Smoot Hearings

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The Smoot Hearings or Smoot Case involved controversy surrounding the election of Reed Smoot to the United States Senate and whether he should be able to serve in the United States Senate as a Mormon religious leader. Reed Smoot was also an apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the church officially banned plural marriage in 1890, rumors of additional marriages and impropriety in the church were common and often true. Many believed that Smoot wasn't properly elected but appointed by the Mormon church leadership. In effect, the Smoot hearings was a public trial of Mormonism.

1 Election
2 Controversy
3 After Effects
4 Sources
5 See also

[edit] Election

In the early 20th century, it was the policy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that its senior officers could not campaign for political office unless the church leadership approved. When Smoot decided to run for Senate, he sought and received the approval and blessing of church President Joseph F. Smith. In 1902, Smoot moved to run as a Republican candidate, working to build up support in the Utah state legislature. (Before the passage of the 17th amendment in 1914, U.S. Senators were elected by votes of the state legislatures, not popular vote.) In January of 1903, he received 46 votes, compared to his Democratic competitor, who won 16.

[edit] Controversy

Within days of his election, controversy brewed as he was charged with being "one of a self-perpetuating body of fifteen men who, constituting the ruling authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or 'Mormon' Church, claim, and by their followers are accorded the right to claim, supreme authority, divinely sanctioned, to shape the belief and control the conduct of those under them in all matters whatsoever, civil and religious, temporal and spiritual."

When Senator Smoot arrived in Washington D.C. late February of 1903, he was met with protests and charges that he was a polygamist. This he could easily prove he was not. Unlike B. H. Roberts, who upon election to the House of Representatives was not allowed to sit while hearings took place, Smoot was allowed to be seated.

In the public, old charges of Danites, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and Brigham Young's "harem" or polygamous wives were discussed. The New York Commercial Advertiser charged that "missionaries were paid by the head for their converts, a meager $4.00 for a male, but up to $60 for a girl over 16 whom they could and did place in polygamy."

In January of 1904, Senator Smoot prepared a rebuttal to these criticisms with the help of several non-Mormon lawyers. The actual hearings began in March. Mormon President Joseph F. Smith took the witness stand and was interrogated for three days. But the church testimony was tainted when Apostles Matthias F. Cowley and John W. Taylor did not show up after being subpoenaed. Taylor even fled to Canada. Other witnesses included James E. Talmage; Francis M. Lyman, President of the Quorum of the Twelve at the time; Andrew Jensen, church historian; B. H. Roberts; and Moses Thatcher who was dropped from the quorum in 1896.

According to historian Kathleen Flake:

The four-year Senate proceeding created a 3,500-page record of testimony by 100 witnesses on every peculiarity of Mormonism, especially its polygamous family structure, ritual worship practices, "secret oaths," open canon, economic communalism, and theocratic politics.[10] The public participated actively in the proceedings. In the Capitol, spectators lined the halls, waiting for limited seats in the committee room, and filled the galleries to hear floor debates. For those who could not see for themselves, journalists and cartoonists depicted each day's admission and outrage. At the height of the hearing some senators were receiving a thousand letters a day from angry constituents. What remains of these public petitions fills eleven feet of shelf space, the largest such collection in the National Archives. [1]

After years of hearings, the charges remaining in the opposition included:

That church leaders were still practicing plural marriage. Elder John W. Taylor and Elder Matthias F. Cowley were still performing plural marriages.[2]
That the church was exerting too much influence on Utah politics.
That members were required to take oaths in the temples to seek revenge on the United States.
That members believed revelation was higher than the laws of the land.

Of note, Senator Fred T. Dubois of Idaho fought viciously against Smoot. His intensity caused some to believe that Smoot was as powerful as Dubois claimed.

On February 20, 1907 the issue came to conclusion as a vote was held in the senate. The republicans were able to muster a majority to defend Smoot, and he remained a senator for 26 more years.

[edit] After Effects

After the Smoot Hearings, the church was reminded of how the rest of the world viewed it. The United States perceived the church as trying to thwart the law and not being serious in ending polygamy. President Joseph F. Smith on April 6, 1904 issued the "second manifesto" which reaffirmed the first regarding polygamy. He also declared any church officer who performed a plural marriage, as well as the offending couple, would be excommunicated. He clarified that the policy applied world-wide, and not just in North America. Two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley, resigned in 1905 following the manifesto.

The allegations didn't end with Smoot. Many popular magazines and newspapers continued to publish false reports against the church. The fervor was most intense in Great Britain, where the Mormons were threatened with expulsion. A young Winston Churchill rose to defend the freedom of religion and prevented the expulsions. Despite this, there were scenes of violence and mobocracy in several cities.

[edit] Sources

Church History in the Fulness of Times LDSCES Student Manual, Chapter 36 [3]
Milton R. Merrill, Reed Smoot, Apostle in Politics, Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University, 1950.
Harvard S. Heath, editor; "In the World: The Diaries of Reed Smoot; Signature Books, Salt Lake City; ISBN 1-56085-051-5
Ian Shin, [4]“Scoot – Smoot – Scoot”: The Seating Trial of Senator Reed Smoot
LDS leader guided church's evolution from 'menace' to mainstream The Salt Lake Tribune, April 3, 2004, By Peggy Fletcher Stack [5]