Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 5, 1898
Mr. Day to Mr. White.
Washington, September 12, 1898.
Sir: I inclose, having reference to a communication heretofore made to you by Mr. William K. Anderson, consul of the United States at Hanover, a copy of his dispatch No. 27, of August 20, 1898, concerning the banishment from Hanover and Prussia of Messrs. Charles Richards and Elijah A. Larkin, two citizens of the United States, from Ogden City, Utah, missionaries of the Mormon Church at Hanover. They are charged with preaching the doctrine of their sect.
I add also copy of the Department’s instruction to Mr. Anderson, No. 20, of the 12th instant.
Mr. Anderson’s dispatch is silent as to the cause of the order to expel these men. It is possible that the action of the Prussian authorities may have been in conformity with orders given as a result of the Department’s circular note of August 9, 1879 (Foreign Relations, 1879, pp. 11 and 12), in which each friendly foreign government was invited to take such steps as may be compatible with its laws and usages to check the organization of these criminal enterprises,” to wit, soliciting emigration to join the ranks of the then avowedly polygamous Mormon Church. If so, the correspondence now sent to you, and especially the instruction sent to Consul J. Lamb Doty at Tahiti in 1895, will enable you to correct any misapprehension in this regard which you may find to exist in the minds of the Prussian authorities.
At any rate, you will investigate the occurrence and report the outcome.
Respectfully, yours,
Mr. Anderson to Mr. Moore.
Hanover, August 20, 1898.
Sir: On the 8th day of July Messrs. Charles Richards and Elijah A. Larkin, two American citizens from Ogden City, Utah, missionaries of the Mormon Church in this city, appealed to me as United States consul for protection. They had each on that day received from the president of the royal police of Hanover a notice of banishment from Prussia on account of their being engaged as troublesome foreigners (lästige Ausländer) in proselyting for the sect of the Mormons, and were ordered to leave Hanover for their home in America via Verdun, Bremen, and Bremerhaven on or before 20th of July and be out of the country by the 1st of August. In case of disobedience of the order they would, according to article 132 of the law of July 30, 1883, be liable for a fine of 50 marks or ten days’ imprisonment. The said Richards and Larkin denied having violated any laws of Prussia and claimed my intervention. In accordance therewith I had an interview with the police and endeavored to obtain a revocation or modification of the order, but without success, although the police treated me with perfect courtesy. I then presented an appeal against their decision to the Regierungs-präsident, with the understanding with the police that until such decision should be made the matter of the missionaries’ departure would be [Page 348] left in abeyance. I am to-day in receipt of a communication from the Regierungs-präsident confirming the orders of banishment of the police and declining to accede to my appeal. I have notified Messrs. Richards and Larkin thereof, and have reported the case to the embassy for its further action, if any be required, as provided in article 170 of consular regulations.
I am, sir, etc.,
United States Consul.
Mr. Cridler to Mr. Anderson.
Washington, September 12, 1898.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 27, of the 20th ultimo, concerning the banishment from Hanover and Prussia of Messrs. Charles Richards and Elijah A. Larkin, two citizens of the United States from Ogden City, Utah, missionaries of the Mormon Church at Hanover. They are charged with preaching the doctrine of their sect.
It does not appear from your dispatch whether these men were expelled because their methods of proselyting were objectionable, or because the subject of their teaching was supposed to be unlawful. Since the abandonment of polygamy by the Mormon Church and the admission of Utah as a State it is declared by the officers of that church that the teachings of its agents in foreign parts are entirely lawful. I inclose for your information copy of certain correspondence, enumerated below, had with Mr. J. Lamb Doty, consul of the United States at Tahiti, in 1895, relative to alleged interference with Mormon missionaries in Tahiti. You will observe that the Department then took the ground that those missionaries were entitled to the same privileges as those of any other sect so long as their preaching and practice conformed to the local French law. If your intervention on behalf of the Mormon missionaries in Hanover rested on these grounds, your action is approved. But if the objection lay to the methods of their propaganda, and the men were in virtue of police regulations ordered to be expelled as disturbers of the peace, it would be desirable that the Department should be fully informed on that point. The police restrictions upon public propaganda in various European states are said to be very strict. It is understood, for instance, that public demonstrations of the Salvation Army are forbidden in many quarters.
Adding for your information a copy of the Department’s instruction to the United States ambassador at Berlin, No. 584, of the 12th instant, I am,
Respectfully yours,
Third Assistant Secretary.
Mr. Doty to Mr. Uhl.
Tahiti, May 11, 1895.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a communication received from the Rev. Frank Cutler, a missionary of the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” and an American citizen.
Frequently during the past year my aid and advice has been solicited by the American missionaries of the Adventist Mormon and Reorganized [Page 349] Morman churches, who have experienced considerable difficulty in preaching and teaching their several religious beliefs in this colony. Since this period the local authorities have maintained that these sects are not recognized in France or the colonies, and that therefore they must procure a license from the President of the Republic of France to enable them to continue their work in these islands.
