giving him some particulars of what had occurred at the council [when the Twelve complained of their treatment by the First Presidency]. I said I felt that I ought to do so; it was a relief to me though it may not have been very wise. | |||
| Decide to telegram Frank | President Smith thought it would have a very discouraging effect upon him. I proposed, therefore, that the First Presidency send a dispatch to him. Prests Woodruff and Smith thought we ought to, and the following was framed and sent to him, signed by the presidency: | |||
| Support, encouragement | "Be comforted. Batch of letters
received, very satisfactory. The Lord has bles you and we bless you, and
say be encouraged and do not weaken." |
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| I do not want him to be discouraged, nor to feel that his efforts are not appreciated. I believe he is doing all he can, and I think he is capable of doing a great deal. p. 56. | ||||
| Between January 17 and March 2 | George Q. Cannon diary | |||
| No. 3. | ||||
| Lobbies city council for Union Light and Power | I have been desirous to see some
of the city council in relation to the franchise to be granted to the Union
Light and Power Company, and the following members came to the office today:
Arthur Barnes, John Allen, E. M. Weiler and Henry Wallace. I explained to
them with some detail what we were aiming to accomplish, and set before
them our situation and how desirable it was that our brethren in the city
council should recognize what we were doing, and not treat us as a foreign
corporation. |
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| Arthur
Pratt business Act as Latter-day Saints, not partisans |
I afterwards spoke to them about the Arthur Pratt business—not so much that either as to bring to their attention the necessity of union; that it was a city council of thirteen Mormons and two Gentiles and that the Latter-day Saints would be blamed for everything that was not right and therefore they ought to act in harmony and not as partisans. | |||
| Partisanship | Arthur Barnes made the remark that they were elected as Democrats, on a Democratic ticket. I dwelt on that and showed that they should be Latter-day Saints first, above all things. I told them that if they divided and pulled against each other, as they had started out to do, they would bring themselves into discredit. I talked with exceeding plainness to these brethren, as did President Woodruff also. | |||
| Councilmen
not pursuaded Parting counsel |
I fear that this conversation will not effect any great change in their feelings, but we shall have given them our views, and if they do not act upon them they will be without excuse. In parting with them I told them, as a servant of God, that they would always be safe in following the counsels of the servants of the Lord. p. 68. | |||
| No. 4. | ||||
| Desire to settle Trumbo business | Spent most of the afternoon in arranging for a settlement of the Trumbo business. I have felt very much impressed to close this business up and secure from Bishop Clawson the receipt that Trumbo has given him for us when we complied with his terms. | In return for negotiating statehood for Utah, Trumbo expected to be rewarded with one of the state's first Senate seats; but his bid failed, putting the First Presidency in an awkward position. Hiram B. Clawson brokered a settlement between the two parties. Isaac Trumbo, 146–147. | ||
| Clawson expects word from the pulpit | To my surprise, Bishop Clawson expected that something would be said in the tabernacle as well as the article that was published. A perusal of Colonel Trumbo's letter conveys that idea; but, as I told Bishop Clawson, I thought that when he accepted this writing and wanted it put in the paper, that complied with the request. I said I could not say anything more on the stand than had been published and it seemed to me entirely unnecessary. | |||
| President Woodruff agrees to speak | He said he thought I ought not to be asked to say anything; but somebody ought to say something. President Woodruff said finally that he would talk, for he was heartily sick of this whole business and wanted to get it out of his hands and he was willing to do anything he could do to close the business up. | |||
| Church owes for Gardo improvements | I have been under the impression that we had not to pay any money, but it seems I was mistaken--that we have to pay $10,000 for the Gardo House improvements which Colonel Trumbo made; so today we advanced $2,000 in cash, and gave two notes for 44,000 each, payable in 90 days and 6 months, with 5% interest from maturity. | |||
| I dictated receipts for Bishop Clawson
to sign, also a letter embodying the proposition concerning the Gardo House,
which he signed, addressed to us. I am glad to get this business closed
up. |
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| Conclusion | President Woodruff agrees to make some remarks on Sunday, and with that understanding Bishop Clawson gave us Trumbo's receipt in full, and also a receipt for the $10,000 as agent for Colonel Trumbo. p. 69 | |||
| January 31, 1898 | ||||
| John W. Taylor preaches plurality, but cannot add more | Elder John W. Taylor made a ringing address on our duties to our families and on the sacredness of the doctrine of the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant, including the Plurality of Wives. He told the brethren to do all their full duty to their wives but that man could not take any more wives in the plural order. I followed him and bore Testimony but said he had given pretty strong emphasis in the language he used. | Church,
State, and Politics, 190–191. St. Joseph Stake conference (Arizona); on the previous day Christopher Layton had been released and Andrew Kimball sustained as stake president, set apart by Joseph F. Smith. |
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| Seal couples in a Arizona | I sealed nineteen couples after the afternoon meeting. | |||
| February 10, 1898 | Isaac
Trumbo to H. B. Clawson, Isaac Trumbo collection. Trumbo, the main lobbyist in Utah's final bid for statehood (1895), had expected to be one of its first senators, but had been defeated in the wild election of 1895. Cannon bolted the Republican Party in 1896. |
