Salt Lake City. U. T.
January 24. 1870.
Hon. C. Delano,
Commr. Internal Revenue
Washington, D. C.
Sir:
Enclosed please find a copy of a Tax Notice received by me on the 17th inst. and requiring, as you will see by reference thereto, to pay to the collector the sum of Fifty nine thousand three hundred and thirty eight 51/100 dollars. ($59.338.51.) This Notice is dated the 17th inst. and I am required to pay that large amount on the 27th inst-- within ten days from date of notice.
Now, Sir, I do most earnestly protest against any such assessment being made against me as Trustee in Trust, or in any other manner, as being, in my opinion, wholly unjust, and without authority of law.
I received an assessor's form of Return dated August 19.1869. which was regularly filled and returned in the usual manner, seven days thereafter, and was correct, so far as I know or understand; copies of which are also herewith enclosed. I am not informed, and I do not know upon what ground, this assessment is made, nor whether it is for this City, or the entire Territory, nor for what time.
Hitherto, the property known among us a Tithing, has been held by former assessors, as having paid its revenue in the persons of the donors. These donations are made by the people of the religious society known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, into a fund, for charitable and religious purposes, and not to me, or any other person; this society is not a corporate body, the act of incorporation having been repealed by Act of Congress, approved July 1st. 1862. therefore it follows that, as such, it has no legal existence, nor power to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded, to hold property &c. as a licensed or corporate body, hence, neither the trustee-in-trust, nor the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints has any legal existence known to the law.
Believing there is some mis-apprehension in relation to our general funds as a Church, I will take the liberty of calling your attention to some of the principal facts in the case.
It is true, that, as a religious society, we make our donations and contributions into the hands of the Bishops of our several settlements, for the purpose of building houses of divine worship, Temples, Tabernacles, &c.; for the support of the poor, & the families of absent missionaries when they are needy; and quite a large portion of tithing is annually disbursed to Indians, to conciliate & preserve peace with them, but certainly not with a view to make any profit thereon. These disbursements are very generally made in the Settlements in which the donations are received, & often at the discretion of the local agents, or Bishops themselves. It is true, also, that at the General Conferences, I have been sustained as Trustee in Trust, for said Church, but this simply constitutes me as the agent of our society to direct the temporal affairs of the Church, and for which I receive no compensation.
Laborers upon the public buildings, hauling or cutting stone for the Temple, and carpenters, joiners &c. engaged in building houses of worship, Organ &c. do receive compensation from this source, and neccessary materials are in this way procured for such purposes.
These donations are nearly always received in kind, for instance, a farmer pays his tithing (for such it is called) in the products of his farm such as he raises, the Cabinet maker in furniture; the Shoemaker in boots and shoes; the Cooper in tubs; the laborer and artizan in labor; the manufacturer of cloth in cloth, and this is usually disposed of in kind to the poor and to laborers as above set forth, and all this is given by the people freely into a general fund, clearly not in the nature of payment for services rendered or other valuable consideration, but for charitable & public purposes, consequently not liable to taxation as income, see Sec. 21. & 22. Instructions to U. S. Assessors concerning assessments of incomes and special taxes for the year 1868.
Now if this kind of property so contributed by the people as a general fund for the purposes aforesaid, is liable to taxation, then it would apply to all contributions for charitable purposes throughout the land; and should be paid in kind, for no money is ever realized on donations of cabbage, molasses, potatoes, grain, shingles, boards, furniture, cloth, boots and shoes, leather &c. nor would it even then be just to enjoin payment of the tax upon the very articles, it having been once paid upon them by the donors
themselves.
It is, I presume, on the supposed value of these productions, that I am required to pay a large money-tax of nearly sixty thousand dollars, but this amount is actually in excess of the cash value of the donations received & disbursed as above stated. That is, the receipts for the year 1868, for instance, but whether this assessment is for one, two, four or six years, the assessor does not condescend to inform me.
I cannot find any law, nor instruction from the department contemplating any such assessment, but it appeared necessary that some explanation might be due to you from me in regard to this matter, & I have, therefore, thus far trespassed upon your time, trusting this statement will prove perfectly satisfactory, and that you will countermand, or order the abatement of the tax referred to which we respectfully solicit.
For any further information you may desire on this subject, I beg leave to refer you to the Hon. W. H. Hooper, M. C. for Utah Territory.
Respectfully
Brigham Young