National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1873-02-15
THE PRESIDENT AND TIE MORMON
QUESTION,

President Grant has acquitted himself Of all
responsibility upon the Mormon question
The message which he sent TO Congress
Yesterday, reviewing the law and the facts In
the case, and calling upon the National Legis-
lature for additional legislation to enable the
Government to deal successfully with the
evil, will be approved by the whole country
The whole case lies In q nutshell The Fed
CrAl Government appoints the Judge; the
Legislature selects the jurors. The one is
pOwcrlcss without the assistance Of the other;
and until Congress lnterfercs to remedy the
defects In the organic law Of the Territory,
by which II is In the power Of the Legislature
to practically set the laws Of the United
States at defiance, there can be no solution
whatever Of the Mormon question.
The Presidents recommendation IL briefly
that the selection Of grand and petit jurors for
the district courts shall he put under the con-
troll either Of federal officers or In the hands
Of persons entirely independent Of those who
are determined not to enforce any act Of
Congress obnoxious to them. As the case
stands now, Brigham Young and the local
Legislature Of Utah have constituted them
selves power higher than the President and
TUT = NuIltHe VI NllN ulANN CANNfFs AhN
cCutlve department sends Its officers into
Utah and commands them to enforce the
law. Mr.. Young and his Legislature meet
them and say, No, you cannot enforce your
laws; We set you at defiance" The question
then resolves itself into this: Are Mr. Young
and his Legislature to he the supreme power
In this country, so far as the Territory Of
Utah Is concerned, or arc the United States
to bc2 Docs Congress mean that the law
preventing and providing for the punish
mcnt Of pOlygamy shall be a dead letter
upon our statute bOOksl Does II intend
to keep up the expensive machinery Of
courts in which Its jurisdlction Is deGed
and the decisions Of its representatives
laughed at and dcridcd2 There Il an incon-
sistcncy upon the part of Congress in this
whole question that should he removed as
soon as possible. II has In the fret place
declared polygumy to be a crime, punishable
by certain fines and penalties, and ut the same
tine keeps upon the statute book another
law, the operation Of which nulifes the
other The proper thing to do l. to repeal
either the one or the other. The executive
branch OF the Government is bound hand and
foot IL, as we said. completely under the
control Of Mr.. Young and his Mormon legisla-
ture and jurors.
The sentimental side to all this question Is
that the Mormon saints went ont into the
wilderness, a. the pilgrim fathers came TO
Plymouth rock, to worship God after their
own way that by thrift and industry they
made the desert to blossom as the rose, and
that now, when they have made the land to
flow with milk and honey, the Egyptians in
wade and seek to dspOsscss them. They tell
us that Utah should be forever set apart for
the use Of the disciplca and followers OF the
sanity Joe Smith, and that no one who does
MT believe In hi peculiar doctrines and the
orics should ever set foot upon the sacred
soll of Utah. In theory this is all very well,
hut the logic Of IL il, the erection Of an indie
pendent State within our territory. Utah, as
portion Of the United States, must
obey the laws Of the United States. These
men have set out deliberately to dlsobey 1t.
The conflict has been Of their own selection
and must go on until one or the other sub
mts We have not chosen to allude to other
considerations Of morality and good govern
mcnt that enter into this whole question, he
cause In our opinion they are, so far as the
law Is concerned, merely secondary and DO
not probably belong to II. They only puzzle
and bcwllder. The main point Il, there Is a
law against pOlygamy. That law has not yet
been declared unconstitutional, and until II Is
1t must he enforced by the President and
obeyed by the people, Whether 1t Is right or
wrong, good or bad, Is not the qucs ion. 1t |
Ia the law and must he respected.