Church, State and Politics The Diaries of John Henry Smith

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John Henry Smith served as a Mormon apostle from 1880 to 1910, while simultaneously an officer in several prominent businesses -- everything from U & I Sugar to the Co-op Wagon and Machinery Company, as well as Saltair Beach and the Salt Lake Theater Company. He helped found Utah's Republican party and was a delegate to the state constitutional convention, though he admitted that his election was accomplished in part through ballot stuffing. A pragmatist, he also equivocated on post-1890 polygamy in testimony before the U.S. Senate.His comments on the inner workings of the LDS hierarchy are especially candid. "I was somewhat surprised to see the president attempt to bull down the council after giving them liberty to speak, " he recorded, "but he will find such talk will never hold the present council in awe." He documents the excommunication of Apostle Albert Carrington for adultery, the release of Apostle Moses Thatcher for political differences and morphine addiction, and the excommunicationof Apostle,John W. Taylor and suspension of Apostle Matthias Cowley for insubordination. He relates how church ownership of Zions Savings Bank led to interest-free loans and deferred payments for high-ranking church leaders.