-- Friday, Mar 10, 1899
[Apostle John Henry Smith Diary] Salt Lake City
The auditing committee met with President Lorenzo Snow and determined that the Church was in no way responsible for Sterling mine matter, Franklin D. Richards, Francis M. Lyman, Rudger Clawson, and myself being present. (1)
-- Mar 10, 1899; Friday
Presidents [Lorenzo] Snow, [George Q.] Cannon and [Joseph F.] Smith were in the Office, where they were waited upon by Brother Charles W. Penrose, editor of the Deseret News, and by Brother Horace G. Whitney, the business manager of that paper. The Church, it seems, has been sending the semi-weekly News to some of the Missionaries out in the world, and these brethren proposed that the paper be furnished to all the missions at a certain price. President Snow felt that the Church ought to furnish its missionaries with Church literature, and Presidents Cannon and Smith heartily concurred. President Cannon suggested that the matter be referred to a publishing committee to be appointed later ... (2)
-- Mar 13, 1899; Monday
The Presidency attended the Salt Lake Stake Conference. President [George Q.] Cannon was at the office part of the forenoon, and President [Lorenzo] Snow in the afternoon. President [Joseph F.] Smith was absent. After a brief interview with Mr. [Charles A.] McGrath, the Alberta Canal Promoter, President Snow received a call from Brother J. Fewson Smith, civil engineer, who is engaged in the construction of a railroad which passes through the settlements of the Saints in Mexico, where Brother Smith resides. He had just arrived from New York, where he had been in consultation with certain gentlemen who were interested in the building of this road. He bore a message from them to the effect that they were about to open up for settlement the Corelito lands near our settlements, and would like our people to settle on them. Brother Smith expressed the belief that the choicest parts of those lands were north of Dublan, and he recommended that they be secured by the Saints. There were old reservoirs in the vicinity, and it was believed by influential gentlemen that the Mexican government could be induced to permit our people to fill these reservoirs with water, and if this could be done, it would be the key to the settlement of that country. Those gentlemen wanted to know from the Presidency, through Brother Smith, if, provided they should succeed in getting the lands in question opened up for settlement, the Presidency would favor turning the tide of colonization that way. President Snow answered, certainly, that is, he would favor such a move on the part of those who might wish to go into the southern country, after the Canada contract was completed.
After the conference meeting in the afternoon, President Snow met Mr. McGrath, who informed him that Mr. [George] Anderson a civil engineer of the Alberta Canal, felt that owing to the advanced age of Mr. Hammond (Brother M[ilton]. D. Hammond, formerly of Cache Valley [Utah]) a younger man was needed to push the work on the canal and encourage the people; and Mr. McGrath suggested, in view of the fact that Apostle John W. Taylor had lost some $50,000 in Canada land speculations, that it would be a good thing to make him Mr. Hammond's assistant, as thus he might be able to secure some proper advantages that would reimburse him for his losses. Mr. McGrath hoped that the President could see his way clear to do this, and the latter promised to consider the matter.
At 6 p.m. Presidents Cannon and Smith met with President Snow on Bullion-Beck mining business. The Bullion-Beck mine is now in the hands of a new directory, with J. A. Cunningham as its
President. He wanted to leave on an extended trip to Europe, and in order that the control of the mine might be in friendly hands, with George Q. Cannon as its President, the following proposition was made to President Snow: that one or two hundred thousand dollars of the bonds of the syndicate formed for the purpose of holding the security of John Beck and now drawing 8% interest, be exchanged for a like amount of Church bonds, drawing 6% interest. If such a deal could be made, 51/100 of the Bullion-Beck stock would be under friendly control. President Snow asked what interest the Church had in the Bullion-Beck mine that it should make such a deal, and it was explained to him that Zion's Savings Bank and Trust Company had a lien of $40,000 on Beck's securities, which stock was represented by President Smith as one of the Directors. President Cannon also stated that he was fixing up his dedicated stock account for the purpose of turning over that stock, amounting to 7393 shares to the Trustee-in-trust. This was the only inducement, excepting the difference of 2% interest between the bonds of the syndicate and those of the Church. President Snow, after hearing the proposition, stated that he had no faith whatever in mines, and that it would readily be seen that if this mine failed the deal would be a very bad one for [blank]. President Cannon suggested that Mr. Simon Bamberger be invited to come and explain the matter more fully, and President Snow acquiesced in the suggestion. An appointment to that end was made for 3 p.m. to-morrow. (2)
Endnotes:
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 - First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve minutes
LDS History Chronology: Lorenzo Snow
Mormon History Timeline: the life of Lorenzo Snow
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
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