| 775 from a malignant design to palm upon us their own crimes, and thereby draw us under the lash of persecution. And whereas, it can be proved that individuals, in order to swell the list of Mormon depredations, have reported property to be stolen, which at another time they have acknowledged, they sold the same property and received pay.
And whereas, bee yards have been robbed, ands hives left at the Mormons doors, to palm the theft upon us, when the honey has been found in the houses of our enemies; and whereas, an inumerable [innumerable] number of such infamous tricks have been played upon us, by our enemies, as we believe, for the purpose of blackening our character in the eyes of honest men; and whereas, our city is nightly infested with a set of outlandish men, who, we believe, visit us for no good purpose, who do not appear to have any lawful business, but rather as we believe, are endeavoring to scatter amongst us, their bogus and counterfeits, prostitute the virtue of the place, deposite [deposit] stolen goods, or steal from us, and by every means in their power, sow the seeds of discord, strife, confusion, mobocracy, and murder, that in the end, they may uproot our beautiful city; and whereas, that in some instances, when the ministers of justice, have visited our city, at the dark hour of midnight, for the purpose of making legal arrests, as they say; we believe what is reported to us, that they have employed runners to steal the saddles and bridles from their own horses, while in our city, for the purpose of damning us in the eyes of the community.
And whereas the Chief Magistrate of this State, after a second and protracted visit to this city, and much pains taken to investigate the charge of promiscuous stealing, reports to the Legislature as follows:
"Justice, however, requires me here to say, that I have investigated the charge of promiscuous stealing, and find it to be greatly exaggerated. I could not ascertain that there were a greater proportion of thieves in that community, than in any other of the same number of inhabitants; and perhaps if the city of Nauvoo, were compared with St. Louis, or any other western city, the proportions would not be so great."
And, whereas, The printing office of our open and avowed enemy, Dr. Foster, was set on fire, in this city by himself, or by his instruction as we believe, to fan the flame of mobocracy, which fire was only prevented by our vigilant police.
And whereas, we firmly believe, that our enemies in this city, have several times attempted to fire their own buildings and have only been prevented by the diligence of our officers.
Therefore, be it resolved, unanimously, That we will use all lawful means in our power to assist the public to prevent stealing and bogus making, and bring the offenders to justice.
Resolved, that to prevent further depredations in our city, by lawless desperadoes from abroad, we approve the raising of 500 Police by this city.
Resolved, unanimously, That we invite all honest men to watch closely their property, and arrest all thieves; and if they hall catch a thief in the act of stealing, challenge him to stand, ands if he refuses so to do, and flees, so far as the Mormons are concerned, we will be satisfied if the owners of the property shall speedily send after him a writ of Habeas Corpus sealed with lead to arrest his progress, but after all, should the thief prove to be a mobocrat, alas! alas!! O what a pity!
Resolved, unanimously, That 50 delegates be sent to the surrounding country to inform the people of the designs of our enemies now concocting in their secret and public meetings, so that the honest part of the community, may unite with us to prevent stealing and secure peace.
Resolved, That these proceedings be published in the papers at Nauvoo, with a request that other papers copy them.
DANIEL SPENCER, Ch'n.
JAMES SLOAN, Sec'y
TO THE PUBLIC.
Nauvoo, Jan. 17, 1845.
As much has been said concerning stealing and secreting property in this city, for the purpose of giving an impression abroad that Nauvoo was a grand Depot for concealing stolen property, and that the Mormon community was concerned in it,-I will state, that so far as my knowledge extends, concerning the matter, I have ascertained that stolen property has been brought by way of Nauvoo, from the country, and then crossed over the Mississippi river to Iowa, and back into the Territory some ten or twelve miles; where the thieves have some friends to conceal stolen property.
There seems to be a connection of these friends thirty of forty miles back into the country on this side of the river, who, with five or six in this city, seem to have a line for running stolen property through Nauvoo to the Territory of Iowa; and I have good reason to believe that those in the country on this side of the river, those in the city, and those in the Territory, are one clan, but they are not Mormons; nor have the Mormons any fellowship with them.
I have taken pains to go with a person from
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