The governor of the colony has stated to me on several occasions that he had no objection to these missionaries, but that on the contrary believed that their influence in the several islands had secured a higher moral standing of the natives, and that he would use his own influence in their behalf to secure this license from the Government of France. Both branches of the Mormon Church made, some time since, their application for this license and transmitted them to the governor, who had promised to forward them with his indorsement to France.
I was therefore very much surprised at the contents of the Rev. Mr. Cutler’s note, as the governor’s remarks to me concerning his good will toward these people seemed sufficient guaranty to insure them a peaceful enjoyment of the rights they had long exercised, until the result of their application to the President of the Republic had been heard from.
I called upon the governor and informed him of the action of the president of the Tuamotu group, in forbidding the Mormon missionaries from holding their usual conference, and also requested him to permit these missionaries to continue their work until their applications to the Government of France could be considered and the result ascertained.
The governor replied that he was exceedingly sorry to be compelled to refuse any demand presented by me, but that he must obey the law, and it was therefore impossible for him to permit these American missionaries to continue to preach longer without the necessary license; and that should they continue their work after this date they would be punished.
The refusal of my request under the circumstances astonished me, as his excellency has given me to understand always that he was friendly disposed toward the missionaries, and that in fact such a request would not be refused. In leaving the governor I was accompanied by the secretary of the colony, who had also been present at the interview. He volunteered the information that should these missionaries ever hold services even in their own dwellings, they would be fined, imprisoned, and banished.
I answered this remark by saying that I sincerely hoped that no such harsh measures would be resorted to, and that I did not believe that the governor would permit it, as the circumstances of this affair did not warrant such treatment; that the Government of the United States had always expected, demanded, and received proper consideration of the rights of its citizens abroad, whether engaged in business or pleasure; and that I did not believe any occasion would exist here necessitating the protest of the consul of the United States, and more especially in an affair of a religious character, as the two Governments, the United States and France, recognized perfect liberty in the belief and exercise of all religious dogmas.
I do not believe that any action will be taken against these missionaries by the local authorities; should, however, they be arrested and imprisoned for holding services in their own private dwellings, I shall give them all the protection in my power, and make immediate protest to the governor.
I am unable to account for the changed ideas of the local authorities concerning these American clergymen, but learn that it is the desire [Page 350] of both the Roman Catholic and French Protestant churches to have them removed from the colony, as they are considered objectionable, not only from a religious standpoint, but also for business reasons. I can not state this from my own knowledge, but learn it, nevertheless, from reliable persons. I may state, however, that I have taken considerable pains to investigate the work done by these three sects in this colony, with the result that shows their past history to be beyond reproach, and I therefore believe them entitled to full protection in consideration of the foregoing circumstances, and respectfully request special instructions as to future action in this affair.
I am, sir, etc.,
Hon. J. L. Doty,
United States Consul at Tahiti.
Sir: The “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” commonly known as the “Mormon Church,” is an organization established April 30, 1830, agreeable to the laws of the Republic of the United States, which has for its object the promulgation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the uniting of all mankind into one common brotherhood of love and peace.
To accomplish this object missionaries are sent to all the nations of the earth, both civilized and uncivilized. Their duty is to teach all men to love their Creator with all their heart, to love their neighbors as themselves, to carefully obey the laws of health, to practice virtue, to honor and sustain the law of the land, and in short, to live in complete harmony with nature and at peace with all men.
On June 1, 1813, elders Addison Pratt, B. F. Gronard, K. H. Hanks, and Noah Rogers left the city of Nauvoo, Ill., U. S. A., for the Society Islands, being sent by Joseph Smith, president of the said church. Elder Hanks died at sea. Pratt was left at Tubuai, and in May, 1844, Rogers and Gronard arrived at Tahiti. Others subsequently came, among whom was James S. Brown, Alva Hanles, and one Whittaker. Elder A. Pratt was president of this mission and under his supervision and through their efforts branches of the church were established on some eight or nine islands of the Tuamotu group, including Tahiti and Tubuai, having a combined membership of between 1,500 and 3,000 souls.
About the year 1849 Elder Pratt returned to America and reported the result of his labors and the condition of the mission to Brigham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith, as president of said church, at Salt Lake City. He and James H. Brown were immediately sent back by the church and arrived at Tahiti some time during the year 1850. The last of the elders left this colony in the year 1854, or thereabouts. Subsequently the population of the islands rapidly decreased, and this, combined with other causes, reduced the membership of the church.
In June, 1893, Elder James S. Brown and others were again sent here by said church, and they, with the aid of the natives, have established branches on some fifteen islands of the Tuamotu group, and also on Tubuai, comprising between 600 and 700 souls.
In the month of March, 1895, his excellency Governor Martin,1 of Fakarava, verbally ordered Elders Cannon and Larsen, under penalty of fine and imprisonment, without due process of court, or any written [Page 351] charges being made against them, to stop preaching, and at the same time refusing to issue a permit.
