Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-03-12
POLYCAMY.

-R-A- 8ItA& HUT GA8 1ae R00t OF OH
Laws Against PoEygamy.
1.-THE committee on the Judiciary. to whom
was referred the memorial OF the Legista-
tive assembly OF the Territory of Utah.
proving for the repeal OF -ssAn act to Pre-
ye1Can1 PNpisb,the P1aeEicelof Polyganay
IN the Territories of the United States. " re-
epectfpIlY. report that they have considered
the said memorial and reached the Efollow-l
ing conclusions thereon:
q Ehe statute which @BE ara asked toa re-
peal provides: tII.TgIs7
HaAsSnoER0HRz d. That any person having a
husband SI9 OF. wife living, who, shall marry
any other person, Whether married or SIN
gle, in a territory OF the United States, Or
other placesoyev, which the rUaited States
shallhaReaexel itSrisdiction, shall be
9djndged guilt of bigamy, aud upon con-
Hictien shall be puHished by fine not ex-
eeedlng fveyearsv k'AsE ~ ss5seA . . sthf
2. s'SEC.S2. AnRdls all acts and laws Of the
Tegr1toritys of Utah which estab blish, pros
Cect, maintain or cOUnteL arce the practice
Df tpOlygamy, evasively called spiritual
marriage, however esignated by legal or
ecclesiastical solemnities, sacraments, GER
emohfes, sconsecration or other contri-
Yances.o " sss-l lsis5sfI
The effect Of the repeal of this act would
be to establish the system of polygamy in
Utah by the concurrence of the Congress
The law nizing the territory Of Utah,
under which the Legislative Assembly OF
Utah acted in passing the acts which are
annulled by the act Of Congress, to punish
and prevent poly gamy inrthe territoFiesof
the United States, provides as follows: "All
laws passed by the legislative Assembly
and Governor shall be omitted to the
Congress 0fthe nited States, and If disap&
proved; shall be null and of no effect.p -
The prayer of the menlorialists then is
this: That the people OF the United States,
through their representative in Congress,
shall, by an affirmative act, allow and sanc-
tion the practice Of polygalny, in the terri
tories Of the United States. which also i'm
plies that the establishment of polyga
shalt net prevent the admission OF the ter
ritoFy as a State In the Union upon an equal
tooting with the original States. eosI ,gsea1
The reason assigned by the nlemorialists
fOrsllch action are as follows :, Upwards
of Il years ago the Chnrch!of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day- -Saints.-did1 publicly -aVoW
and proclaim its belief in the doctrine OF
pluraity of wives as of divine origin, and
as q portion of religious faith, aud that
theretore said law Is contrary TO the spirit
ofsthe CONSTITUTION and directly in confifct
with the first -amendnleht thereof which
provides that Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishmant OF religion er
prohibiting the free exercise thereof and
that the law is &c post Jdct0. .STIfAII
Polygamy has formed . 4 part of almost
every system of heathenisln and barbarism.
A subVersiOn of the true marriage relation
has characterized them, with scarce anex2
ception, peIygamy has been legalized, and
in some cases prostitution has been, made
part of the religious system, the effect
being in both cases the same, both alike
Destroying the original and divine cohsti-
tuition of society. ,a.-rez
n.The practice of polygamy has been
Deemed one OF the highest crimes against
society by the common consent of all
Christian nations. Every State in this
Union has passed laws inflIcting, unon
those guilty of its practice the punishment
prescribed for felons whose presence can
not be tolerated among their fellow men.
Every cdenominatiO OF Christian peoplein
the land s(with the single and compare
lively very small exception of that calling
itself "the Church of Jesus Christ OF Latter
day Saints ~ holds as portion ofiits re-
ligious faith "tnat the practice of polyg-
AIRY is an offense against God and q crime
against society,"" and In the opinion of
your Committee no greater outrage upon
the freedom of relig gious faith could be per- |
Petfatea than to require the Christian peo- |
ple'Of the nation to sanction and approve
by law practice SO deeply offensive and
revolving to them, or to become responsi-i
bic to any extent for a system which, ac
cordiBg to their religious belief, ls held and
proclaimed (iot merely tor II years,
shut more. than Is Scenturies }, is the 'em1
bOdiment of all that is wicked and. debas-
lHRrll SOcltll Il fi5
The equality in number of the sexes is 4
Conclusive proof of the design of'the Crea-
tor that one woman only should be the
wife of one man. The marriage relation
thus constituted is the foundation OF the
family and of the State. a 80 = s5ie.g
dItis no violation of the first amendment
ofs1the Constitution to punish crimes
againstsOciety, although some man or as.
eOciati0n of men may avOW and proclaim
that the practice of such crime is of divine
origin, that it isa portion of his or their
religious faith. Ii it were so, an entire
immunity from punishment would be se-
cured by every one willing to add hypoc-
risy and Ignorance to any other offense of
which he might be guilty. The argument
used by the memorialists, if is were sound,
would prove that if any association of in
dividu9ls should be formed which should
as a part of this avowed and proclaimed
religious faith," assert that, all marriages
should be set aside, and the family rela-
tionS be entirely abolished, thaE thence
forth all laws of the States which punish
licentiousDess would be unconstitutional;
and If the Thugs OF India, who claim to be
aSreligioHs sect, were transferred to this
country, laws against the practice of their
religion and the ordinances 9of the States
or of the National GOVERNMENT would be
unconstitutional. If this law of Congress
be IN direct conflict with the frst amend
ment of the Constitution, as alleged, then
the laws of any State which punish bigamy
in the District CT Columbia are also un-
constitutional, and the family relations
cannot be protected without violation OF
the Constitution, becaus2 any citizen has
the game constitutional right to exercise
his religion and its ordinances in any State
that7he has in Utah. The law is manifestly
not an &c post Jdcto law, because it does not
assume, to punish any act committed before
its passage. LiH Hfe999
Your committee believe that it is proper
that the memOrialists and all others who,
within the Territories of the United States,
are disregarding the law referred to should
be assured in the most certain and authori-
tatiye manner that the law will be enforced;
that the people of the United States will
never consent to tolerate in this country a
relic of barbarism destructive alike to the
family and the State, and utterly abhorrent
to the moral sense of the nation, and that
persistent violation of this law will GER
tainly be followed by the punishment pre-
scribed by it. The committee desire to call
the attention of the House to the following
statement of the memorial: s"Whereas, the
judiciary of this Territory has not, up to
the present time, tried any case under said
law, though repeatedly urged to do so by
those who have been anxious to test its
cOnStitutiOnalitY.o s. Your committee have
not been able to ascertain fle reason why
/ this has not been enforced. The humili-
ating fact is however apparent that the law
is at present practically dead letter in the
Territory OF Utah, and that the gravest ne
cessity exists for itsenforcement, and In the
opinion OF the committee, if it be through
the fault of the judiciary of that Territory
that the law Is not enforced, the judges
should be removed without DELAY, and
others appointed in their stead, and that if
the failure to execute the law arise from
other causes, that it becomes the duty of
the President of the United States tn see