RELIGION, POLITICS AND SUGAR: The Mormon Church, the Federal Government and the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, 1907-1921, by Matthew C. Godfrey, Utah State University Press, 226 pages, $34.95
Utah-Idaho Sugar is one of the more important local companies of the early 20th century. It was generally known by the short-hand "U and I Sugar."
The year 1890 is locally known essentially for the issuing of the Manifesto against polygamy; but it was also the year that President Wilford Woodruff, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called a meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to enlist their support for a "temporal matter" — raising money for the Utah Sugar Company.
Responding to the request, Heber J. Grant and Joseph F. Smith (later LDS presidents themselves) approached Utah businessmen for money. A considerable amount was raised, and the LDS Church added to it to help a fledgling company.
Woodruff described his feelings this way: "The inspiration of the Lord to me is to build this factory. Every time I think of abandoning it, there is darkness; and every time I think of building it, there is light."
As the author points out, Woodruff was not the first to involve the church with business — Brigham Young and John Taylor had both encouraged efforts to manufacture sugar, although they were unsuccessful. But neither had suggested revelation as the foundation for the effort. Woodruff succeeded where they did not and, according to Godfrey, maybe that was the reason.
After 17 years, sugar companies
could be found all over Utah and Idaho. In 1907, the companies merged to create the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company worth $13 million. For the next 70 years, the corporation, along with Amalgamated Sugar, another church-dominated company, controlled the sugar industry in the Intermountain West.
By 1920, writes Godfrey, 93,603 acres of sugar beets were growing in Utah. and factories produced $28 million worth of beet sugar — the farm crop for Utah. The author points out that between 1907 and 1921, the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company constantly collided with federal regulatory forces.
The result was the development of "cutthroat" policies that the company enacted in order to fight off or even destroy competition. Since honesty has always been at the core of LDS beliefs, it was odd to have the company being investigated by several federal entities for anti-trust violations.
Godfrey concludes with insight that by the time U and I Sugar had operated for 14 years, it was evident to politicians and businesspeople that the church was essentially running it. But Mormons will understand how natural it was for church leaders to think that their "mode of persuasion" was not businesslike, but ecclesiastical.
Godfrey concludes that business and religion in this case "were not a good mix" — something the church did not accept completely until the late 20th century when church officials "divested themselves of active business connections."
This well-researched and well-written book is a welcome addition to the history of the Intermountain West.
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com