History of Salt Lake City, Part 95

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194

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stockholder who invested one thousand dollars in the Institution in March, 1869, had by October Ist, 1873, that stock increased to $1,617, and this without counting his cash dividends, which in the same space of time would have amounted to $1,378.50. In other words, a stockholder who had de- posited $1,000 in the Institution when it started, could have sold, in four years and a half afterward, stock to the amount of $617, collected dividends to the amount of $1,378.50, thus making the actual profits $1,995.50, or or within a fraction ($4.50) of two hundred per cent. upon the original invest- ment, and still have had his $1,000 left intact. This is a statement from the books of the Institution, and realized by hundreds of its stockholders. And yet there are those who decry co-operation and say it will not succeed. If successs consists in paying large dividends, then it cannot be said that Z. C. M. I. has not succeeded. In fact, the chief cause of the trouble has been, it has paid too freely and too well. Its reserves should not have been added, as they were, to the capi- tal stock ; for, by so doing, at the next semi-annual declaration of dividends, a dividend was declared upon them, which, as will be perceived, swelled the divi- dends enormously and kept the Institution stripped too bare of resources to meet whatever contingencies that might arise.

"It was not for the purpose alone, however, of making money, of declaring large dividends, that Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution was established. A higher object than this prompted its organization. A union of interests was sought to be attained. At the time co-operation was entered upon, the Latter- day Saints were acting in utter disregard of the principles of self-preservation. They were encouraging the growth of evils in their own midst which they con- demned as the worst features of the systems from which they had been gathered. Large profits were being concentrated in comparatively few hands, instead of be- ing generally distributed among the people. As a consequence, the community was being rapidly divided into classes, and the hateful and unhappy distinctions which the possession and lack of wealth gave rise to, were becoming painfully ap- parent. When the proposition to organize Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Insti- tution was broached, it was hoped that the community at large would become its stockholders ; for if a few individuals only were to own its stock, the advantages

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HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

to the community would be limited. The people, therefore, were urged to take shares, and large numbers responded to the appeal. As we have shown, the busi- ness proved to be as successful as its most sanguine friends anticipated. But the distribution of profits among the community was not the only benefit conterred by the organization of co-operation among us. The public at large who did not buy at its stores derived profits, in that the old practice of dealing which prompted traders to increase the price of an article because of its scarcity, was abandoned. Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution declined to be a party to making a cor- ner upon any article of merchandise because of the limited supply in the market. From its organization until the present, it has never advanced the price of any ar- ticle because of its scarcity. Goods therefore in this Territory, have been sold at something liked fixed rates and reasonable profits since the Institution has had an existence, and practices which are deemed legitimate in some parts of the trading world, and by which, in this Territory, the necessities of consumers were taken ad- vantage of-as, for instance, the selling of sugar at a dollar a pound, and domes- tics, coffee, tobacco and other articles, at an enormous advance over original cost because of their scarcity here-have not been indulged in. In this result the pur- chasers of goods who have been opposed to co-operation, have shared equally with its patrons.

"We appeal to the experience of every old settler in this Territory for the truth of what is here stated. They must vividly remember that goods were sold here at prices which the necessities of the people compelled them to pay, and not at cost and transportation, with the addition of a reasonable profit. The railroad, it is true, has made great changes in our method of doing business. But let a blockade occur, and the supply of some necessary article be very limited in our market, can we suppose that traders have so changed in the lapse of a few years that, if there were no check upon them, they would not put up the price of that article in proportion as the necessities of the people made it desirable ? They would be untrue to all the training and traditions of their craft if they did not. And it is because this craft is in danger that such an outcry is made against co-op- eration. Can any one wonder that it should be so, when he remembers that, from the days of Demetrius who made silver shrines for the goddess Diana at Ephesus down to our own times, members of crafts have made constant war upon innova- tions that were likely to injure their business.

