NAACP to make proposals to Mormon Church

SALT LAKE CITY (UPI)--Six members of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will meet here today to draw up a list of civil rights proposals to present to the Mormon Church, an action momentarily preventing picketing.

Albert B. Fritz, NAACP Salt Lake branch president, announced at a civil rights meeting Friday night a committee from the NAACP had met with two high officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Thursday evening. He named the church officials as Hugh B. Brown and Nathan Eldon Tanner, first and second counselors respectively in the first presidency, the Mormon's second and third highest offices.

Fritz said the NAACP agreed on the promise of "good faith" not to picket the LDS 133rd semi annual general conference on Temple Square entering its second day today when Brown and Tanner said they would "consider" endorsing a civil rights statement. But the NAACP will picket Temple Square next Saturday if the Mormon Church does not present an "acceptable" statement on civil rights before that date, he added.

The Negro leader told the 125 persons from several civil rights and church organizations that both his committee and the church officials agreed not to divulge any further information about the meeting. It was the first meeting to take place between the Negro group and Mormon leaders. The church previously had cancelled a scheduled meeting with the NAACP one hour before it was due to begin. The civil rights supporters were spurred on this week by an article in Look magazine by an LDS church member and 20-year- old University of Utah student. Jeff Nye called upon the Mormon leaders to re-examine the doctrine which prevents Negroes from holding the priesthood.