<129 - 134>
President's Office
Great Salt Lake City Feby 21st 1866.
Hon. Wm. H. Hooper M. C.
House of Representatives
Washington City D. C.
Dear Brother:
Your long and very welcome letter, dated Jany 28th, has been received and read with great interest. We are able to gather a very good idea of affairs in which we are interested from what you have written. A telegram has been received here to the effect that the House Committee on Territories, have applied to the Secretary of War for permission to summon Gen. Connor and N. McLeod to appear and testify touching the conditions of Utah, and the manner in which the laws of the United States are observed and enforced, & that Judge Titus had already been examined on the same subject. They had better send for Nero to give testimony against the Christians, and for Herod to ask him about the character of John the Baptist and whether Jesus is the Christ. This would be in keeping with what they wish to do for us.-
This morning a telegram came, in which it is stated that a bill has been introduced by the Committee on Territories, to extend the boundaries of the State of Nevada, thereby wiping out the Territory of Utah. We do not think that any such bill can pass; but if it should be passed, we desire you to telegraph us immediately, In case of such a contingency, we have the State Machinery all ready "to put in motion; our State Organization is perfect, and we shall not hesitate to use it, should such a bill pass.
Whenever we shall be compelled to assume the rights, which we have so repeatedly petitioned Congress to grant unto us, and which we have been as repeatedly refused, we shall send Senators down to Washington to ask for admission into the Union, and when they go, they will be likely to rap so that they will be heard; and if there be any intrusion upon us in this country, there will be apt to be some rapping done here.
We would be recreant to every principle of republicanism and liberty were we to quietly submit to such an attack upon our liberties and rights. Under the blessing of the Almighty we, the people, have made this country all that it is. The organic law of the Territory passed by Congress did not make it. The desert was here, and we have occupied it, and converted it into a fruitful field; and the arbitrary enactment of certain parallels of latitude and longitude as State or Territorial lines does not deprive the people of the power, which they hold under the Constitution. Any such measure can have but one design; not the good of the country, not the welfare of republican institutions; but the persecution and ostracism of a peaceable and law abiding people, whose highest and only crime is that they love morality and virtue better than they do libertinism and vice, and who, because of this, adopt the law, which God has revealed, and are willing to submit to the obloquy and shame, which are the consequences in this day, of obedience to the Lord's requirements.
If we would be like the world, permit brothels, liquor and gambling saloons to be established, and suffer our females to be seduced and to become the prey of the debauchee, and prostitution to become a common vice, then we could have our rights without question or dispute. There is a report in circulation here, that false affidavits have been obtained by the Chief Justice of the Territory, connecting me in some manner with the Mountain Meadow affair. If you could find out by whom they purport to be made, a clue to the villainy might be obtained and an exposure follow. If there are any such affidavits in Washington, do not stop untill you find them and get copies of them. Your report of your interview with President Johnson and others is very satisfactory. Such conversations cannot fail to do good in the end.
Truth will have weight with men, who retain any honesty, and though its effect at the time may not seem very great; still, it is not lost. You will at least by such conversations, leave men without excuse; and if they persevere in their opposition to the work of God, their condemnation will be increased. Speaker Colfax cannot prosper in his attempt to make political capital out of his opposition to us. No man ever will be able to ride into place and power, by making a crusade against us his hobby. Numerous examples of the folly of this course have been given unto us. Men as illustrious, as popular and promising as he is, have wrecked their hopes and prospects, at a time when they supposed, that they had the prize for which they were struggling within their grasp, by their causeless opposition to us.
Should the Committee on Territories have Titus or others like him before it, for the purpose of examining them on Utah affairs, you should follow the Committee right up, and have rebutting evidence to present before them. You know numbers of witnesses, whose testimony ought to have weight, that is, if they have any confidence in men, whom the Government itself appoints and sends out here. Judge Kinney and Marshall Gibbs are there, and they are Federal Officers; they can make Statements respecting affairs here; Col. Irish, too, might add his testimony. If they state what they know, they will acknowledge that we have honored the laws, and maintained peace and good order to an extent, which is not equalled by any adjacent Territory or State. In other places lynch law and vigilance committee organizations have controlled; but here no man has been molested or disturbed in his rights, and the laws have been respected and enforced. They can also testify, that no other people would endure the insults and abuse that we have had heaped upon us without resenting them with violence, especially with the power in their hands, that we have had, and still have in this country. Should Connor and M Leod reach Washington to testify before the Committee on Territories, you should propose to Mr Ashley, the Chairman, and the rest of the Committee, <that they have a Committee> of Physiognomists and Phrenologists to examine the two witnesses faces and heads, before they (C. &. M L.) are known, and give their opinion as to their honesty and reliability. M Leod has been dubbed Friar Tuck in the Telegraph, after the fighting priest of old Robin Hood's band, who could rob and plunder, carouse and gamble, kiss and take other liberties with the women, and when necessary pray for and give absolution to his robber, comrades. It is reported that he was Chaplain of Col Jamieson's band in Missouri, and that Union Men suffered at his hands. Hence the name of Friar Tuck. Allusions have been made to his career in Missouri and Kansas, which he took; but which he has never denied.
There has nothing particularly new transpired of a local character, since I last wrote to you. The weather is cold, and health and peace prevail.
With love to you, in which Presidents Kimball and Wells and Bro Geo. Q., join, and praying the Lord to still bless, uphold and preserve you.
I remain your Brother,
Brigham Young