In the same month his excellency wrote to Elders Jones and Desfair, at Takaroa, forbidding the holding of a conference of the several branches of the said church on April 6 of the present year, threatening to hold them responsible if said conference was held (though the natives themselves have hitherto for forty years and do now hold such conference irrespective of the presence of foreign missionaries) and instructing the governor1 and police of Takaroa not to allow the conference to be held. This also was done without due process of court or any specific charges being made against either the missionaries or the natives. The mandate of the governor was strictly obeyed.
Elders Jones and Desplaines were also instructed by his excellency the governor to procure a license to preach within three months or be fined and imprisoned and banished. He abused and insulted them in a most violent manner, calling them vagabonds, and saying they came here to flatter the people for food and sponge on the natives, all of which is untrue. All the elders sent here by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints pay their own fare to and from the islands, take up no collections whatever, and have often refused money offered by the natives of their own free will.
In regard to the matter of marriage, we have strictly followed the advice of the former Governor Tabeau, as has been and is now practiced by the Catholic and Protestant churches. None of the leaders have ever married anyone until the ceremony has been performed by the Government.
We have not willfully or knowingly broken any law of the Republic of France, therefore we respectfully solicit your aid and influence as consul of the Republic of the United States to enable us, as American citizens, to obtain the protection of the French Government, that we may discharge the duties of our calling free from insult and abuse, without molestation, and that we may enjoy the full rights and privileges due American citizens residing in territory of the Republic of France.
Acting upon your valued counsel, we have made application to his excellency Governor Papino for a license permitting the said church, through its agents, to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ in all the islands of this colony, and most respectfully ask that your influence be used to secure favorable action.
Our teachings are such as will tend to produce a public sentiment that will greatly aid the officials of this colony in governing the people thereof, tend to increase its stability and insure domestic peace, for in order for one to be a member of said church in good standing it is absolutely necessary that he be a good citizen of the state, honest, law-abiding, thrifty, and industrious.
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. We have no further desire other than to aid in bringing about a condition of peace, prosperity, and happiness among the inhabitants of these isles and among all men.
Kindly accept our most profound thanks for the many courtesies and valuable counsel you have rendered us.
We beg to remain, etc.,
Mr. Uhl to Mr. Doty.
Washington, June 25, 1895.
Sir: The Department has received your dispatch No. 108, May 11, relative to the position of missionaries of the Mormon Church in Tahiti, and the refusal of the local authorities to permit them to preach without special license.
In reply, you are informed that as long as polygamy was one of the purposes of Mormon teaching, the agents of this Government abroad were instructed to refuse protection to Mormon missionaries. Such repressive action was invited in 1889 especially. (See Foreign Relations, 1884, p. 10, etc.) But polygamy is now no longer announced as the chief tenet of Mormonism, and the church has the same civil rights as are enjoyed by other religious bodies in this country. If the Mormon missionaries in Tahiti observe the civil law of marriage, as they profess to do, and preach and practice no doctrine violating law or morality, they should have the same impartial protection as other American citizens enjoy for the defense of their just and lawful rights.
The Department can not complain if, in accordance with local regulations, they are forbidden to preach without a license; but it can not acquiesce in the denial of a license for any trivial cause, or at the arbitrary discretion of the authorities. Assuming that they are law-abiding and moral teachers, they should have equal treatment with other propagandists.
You are instructed to follow the purpose of this instruction in dealing with this question.
I am, etc.,
Assistant Secretary.
Mr. Doty to Mr. Uhl.
Tahita, June 10, 1895.
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith for your information a copy and translation of a communication received from the governor of the colony containing the text of the decree prohibiting the establishment in the colony of religious congregations and communities not recognized.
Some well-informed gentlemen maintain that the word “recognized,” as used in this decree, means that the governor is to see that no financial or moral support be given to any religious congregation unless it have special authorization from the President of the Republic.
To avoid any further difficulties with the authorities, I have advised the American missionaries to discontinue holding public services until their applications for license shall have received answer. The threat of imprisonment and banishment may be used to intimidate, still I consider the conservative course the wiser one in this instance, and will augment their cause.
I am, sir, etc.,
Mr. Papinand to Mr. Doty.
Mr. Consul: In reply to your letter of yesterday, I have the honor to acquaint you that the text of the decree prohibiting me from authorizing [Page 353] in this colony the establishment of a congregation not recognized is thus worded: “The governor is to see that no religious congregation nor community be established in the colony without the special authority of the President of the Republic.” (Decree of December 25, 1885, art. 46.)
Please accept, etc.,
Mr. Adee to Mr. Doty.
Washington, July 26, 1895.
Sir: The Department has received your dispatch No. 109, June 10, inclosing a copy of the decree prohibiting the establishment in Tahiti of religious congregations and communities without special authorization from the French Government and approves the advice given by you to the Mormon missionaries to discontinue holding public services until an answer to their request for a license to do so shall have been answered.
In this connection I inclose copy of a letter from Wilfred Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, and Joseph F. Smith, who constitute the “first presidency” of the Mormon Church, on the subject of the missionaries of the church.
The Department’s instruction to you, No. 46, June 25, 1895, seems to sufficiently cover the case. It was assumed in that instruction as in this, that the Mormon missionaries practice as well as preach principles of morality and right living.
I am, etc.,
Acting Secretary.