Salt Lake City, Utah, .
To the Editor:
I am in receipt of the accompanying let-
ter from the First Presidency of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, which I should be pleased to
have you publish.
Very Respectfully,
HEBER M. WELLS, Govenor.
Office of the First Presidency of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints,
Salt Lake City, Utah,
April 28, 1898.
Hon. Heber M. Wells, Governor of the
State of Utah:
Dear Governor—We have read with
much interest your proclamation to the
people of our State, in which you call,
in response to the proclamation of the
President of the United States, for the
enlistment of 500 men to furnish Utah's
quota of the 125,000 volunteers called
for by the President to serve in the
army of the United States for two
years.
The people whom we represent are
lovers of peace, and would do anything
in their power, consistent with honor
and the patriotic duty which every citi-
zen owes to his country, to avert war,
and its dreadful train of consequences.
Because of this feeling we have been
led to admire to course which has
been taken by President McKinley
throughout this Spanish imbroglio, and
we have hoped that his effort to pre-
serve peace between the two countries
would result in success.
But war has been declared, and we
have it to meet. Our citizens are called
upon to enlist, and Utah is asked to
furnish cavalry and batteries of artil-
lery approximating 500 men.
We trust that the citizens of Utah
who are Latter-day Saints will be
found ready to respond with alacrity
to this call which is made upon our
State. There was a time in the past
when we were called upon, as a re-
ligious organization, to make a far
greater sacrifice than this, under cir-
cumstances that were exceedingly
painful. Then there was no hesita-
tion; but upwards of one-third of the
men of suitable age formed a battal-
ion of 500, left the camp and vol-
unteered to take part in the Mexican
war. In like manner there should be
no hesitation now; and we sincerely
trust that your recruiting officers will
find our co-religionists as ready now
to enlist and march to the defense of
their country as their fathers were in
the days to which we refer.
Trusting that you will be eminently
successful in raising Utah's proper
quota of volunteers, and praying that
the Almighty will protect our nation in
the hour of trial and assist us in our
battles for humanity and right, we
remain. Very respectfully,
WILFORD WOODRUFF,
GEO. Q. CANNON,
JOS. F. SMITH,
First Presidency of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
