[Flystripper]

Originally Posted by Sleeping in EQ

Brigham Young's July, 1859 interview with the renowned newspaper editor Horace Greeley, makes Brigham's view of slavery pretty clear. I am unaware of any controversy regarding it, other than the SL Trib reprinted it in the early 90s (which is how I first came upon it). From the interview (capitalizations are in original):

H.G.: What is the position of your Church with respect to Slavery?

B.Y.: We consider it of Divine institution, and not to be abolished until the curse pronounced on Ham shall have been removed from his decendants.

H.G.: Are there any slaves now held in this Territory?

B.Y.: There are.

H.G.: Do your Territorial laws uphold Slavery?

B.Y.: Those laws are printed--you can read them for yourself. If slaves are brought here by those who owned them in the states, we do not favor their escape from the service of those owners.

H.G.: Am I to infer that Utah, if admitted as a member of the Federal Union, will be a Slave State?

B.Y.: No; she will be a Free State. Slavery here would prove useless and unprofitable. I regard it generally as a curse to the masters. I myself hire many laborers and pay them fair wages; I could not afford to own them. I can do better than subject myself to an obligation to feed and clothe their families, to provide and care for them, in sickness and health. Utah is not adapted to Slave Labor.

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.