Circular to the public, 5 February 1898
AN OFFICIAL ENDORSEMENT.
On the 5th of the present month, to the great
surprise of the public, the following official en-
dorsement of Col. Isaac Trumbo appeared as a
leading editorial in the News. People were
still wondering what it meant when the Colonel
was made the topic of discourse in the Taber-
nacle last Sunday afternoon. Here is the letter:
There have been many communications of late
in the newspapers concering Colonel Isaac
Trumbo and his affairs. Charges have been
made, emanating from various sources, that there
has been some financial connection between him-
self and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day
Saints. It has been repeatedly stated in years
past, and the story has been revived of late, that
Colonel Trumbo has had large amounts of money
in his hands and under his control belonging to
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints;
that he has been its agent in the expenditure of
funds for the accomplishment of certain ends
that were desired to be achieved.
We have remained silent upon this subject.
It is well known that from time to time charges
are made and circulated concerning us and our
affairs, which we deem it unnecessary to notice.
It would be occupying too much of our time to
be contradicting stories which are put in circula-
tion by one and another for their own purposes.
This feeling has restrained us in the past in rela-
tion to Colonel Trumbo and his connection with
us and our affairs. But it seems to be proper
now, and just to ourselves, as well as common
justice to him, that we should say something in
relation to the association that has existed be-
tween Colonel Isaac Trumbo and ourselves as the
representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
First of all we wish to state most emphatically
that Colonel Trumbo has not had property of
ours in his possession FOR SUCH PURPOSESES AS AL-
LEDGED. He has neither been our financial
agent, nor had any control of our property. We
have not entrusted him with amounts of money
to expend for us FOR ANY SUCH PURPOSE.
In the time of our deep distress, when bitter-
ness and hatred were manifested against us in
almost every public quarter, Colonel Trumbo
came to Utah, and showed interest in our affairs.
Some of his own relatives were involved in cases
that were then before the courts. One promi-
nent connection of his was consigned to the pen-
itentiary, on the common charge that was in
vogue against so many prominent Latter-Day
Saints. The colonel's sympathies, it seems,
were aroused, at least in behalf of his kinsfolk.
This caused him to take interest in the whole
question; and this interest absorbed him to such
an extent that he withdrew from profitable busi-
mess that he had at the time in San Francisco,
and devoted himself almost exclusively to the
labor of correcting the false impressions which
prevailed and to the enlistment of the press in
the correction of many falsehoods and asper-
tions which were in circulation; and afterwards,
on a wider field, using his influence with leading
men of the nation. We may say here that Colo-
nel Isaac Trumbo is a man of extraordinary ener-
gy. When he undertakes anything that he
thinks ought to be done, he is untiring in his ef-
forts to accomplish it. These characteristics
were wonderfully illustrated in the labors which
he took upon himself in behalf of the maligned
and misreprhsented Latter-Day Saints. Being a
man of means, HE WAS ABLE to travel from place
to place, and especially to visit and SUSTAIN HIM
SELF at Washington. We can never forget his
activity in visiting editors and using his influence
to correct public opinion through the press. No
man could have dislayed greater zeal and disin-
terestedness than he did in the labors that he
took upon himself. We felt that he was inspired;
for, not being a member of our religious organi-
zation, and HAVING NO FINANCIAL ENDS TO ACCOM-
PLISH that would be remunerative to him, there
was nothing to incite him to these extraordinary
exertions except a purely philanthropic desire to
defend an oppressed and unpopular people and
to roll back the tide of calumny and evil that
threatened to overwhelm them. We felt thank-
ful many times for the kind Providence that
raised him up; for he seemed to come to our aid
when a man in his position and with his indefa-
tigable energy was especially needed.
When the Mormon people were threatened
with disfranchisement, Col. Trumbo spent con-
siderable time in Washington, exerting himself
to the utmost of his ability to defeat that infam-
ous measure. And while there were other
agencies also at work (for every one that had any
influence in the community realized how neces-
sary it was that this measure should be defeated),
still Colonel Isaac Trumbo was the means of
bringing powerful influences to bear against the
enactment of that villainous bill. In the defeat
of the proposed legislation every member of our
Church had cause to be deeply grateful to the
Lord and to the instruments which, under Him,
were the means of bringing it to naught.
With the same zeal and devotedness he
worked untiringly to obtain the amnesty; and
also afterwards in securing the return of the per-
sonal property to the Church, and in preparing
the way for the return of the real estate.
He threw himself into the accomplishment of
all these ends with an energy and wholeness of
soul that won him many friends and crowned his
labors and the labors of those who worked with
with success.
Colonel Trumbo was most fortunate in win-
ning the respect and admiration of influential
men in the nation. By his representations of the
condition of things in the then Territory of Utah
and his enthusiastic defense of the Mormon
people, he aroused the active interest and sympa-
thies of very many of them. This was notably
the case with General James S. Clarkson. This
gentleman was deeply moved by all that he
learned, and he entered with his whole soul and
great influence, with Colonel Trumbo, into the
effort to make the true character of the people
known to the nation and to remove the wide-
spread and deeprooted prejudices which existed
so generally at that time against the Mormon
people. It would be invidious perhaps to at-
tempt to give names of other leading and influen-
tial public men who, by the powerful appeals
which were made to them, were induced to ex-
amine what was known as the Mormon question
from a different standpoint to that which they
had occupied; but their names are cherished in
grateful remembrance by the men of Utah, and
their deeds will be preserved in the history
of the people. All the influence which he had
gained by personal acquaintance Colonel Trumbo
used to make the people of Utah better known to
the nation at large, and towards preparing the
way for the admission of Utah as a State. It is
not necessary for us to go into details concerning
his labors in this direction; it is sufficient to say
that probably no single agency contributed so
much to making Utah a State as the labors of
Colonel Isaac Trumbo and his immediate friends.
WILFORD WOODRUFF,
GEORGE Q. CANNON,
JOSEPH F. SMITH.