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| Frank J. Cannon and William H. King creating trouble in Washington | … some steps ought to be taken towards having Senator Cannon and Congressman King attended to at once. They are creating such a stir over there that it will simply take all the friendship we can get together to mend matters as they now stand. | |||
| Attack against the administration must stop | I received a dispatch from Vice President Hobart to-day, asking me to come at once to Washington, and saying that this attack against the [McKinley] Administration by the Mormons would have to be stopped immediately. … | |||
| Don't fight the Republicans | Tell [the First Presidency] to remember that it is hard to fight a big party. They can ruin themselves politically, financially and every other way, and it is best that they have the friendship instead of the enmity of a great nation. | |||
| King
denounces churches, Cannon attacks administration Must be stopped |
[King introduced resolution for $50,000 to add to White House for Senator Hanna; he has denounced Christian churches. Cannon's speech last week about the Cleveland and McKinley administrations; now his row on the floor today] is just going to bring things to such a crisis that Utah will never receive any recognition. Now is the time to stop it, and I hope you will ask the Presidency to consider it without delay. | Hanna: Republican Party boss Mark Hanna. McKinley had recently appointed Hannah to fill the Senate seat of John Sherman, who accepted the post of Secretary of State to make room for Hanna. | ||
| Frank should resign and let George Q. be senator | … It seems from all I can learn that it would be greatly appreciated by our friends in Washington under the present condition of things if Senator Cannon would resign in favor of his father. | |||
| Losing friends in both parties | Mr. Carleton also sent me a dispatch telling me how unwise Senator Cannon and Representative King were, and that they will soon lose every friend they have among the Republican and Democratic Parties. | King was a Democrat. | ||
| March 2, 1898 | George Q. Cannon diary | |||
| Shurtliff
report to First Presidency Meeting of Silver Democrats |
Some days ago, Judges L. W. Shurtliff of Ogden called upon the First Presidency and had a private conversation with them concerning political affairs. Before closing, he informed us that he had been invited while in Washington (from whence he had returned—sic!) to attend a meeting of the Silver Democrats, he himself being a Democrat. There were present at the meeting Senator James of Arkansas, Senator White of California, Senator Rawlins of Utah, and others. I think he said Representative King was present also. | Shurtliff
was president of the Weber Stake (Ogden), state senator, and former county
probate judge. "—sic!" is likely Roberts'. |
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| Silver Demos back Frank | At this meeting the question of who ought to come back from Utah as senator was discussed. The united feeling was that my son Frank should be re-elected, and they were bringing pressure to bear upon Representative King, who has ambition to be senator, to suppress him, so that he would not be a candidate, but he was very reluctant to yield. The feeling that they had was that a Silver Republican ought to be sent from Utah, and not a Silver Democrat. | |||
| Frank will do bidding of the First Presidency | Judge Shurtliff related to us what had occurred, said it was [approx. 4 words missing from the bottom of my photocopy] that Frank [2] had told him that he was ready to do whatever the First Presidency desired. If they wished him to go on a mission, he would go gladly, or do anything else that they wished, but he would not make any attempt to be senator unless they wished it, and approved of it. | |||
| Wilford Woodruff and Joseph F. Smith endorse Frank | Presidents Woodruff and Smith both spoke very strongly in favor of Frank making the race for the senatorship and hoped he would [be] elected, as they felt he would represent us better than anyone else that was likely to be elected. President Woodruff was very strong in his expressions about it. This ought to have been put in my journal on the day the conversation occurred, but was omitted, and I mention it here. p. 82 | p. 82 follows immediately after "here." Since the remaining 1/4 of the page is blank, I assume p. 82 refers to the page in Cannon's diary. | ||
| After September 6 | George
Q. Cannon diary. Dating is based on John Henry Smith's diary entry for September 6: I was sent for by President Lorenzo Snow to go to his room in the Temple. He said he wanted me to run for U.S. Senator. He also told me he would not take hold of affairs until after the funeral of Prest. Wilford Woodruff [September 8]. He said he thought the church owed three millions of dollars. He also said he did not agree with Prest. Geo. Q. Cannon's business methods. He said the load seemed more than he could carry." Church, State, and Politics, 406. |
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| No. 5 | ||||
| John Henry Smith bid for Senate | Among other business, Brother John Henry Smith announced his desire to be a candidate for the United States Senate in case his party, the McKinley wing of the Republican Party should get in power here. He said he was desirous to serve his country, etc., etc. It was moved by President Joseph F. Smith, and seconded by President Snow that there were no objections to his trying to get this position. | |||
| Apostleship requires full time and attention | The proposition did not strike me very pleasantly, as I think the highest office any man can hold on the earth is that of an apostle, and to magnify that properly, it seems to me, requires all his time and his powers. | |||
| Only because President Young sent me | I myself, however, have gone to Congress while an apostle; but it was because I was urged to do so, and not from any desire of mine. I would rather have gone on any mission to preach the gospel than to have gone there, and so told President Young when he proposed that I should go to Washington. p. 92 | |||