/ foe WON'T LIQUIDATE BUSINESSES Lpncaned yay 5- ~ Give Up Other Firms? No, Says Church— ei ‘| SALT LAKE CITY (UPI) — The ‘| Mormon Church has no intention of ‘| liquidating the vast business empire ‘| it has built up in the course of the ‘| past century, said President David O. McKay. The snow-haired, 86-year-old Pres‘|ident made the statement with the ‘|apparent desire of squelching ru- | mors that have circulated since the '|Church announced on April 22 that ‘\(it was withdrawing from the com31'| mercial banking business. It sold to private interests, for ‘| -+|a reported 10 million dollars, its 1 | controlling block of stock in Zion’s -| | First National Bank, founded under Brigham Young’s auspices in 1873. There was immediate speculation that the church would divest itself commercial. properties of . other ew ich it owns wholly or in part. .| a and the leadership to provide neces- charch's motel, an office building and other sary services such as banking and pected to real estate in Salt Lake City; a 960,000-acre cattle ranch in Florida; a coal mine; a clothing factory; and insurance. income to the department By Louis Cassels These include the Utah-Idaho Sugar Co.; the Deseret News Pub- broadcasting — station wi shing Co.; f; an insurance company; a big 1K a scores of store, two hotels, farms. MANY ENTERPRISES Presidnt McKay pointed out that the church operates many of its enterprises—for example, the farms, clothing factory and coal mine— primarily to produce goods for the far-flung Mormon welfare program. Nearly 90,000 unemployed, aged or otherwise indigent persons received food, fuel and clothing last year under this program. He said other business enterprises, which operate competitively and at a profit, are a by-product of Mormon history. When the Mormon pioneers trekked west after 1847 to found their ‘‘New Zion’’ in ‘a desolate wildnerness that no one else wanted, the church was the only agency which had the capital aN PLACES FOR VISITORS It built hotels ‘‘because we needed places for visitors to stay,” President McKay explained. It started a department store because no one else had done so—and Mormon families needed a place to shop. It pioneered |‘the sugar beet industry in the west because a new, exportable crop was needed to stabilize the agricultural economy. How much the church earns annually from its highly-diversified business holdings has never been disclosed. But its expenditures for religious and welfare purposes are reported. They total about 55 million dollars a year. — Officials say that money comes, not profits, but from church members. most of this from business the tithes of Each of the 1,700,000 give members one-tenth is ex- of his services, and which are still providing church.”’ — “SOME SENTIMENT” | President McKay said there has been ‘‘some sentiment’’ among Mor- mons started to pravide necessary public in favor of the church’s di- | He indicated that the newspaper | and broadcasting station, the insurance company, the hotels and department store fell into this cate- |} |} commercial activity, and that this | was a major factor in the decision | to get out of commercial banking. “But I see no reason why |} services.”’ vesting itself of all business proper- gory. ties. “There are people who say it is ‘unfair’ for the church, supported as it is by tithes, to compete | with its own members and others| in private business,’ he said. He indicated that he personally has a distaste for church involve- \ ment in any highly competitive; we | should pull out of the sugar busi- |. ness which, after all, the church| . started,’ he said. “Nor do I. see|, any likelihood of our withdrawing | which the church . from business those | |