Bro[ther]. Ben E. Rich called at the office and represented that the representative women attending the National Council of Women in Washington and the prominent ministers of the nation were now making great efforts to push the proposed amendment to the constitution on the question of polygamy, and he gave it as his unqualified opinion that Senator [Thomas] Kearns would be powerless to thwart their efforts, and that anything from Utah would be regarded by those who favored the proposed amendment as coming from the Mormon Church; and therefore he suggested that some measure be prepared on [party] lines to tack on to the proposed amendment believing that would kill it; and should it not have that effect, such a measure could be used then by our elders for the purpose of showing that we were in the interest of good morals; but that the proposed measure was really not.
...After discussing it one and a half hours, it was concluded to try to get leading national republicans to stop this thing in the committee, and in order to accomplish this it was thought best that some representative Mormon go to Washington [D.C.] and see them privately. That if this failed, and the measure should get to the House and Senate, the only way to do then would be to burden it with amendments in the shape of a general marriage law, &c. ...
A letter was received from Susa Y. Gates, in which she stated that she had sought the services of Mrs. Mary Ellen Foster to help kill the proposed amendment to the constitution in committee, for which services she would expect $200.
[First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve minutes]
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