"Co-operation has submitted in silence to a great many attacks. Its friends have been content to let it endure the ordeal. But it is now time to speak. The Latter-day Saints should understand that it is our duty to sustain co-operation and to do all in our power to make it a success. At a meeting of the stockholders of the Institution at the time of the general conference a committee of seventeen was chosen to select and arrange for the purchase of a suitable piece of ground for a store and to proceed to erect upon it such a fireproof building as would answer the purposes of the Institution. 'The objects in view in this proceeding were to concentrate the business and thereby lessen the cost of handling and disposing of the goods and to decrease rent and insurance. The saving in these directions alone, not to mention other advantages which must result from having such a store, will make a not inconsiderable dividend upon the stock. A suitable piece of

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HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

ground has been secured, and upon terms which are deemed advantageous, and steps have been taken towards the erection of a proper building. But the Institu - tion, to erect this building and carry on its business properly, needs more capital. The determination is still to sell goods as low as possible. By turning over the capital three or four times during the year they can be sold at very low figures, and but at a shght advance over cost and carriage, and yet the stockholders have a handsome dividend. To purchase goods to the greatest advantage the Institution should have the money with which to purchase of first hands. To effect this important result, as well as to unite in our mercantile affairs, the Institution should receive the cor- dial support of every Latter-day Saint. Every one who can should take stock in it. By sustaining the Co-operative Institution, and taking stock in it, profits that would otherwise go to a few individuals will be distributed among many hundreds. Stockholders should interest themselves in the business of the Institution. It is their own, and if suggestions are needed, or any corrections ought to be made, it is to their interest to make them.

"The Institution has opened a retail store within a few weeks, one of the old- fashioned kind, in which everything required by the public is sold. This should receive the patronage of all the well-wishers of co-operation. In the settlements, also the local co-operative stores should have the cordial support of the Latter- day Saints. Does not all our history impress upon us the great truth that in union is strength ? Without it, what power would the Latter-day Saints have ? But it is not in the doctrines alone that we should be united, but in practice and espec- ially in our business affairs.

"Your Brethren,

"Brigham Young, George A. Smith, Daniel H. Wells, John Taylor, Wil- ford Woodruff, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young Jr., Albert Carrington.

" Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, July roth, 1875."

The group of persons given as frontispiece of this chapter of the directors and officers of the Institution, as they stood in 1881, presents to the eye of the reader this extraordinary combination of spiritual and temporal men in accord upon their great social work. On the side of the Church we have first in this co- partnership of Zion, John Taylor, Trustec-in-Trust. He is one of the directors of Z. C. M. I. But he is by a superior office more than a director in the combi- nation. As president of the Church, he is the spiritual guardian of the Church and the temporal guardian of the commonwealth of Zion.

George Q. Cannon, the apostle, is not only the second man in the Church as the spritual organizations stand to-day, but he is one of the original partners in the co-operative covenant, or the "Agreement," upon which Z. C. M. I. was incorporated.

It was George Q. Cannon who wrote the encyclical letter published by the Church upon co-operation which is given in this chapter. Historically, it was a state- ment made by the Church relative to Z. C. M. I. as an established success of the Mormon people in co-operation, and to stimulate the community to perpetuate its existence.

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HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

Joseph F. Smith is one of the directors of the Z. C. M. I. and from many points of view he is a very important member of the combination. Since the death of George A. Smith, he has stood to the Mormons of Utah as chief lineal representative of the founders of the Church. In a sense, he may b :aid to in- herit the system, and he is, by his office as one of the First Presidency of the Church and his election as one of the directors of Z. C. M. I., a legitimate spirit- ual and temporal guardian of the community.

Moses Thatcher is the last and youngest of the apostolic combination of the directorate of Z. C. M. I. The family of the Thatchers, with William B. Preston -a son of the family by marriage-are among the principal founders of Cache Valley. They are temporal managers as well as spiritual men-founders of cities, merchants and presidents of the Stake. No young man in Utah has made a better defined and fairer mark than Moses Thatcher. Though young, he has risen altogether on his own merits to the apostleship. He has been a Legislator for years ; was superintendent of the Utah Northern Railroad ; afterwards the superintendent of the branch Z. C. M. I. at Logan, and president of the Cache Valley Stake.

