| 576 conference does hereby recognize the organization of the Elders' Quorum; that the President of the church be hereby authorized to publish and distribute the memorial as he may deem best."-The Saints' Herald, vol. 17, p. 252.
The ordination of Franklin P. Scarcliff to the office of an elder was ordered. Then the following missions were appointed: J. H. Lake and J. S. Snively, Canada; A. M. Wilsey, eastern Iowa; T. W. Smith, under direction of the President of the Church; W. H. Kelley and
the ordinances thereof. We believe in the same kind of organization that existed in the primitive church; viz.: apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, helps, and governments. We believe that in the Bible is contained the word of God, so far as it is translated correctly. We believe that the canon of scripture is not full, but that God, by his Spirit, will continue to reveal his word to man until the end of time. We believe in the powers and gifts of the everlasting gospel; viz.: the gift of faith, discerning of spirits, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues, wisdom, charity, brotherly love, and all other Christian graces. We believe that marriage is ordained of God; and that the law of God provides for but one companion in wedlock, for either man or woman, except in cases where the contract of marriage is broken by death or transgression. We believe that the doctrines of a plurality and a community of wives are heresies, and are opposed to the law of God. We believe that to all men there should be accorded the right to worship Almighty God in such a manner as the conscience of each may approve, provided that such worship does not enjoin a disregard of wholesome laws, or lead to an infringement of the rights of others.
In some States of the Union, the church has not been without representatives for the past forty years, or nearly, and in these churches neither the theory nor practice of polygamy has ever obtained. The body which your memorialists represent is mostly composed of churches and members scattered throughout the land from Maine to California and from Florida to Minnesota-all subscribing to the constitution of the church-all opposed to polygamy.
In view of the foregoing facts, we, your memorialists would urge the validity of the claim of the Reorganized Church to be the Church of Latter Day Saints, and in urging this claim, declare unqualifiedly the faith of the body your memorialists represent that, according to the law of the church given under the presidency of Joseph Smith, no body of people can be properly considered "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" but that body which recognizes the constitutional provisions of the law under which the church obtained an existence; and as loyalty to the government and a monogamic institution of marriage are absolutely and imperatively demanded by the law of the church, as necessary to govern it in its political and social relations, we do most fully, freely, and unreservedly affirm that there is nothing required by the law or polity of the church that can render its members violators of the laws of the land in any of their legal provisions.
We, your memorialists, would therefore petition that in the consideration of the questions of polygamy and disloyalty, as affecting a body calling themselves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in
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