[Apostle John Henry Smith Diary] Salt Lake City
I have spent most of the day at Home. My son George is quite poorly.
I listened to Mayor David A. Rose of Milwauke, Wis. lecture on Temperance, he taking a stand against Prohibition and Local Option. He favored High License in the Liquor traffic. It was held in the Salt Lake Theatre. The house was fairly well filled with listeners. (1)
-- During 1909
(Reed Smoot) Prohibition was the burning issue in Utah. Heber J. Grant, George Albert Smith, and David O. McKay urged Utah communities to eliminate liquor. Smoot, who supported the local option, helped defeat statewide prohibition. As the only apostle opposing prohibition, he was strongly criticized by constituents. (2)
[Prohibition] By 1909 prohibition advocates were arguing that Utah was among less than a dozen remaining "saloon" states--that is, states which had not restricted alcohol statewide or through a local government option. That year the state legislature considered two "dry" bills. One was killed by Republican senators and the other, which passed the legislature, was vetoed by Republican Governor William Spry. (3)
-- Apr 5, 1910
Joseph F. Smith instructs bishops and stake presidents that payment of tithing and observance of Word of Wisdom are necessary for Mormons to obtain temple recommends. Smith also says: "Suicides who are willful should not be buried in 'temple' robes or have public funeral, but local authorities must be the judges of their state of mind when committing the act and act accordingly." (4)
-- Monday, Nov 21, 1910
[Second Counselor John Henry Smith Diary] San Antonio, Texas
The day was spent in meeting friends and Attending Committee meeting.
In the Evening a Banquet was given at the Hotel Gunther by the Chamber of Commerce. About three hundred guests sat down. It was a great spread. Congressmen and Governors were present and many made speaches, I among the number. We were up untill 1 a.m. A few became hilarious from drinking. (1)
Footnotes:
1 - Jean Bickmore White (editor), Church, State, and Politics: The Diaries of John Henry Smith, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1990, http://bit.ly/johnhenrysmith
2 - Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies
3 - Utah History Encyclopedia: Prohibition, http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/p/PROHIBITION.html
4 - On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com
LDS History Chronology: the Word of Wisdom
Mormon Timeline: the Word of Wisdom
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