Bishop John Sharp, who, for thirty-five years, has been one of the principal directors of the spiritual and temporal affairs of the community, is one of the board of Z. C. M. I. The chief vein of his history in Utah is embodied in the record of our local railroads, and his position as one of the fifteen directors of the U. P. R. R. gives him an influence among the railroad magnates of the country.

David O. Calder was elected a director of Z. C. M. I., October 5th, 1875. On the suggestion of President Brigham Young, he was elected sec- retary and treasurer of that institution, October 5th, 1876, and he occu- pied that responsible position for two years, contributing not a little to the increased prosperity of that colossal establishment, and sustaining his character as a first class business officer. October 5th, 1878, he resigned as secretary and treasurer of Z. C. M. I., because his large music business demanded his personal attention; but he retained his position as a director until his death, July 3d, 1884.

William H. Hooper was one of the chief founders of the commerce of Utah, and successively a director, vice-president, superintendent of, and finally president of Z. C. M. I. For a number of years he was Utah's Delegate to Congress. He died in Salt Lake City, December 30th, 1882, lamented by the business and repre- sentative men of the city, both Mormon and Gentile. He was succeeded in the presidency of Z. C. M. I. by President John Taylor.

William Jennings is known in the history of Salt Lake City as a principal man in many lines-in stock raising, in commerce, in railroads, in Z. C. M. I., in the board of the Deseret National Bank, and in the Salt Lake City Council, over which he last presided as Mayor. He has been director, superintendent and vice-president of Z. C. M. I .; and was succeeded in the superintendency of the Institution by Horace S. Eldredge in 1883.

In any city Horace S. Eldredge would have been a pillar of society. He is indeed one of those structural embodiments of social weight and character that satisfies the eye at once and establishes confidence without a question. No busi- ness man of even ordinary discernment, meeting Eldredge abroad in a business

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HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

transaction, though an entire stranger, would refuse to take his check at its face value, nor would any foreign banker require to have him identified as the Horace S. Eldredge of Utah, except from the merest form. Some men going abroad re- quire a full budget of letters of recommendation and credit, yet they may be men of honesty and honor, besides of most substantial connections ; but Eldredge carries his budget of recommendation and credit in his personal appearance.

In the history of Z. C. M. I. there is one very representative incident that ought to be noticed. At the time of the panic in 1873, it was Horace S. Eldredge who was sent down to the States to ask for an extension of time; H. B. Clawson went with him. Again was Eldredge's personal and financial weight tested in the great business cities of America. The time asked for was granted with absolute confidence, and repeatedly the creditors of Z. C. M. I. added, "Why, Mr. Eldredge, you are solider than we are !" And this remark is very typical of the personal character and financial stability of Horace S. Eldredge himself. He is not one of the wealthiest men in America, but he is certainly one of the solidest, and when we find recorded in his diary, penned simply at the time as a private note-" I never contracted the debt of a dollar in my life that I have not paid," we conclude that it is the man's commercial life epitomised in a conscientious memorandum.

Undoubtedly to Thomas G. Webber, secretary and treasurer of the Institution much of its success is to be credited. For upwards of sixteen years he has con- trolled the finances of this mammoth establishment with integrity, wisdom, and a far-seeing judgment that has placed its credit second to no other business house in America. The Hon. William H. Hooper, an excellent judge, once said in public that Thomas G. Webber was the best accountant and business manager that he had ever met ; and both Jennings and Eldredge have greatly leaned upon his judgment during the respective periods of their superintendency. His position as secretary makes him the active instrument of the executive mind and purposes of the Board. Familiar with every detail of the Institution's business ; an indefati- gable worker ; courteous, but at the same time a thorough disciplinarian, he has won the respect and esteem of all who come in contact with him, and no officer of the Institution enjoys a greater popularity among its hundreds of employees than does Thomas G. Webber.

