Joseph B. Foraker, of Ohio; Albert J. Beveridge, of Indiana; William P. Dillingham, of Vermont; A. J. Hopkins, of Illinois; P. C. Knox of Pennsylvania.
Happily the Senate refused to accept the conclusion of the majority of the committee to the effect that Reed Smoot, Senator from Utah, was not entitled to a seat in the Senate of the United States.]
This the character of the committee conducting the investigation. The Elders of the Church who have been called upon to state some of the principles of our faith and place interpretations upon them before the committee, have been taken somewhat at a disadvantage. They have been called upon to answer on the spur of the moment, without having opportunity to prepare their replies or weigh their words. Their answers have been purely extemporaneous. Many of the questions have been sprung upon them in the way of surprise; and those adroit inquisitors (I do not use that term in its evil sense), the senate committee, have purposely led them through a labyrinth of questions in the hope finally of surprising them into some inconsistency. Yet on the whole I think the Church has reason to congratulate herself upon the presentation of her doctrines even under these circumstances; and it is not difficult to believe that the brethren were sustained in their answers by a spirit beyond their wisdom; that God blessed them in the trial through which they passed.
It would be surprising, however, if in the course of so long an investigation, taken part in by so many, if the opposition did not at times gain some seeming advantage; if by some quip or quirk they did not make inconsistencies appear in the answers of the brethren. I want to illustrate this and call the attention of the young people to some of these circumstances, for I have discovered, incidentally, that some of the catch-phrases that have been coined during this investigation are having more or less influence on the minds of our youth.
For example, during the investigation referred to, the question of our belief in revelation was brought up. It is a matter of common knowledge among you, of course, that we believe in revelation from God to man. We believe that the Lord has revealed himself in the day in which we live; that a dispensation of the gospel has been given unto prophets in this age of the world; that divine communication between the earth and the heavens has been restored; that a channel of communication has been permanently established by and through which the mind and the will of God may be made known to men. This truth, so commonplace with us, seems a matter of seven days' wonder to the senate committee in question. In the course of investigating this subject of revelation the idea was developed that a law revealed from God, before it became binding upon the Church, was submitted to the people in conference and they voted to accept or reject it. Then this question was asked:
"Suppose a revelation is given to the Church, and the Church in conference assembled rejects it by vote, what remains? Does it go for nothing?"
To which answer was made, in substance, that if the people rejected it, it would go for nothing for them—that is, so far as the people were concerned.
Then the questioning continues:
"Senator—Then according to your faith the Lord submits his decrees to the judgment of the people, and does not desire them to be obeyed by anybody unless the people approve?
"Elder—He desires them to be obeyed by everybody, but he lets everybody do just as they please. * * * * *
"Senator—You would, then, as I understand you, please to follow the people, and not the Lord, under those circumstances. Is that true?
"Elder—The Lord has so ordered that when he appoints men, as he did do in the revelations here [the revelations that had been under discussion], and named the Apostles and the other general authorities of the Church, he commanded that they be presented to the Church and sustained or rejected, and whenever the Church has rejected any man he has stepped aside.
"Senator—A sort of veto power over the Lord! (Laughter)."
This last remark is one of the catchy phrases which some of the youth of Israel are permitting themselves to be pleased with. "A veto power on God!" We want to investigate that presently, and I think we will be able to discover that it is smart rather than profound.