BRIGHAM YOUNG'S RESIGNATION.
Brigham Young, the head and front of the Mormons, has made a partial resigna-tion of several offices which he has held, although, he still retains the presidency of the community. He has resigned the office of Trustee of the Mormon Church, for the performance of the duties of which he always refused to give any security or pledges. He has also resigned the office of President of the Deseret National Bank, Zion Co-operative Mercantile Institution, and Utah Central and Southern Railroad. Before a large meeting at the Tabernacle, on the 8th inst., he stated that he wished to retire from the cares of business, leav-ing it in the hands of younger men, and that he intended going to Arizona, beyond the reach of mails and telegraphs. He says, in a dispatch just printed: "For over forty years I have served my people, laboring incessantly, and am now nearly seventy-two years of age, and I need relax-ation. My resignation as Trustee in trust for the Church, as President of Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution and of the Deseret National Bank, are made solely from secular cares and responsibilities, and do not affect my position as President of the Church. In that capacity I shall still exercise supervision over business, ec-clesiastical and secular, leaving the minu-tiae to younger men. * * * We intend establishing settlements in Arizona, in the country of the Apaches, persuaded that if we become acquainted with them we can influence them to peace in accordance with President Grant's Indian policy, and open up that country to settlement by the whites. Our cities, towns and villages now extend about four hundred miles in that direction; and, in view of the railroad crossing that country, we hope to be pre-pared to assist in its construction, and when completed bring a large portion of our emigration that way to settle the country."
He denies the oft-repeated statement that he has large sums deposited in the Bank of England, and states that all his money is invested in Utah. The value of his earthly estate is not known. He has had full control of the tithing; the posses-sion of the Church funds has enabled him to obtain unlimited credit; he has never rendered an account of the funds intrusted to his care, and even if he has been strict-ly honest, the legitimate use of so large a sum of money in the hands of so clever a business man would naturally result in the accumulation of an immense fortune, amounting probably to many millions of dollars. In addition to this, whenever a now county was surveyed or a new town-ship laid out, the choicest and by no means a small piece of ground has up to the pre sent time always been reserved for “broth-er Brigham." Some idea of the amount of his gains may be inferred from the fact that in 1852 he was known to have taken from the Church funds, "for services ren-dered," $200,000, and in 1867, on a similar pretext, he received $967,000. He holds six shares only of the Utah Central Rail-road, the presidency of which he resigned, but he owns about $600,000 worth of its bonds. The successor of Brigham as Trus-tee of the Church is George A. Smith, a nephew of the prophet, Joseph Smith. He was elected by the people, on the recom-mendation of Brigham, whose suggestion is law with the faithful members of the Mormon Church. He is now in Europe.
It is altogether probable that Brigham Young finds the meshes of the General Government drawing rather too close around him, and the increasing influence of outsiders at Salt Lake warns him to look up a place where his authority will be more undisputed. He is a man of great shrewdness, not of great ability, and he has sagacity enough to see the shadow of com-ing events, and to get out of their way. When the time comes for a revelation of the real history of the Mormons, should such a revelation ever be made, Brigham Young will wish to be further away than even Arizona.