Of the Institution itself, since the review, in 1875, by the heads of the Church, of its history up to that date, a brief summary may be made :

Z. C. M. I., at this date, January, 1886, is recognized as one of the solidest and most reliable commercial houses in America. Its credit stands A. I. Its an- nual sales, to-day, are not so heavy as they were before the panic of 1873, when they exceeded $5,000,000. They are now upwards of $4,000,000 per annum. But the foundation of the Institution is solider, its wholesale operations throughout the Territory perfected, and its financial security is, to-day, in its own hands. It keeps a business agent in the East and it is well known to its business relations that Z. C. M. I. is always ready to pay money down and take discount on its purchases.

But Z. C. M. I. has not only a commercial significance in the history of our city, but also a politica! one. It has long been the temporal bulwark around the

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HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

Mormon community. Results which have been seen in Utah affairs preservative of the Mormon power and people, unaccountable to " the outsider," except on the now stale supposition that " the Mormon Church has purchased Congress," may be better traced to the silent but potent influence of Z. C. M. I. among the ruling business men of America, just as John Sharp's position as one of the direc- tors of the U. P. R. R .- a compeer of such men as Charles Francis Adams, Jay Gould and Sidney Dillon-gives him a voice on Utah affairs among the railroad- rulers of America.

The first place of business occupied by the Institution was the Eagle Em- porium building, which was rented of Wm. Jennings. Some additions were made to the building, as more room was demanded. At length it was determined to buy a piece of ground and put up suitable buildings for the Insttiution. In 1876 a lot 100 x 365 feet was secured for $30,000, and a brick building erected, having a frontage of 100 feet, and a depth from east to west of 318 feet-three stories and basement. The front of the building is of iron, and the other portions are of rock and brick, with a metallic roof. Without the land the building cost, in round numbers, $200,000. This new building was occupied by the Institution in March, 1876. It has branch houses at Ogden and Logan, and a warehouse at Provo for the Southern trade.

CHAPTER LXXXIV.

THEATRICALS IN THE EARLY DAYS IN SALT LAKE CITY. ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST THEATRICAL COMPANY. THE SOCIAL HALL. BOWRING'S THEATRE. ORGANIZATION OF THE DESERET DRAMATIC ASSOCIATION.

We will now take up the civilizing agencies of the city :

It is well known to those who have studied, even casually, the character of that wonderful Mormon society-founder, Brigham Young, that he supplied his people with the agencies of both social and physical revivification. Not to say it flippantly but with a simple appreciation of his unique character, had Brigham Young been the leader of ancient Israel, as he was of modern Israel, and typed with his Ver- mont sagacity, there would have been no rebellion of the congregation in the wil- derness, and no "repining for the flesh-pots of Egypt." This was strikingly ex- emplified in the great Mormon exodus to these mountains. He constantly vivified the people whom he led, by enlivening instrumental music, by the singing of familiar songs of home in the spirit of home present and not far away, in the merry dance and social ball. Like the ark of a new covenant, the people under his leadership carried with them on their long and tedious journey to the Rocky Mountains at least a primitive civilization.

It was while on this journey that the " Nauvoo Brass Band," under Captain

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HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

William Pitt, made itself historical. This band and the "Nauvoo Legion " were the only remembrancers that the Mormons brought to these valleys bear- ing the name of their forsaken city. Captain Pitt and his band left Nauvoo ou the same day with Brigham Young, crossing the Mississippi on the ice, and with him journeyed that day to the "Camp of Israel," which waited for the leader on " Sugar Creek ;" and at night, though the weather was bitterly cold, the trumpet, by the order of Brigham, called the camp out to a concert in the open air, and the Nauvoo Brass Band performed its best selections, after which the pilgrims joined in the dance, and the music was as joyous as at a merry-making. Arriving in the valley of the Great Salt Lake, the dance to the Mormons became almost like an institution and the ball as a social sacrament.

Out of this Nauvoo Brass Band indirectly grew our first theatrical company. An amalgamation was effected between the members of the band and certain gen- tlemen and ladies possessing dramatic instincts and predilections, several of whom had also been connected with theatricals before they came into the isolation of these mountains. Phil. Margetts was a member of the band, and Hiram B. Claw- son had already graduated in a traveling theatrical company.

