| 638 that so far as it was practicable to do so the information contained in it might be widely spread in the places where the church might have an existence, and desire to do missionary labor.
In 1882, while the Edmunds Bill was pending, the Reorganized Church sent Elders Zenas H. Gurley and Edmund L. Kelley to Washington, as representatives to do whatever might be done by them to protect the interests of the church, and set such facts before those engaged in shaping the legislation as they would be permitted to do. This these brethren did, being permitted to appear before the committee of which Honorable Reed, of Maine, was chairman.
It was also decided that a statement should be made to Secretary of State, Honorable Frederick Frelinghuysen, in respect to the action of his predecessor, Honorable William M. Evarts, by which the rulers of foreign lands have been asked to take measures to prevent the emigration of persons from their respective countries whose faith was supposed to be inimical to the institutions of America, and who were called Latter Day Saints, commonly called Mormons. This was thought advisable, in order to avoid any subsequent confounding of the Reorganized Church and the Utah Mormon church, to the prejudice of the former, should any foreign missions be undertaken by it, and to secure if possible a recognition as loyal citizens of the United States. This duty was performed by Elders Zenas H. Gurley and Joseph Smith, who secured a presentation to Secretary Frelinghuysen, through the kindness of Senator William B. Allison, of Iowa, and Congressman W. P. Hepburn, of the Eighth Congressional District of Iowa, and J. C. Burrows of Michigan; each of whom gave a pleasant and personal recognition of the object contemplated in the effort of these committees.
Subsequently to these efforts, and while the bills contemplating the dissolution of the church corporation in Utah and the confiscation of the Emigration Fund and other property of the church in Utah, were under consideration, the Presidency addressed Congressman W. P. Hepburn, setting forth the injury likely to result from such extreme measures, and protesting against what would inevitably be construed into acts of persecution; and which would be unproductive of the results intended.
In all these several presentations to Congress the Reorganized Church has had but one object in view, and that has been to protect the rights of the believers in the true faith from being confounded with those who, we believe, have been following a perversion of the faith, and thus prevent so far as it was possible, the lawmakers of the Nation from doing violence to the constitutional right of conscience. In all of these efforts, we have set before these men the laws of the Lord as given to the church in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, as the last named was left to the church at the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.
How far these several efforts at self-protection upon the part of the Reorganized Church may have affected congressional legislation we are not prepared to say, for we have no means of knowing. We therefore
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