The project of organizing a theatrical company, with a combination of the musical and dramatic elements, received the hearty sanction of Brigham Young, and he at once became the patron of the Salt Lake stage.

The first dramatic company organized consisted of H. B. Clawson, James Ferguson, Phil. Margetts, John Kay, Horace K. Whitney, Robert Campbell, R. T. Burton, George D. Grant, Edmund Ellsworth, Henry Margetts, Edward Mar- tin, William Glover and William Clayton ; the ladies were Miss Orum, Miss Judd, (Mrs. Margaret G. Clawson) and Miss Mary Badlam. The company's cast stood, James Ferguson, leading man ; Miss Orum, leading lady ; Miss Judd. soubrette ; Miss Mary Badlam played general parts and filled in with her clever dancing business ; Hiram B. Clawson was the company's character actor ; Phil. Margetts commenced his theatrical career as a character actor and comedian ; John Kay, who was endowed with a fine baritone voice, and an imposing stage figure, sang star songs and did a corresponding business as an actor ; Horace K. Whitney was a useful and very efficient actor in those parts which sustain the play, and which, when not well filled, put out the lights of the stars of the company ; Robert Campbell played old-man character parts ; William Clayton was a princi- pal instrument in organizing the company, and he also took his parts in the or- chestra ; Generals Burton and George D. Grant, and Elder Edmund Ellsworth, gave amateur importance to the stock, and Wm. Glover and Henry Margetts, it is presumed, were useful in their line of business ; however, James Ferguson, Phil. Margetts and H. B. Clawson were the only professional types in the male cast of this first Salt Lake theatrical company. It bore the name of the " Musical and Dramatic Company."

The orchestra deserves naming, for its members were of the Nauvoo Brass Band, from which the company originated : William Pitt, captain of the band, was the leader of the orchestra, and William Clayton, James Smithies, Jacob Hutchinson, David Smith, and George Wardle were his supports.

There was a company now, but no theatre, nor even a hall of capacity suffi-

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HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

cient to give a public performance, while the community were socially starving for public amusements and recreation to enliven the isolation of a " thousand miles from everywhere," as their locality was then described. The majority of the citizens in 1851 and 1852 were fresh from a land of theatres. England, thir- ty-five years ago, was still the England of Shakespeare, and not of Boucicault. There were those in Salt Lake City who had seen Macready ; some who had seen John and Charles Kemble, their sister Sarah Siddons and Edmund Kean on the stage in their native land. The majority of the British people in the valley at that period were from London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Yorkshire and Edinburgh, where the common people for generations have been accustomed to go to the theatre and to the philharmonic concerts, to see the best of acting and hear the divinest singing, at a few pence, to the galleries. Such a community could not possibly have got along without their theatre, nor been content with their isolation without something to awaken pleasurable reminiscences of the in- tellectual culture and dramatic art of their native land. Their sagacious head sensed all this, and he at once gave to the newly formed " Musical and Dramatic Company " the " Old Bowery," where the congregation of Saints met Sabbath days, and it was there-in the only temple or tabernacle Zion had in those days -that home theatricals took their rise. If the Church stooped in this, she but gave her helping hand to civilization, without losing aught of her own caste, for those actors and musicians were her own ordained elders and high priests.

Historical interest is always associated with the first programme of every notable institution, therefore is here presented the first cast of the first dramatic company of Utah. The play produced on the occasion was Robert Macaire. The cast was as follows :

Robert Macaire,

. John Kay

Jaques Strop, H. B. Clawson

Pierre, Philip Margetts

Marie,

. Miss Orum

Clementina, Miss M. Judd (Mrs. M. G. Clawson)

Several other plays were produced during the season, and it is said they were creditably performed by the company. " Hector Timid " was the opening of the farcical role.

There were more than a thousand persons who witnessed each of these per- formances, showing that the theatrical audiences in the " Old Bowery," in the winter of 1851-2, were larger than the average audiences in 1885, with a Madame Ristori playing her magnificent role of historical plays in the " Big Theatre " with the modern audiences of Salt Lake City to support her performances.

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History of Salt Lake City, Part 95

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company Number of Pages: 1194

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194