The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-05-20
THE DEBATE.
Confirmation of the Cam Ia
Campbell Contest in tut
House.
Pettibone's Argument.

Mr.. Pettibone-Mr. Speaker. I hap.
pen to be q mem Der of the COMMITTEES on
elections of this House. With other gen
tlemen l have prepared nv views on
this case and presented them to thi:
House, and they have been printed. On
yesterday my colleague from Tennessee
! Mr.. Houstl chose to designate the Ian.
guage which l had used in the conclu.
sion OF my report as extraordinary.
will read what he said as the text Of what
L am about to say:
"Seversl members of the committee on
elections, of the majority side, have
favored the House with written reports,
undertaking to set forth their reasons for
| denying Cannon his seat These reports
seem to be characterized more by feel
| ing Of passion and indignation than By
that calm Judicial tone which should per-
wade such opinions given to this House
for their guidance. My colleague, Mr..
| Pettibonf1, in the conclusion Of the re-
port which be submits, uses this extraor-
binary language:
"My voice and vote, then. is for re-
solution denying to George O. Cannon a
seat as a delegate from Utah, because it
is ia gross violstion of the dignity of the
House, and would be an insult to the
sovereignty Of the nation to admit self
admitted criminal violstor of the laws of
Congress to seat in the body whereof
we are members"
That statement of mine is challenged
by my colleague from Tennessee. He in
formed US yesterday that Mr.. Cannon
was delegate and had seat upon this
floor in the Forty-fourth, Forty-ffth,
| and Forty-sixth Congresses; and then
when the question was presented to those
Congresses it was determined by them,
and each time Cannon received his seat;
and the fact that be is confessed polyg-
| amist is denied emphatically by my col
league from Tennessee.
will now turn to the record in the
Forty-iourth Congress, to the answer
which Mr.. Cannon himself filed in reply
to the charges that were made against
him. I find, among other things, the
following by Mr.. Cannon:
"l deny that I am now living with
four wives"-
Then comes a comma, and then an
other statement
"Or that am living or cohabiting with
any wives in defiance or willful violation
Vi Iuo ldH VI SOnSICeS Vi LOVE- Subibi0A
IAN act to prohibit polygamy in the
territories"
There we're two things denied by Mr..
Cannon. The first that he denied was
that he wss then living with four wives.
The charge Of polygamy against him he
explicitly, emphaticslly, and clearly de-
MES. This is signed by George @. Can
non himself.
Now, beg this House to recollect that
the net forbidding polygamy in the Ter
rito7ies was passed in 1862 George Q
Cannon, himself being the witness, was
not guilty of polygsmy in 1874. What
does he sag now? In the trial of this case
before the Committee on Elections Of
this House, when the attention was
challenged to this very matter, with the
counsel upon both sides present, my
colleague On the committee, the gentle
man from Pennsylvania, Mr.. Beltz-
hoover called the attention of the COM
mittee and of counsel to the matter; and
in the presence Of Mr.. Cannon it was sd-
mitted that what 1 shall now read was in
his handwriting, and it was q part of the
testimony submitted to the committee.
Let s'see what it is:
In the matter of George @. Cannon.
Contest Of Alien 6. Campbell's right to
q seat in the House of Representatives of
the Forty-seventh Congress of the
United States as Delegate from the Ter
ritory Of Utah.
1. George Q. Cannon, contestant
Recollect, Mr.. Speaker, that he was the
contestant in this case
I, George Q Cannon, contestsnt, pro-
letting that the matter in this paper con-
tanned Is not relevant TO the issue, DO adj |
NIT that am member of the church Of
Jeeus Christ Of Latter day Saints, CON
monty called Mormons; that, in accord |
dance with the tenets Of said church, ] |
have taken plural wives, who now live |
with me and have so lived with me for a !
num- Der of years and borne me children. |
also admit that in my public addresses |
as teacher Of my religion in Utah Ter |
ritory l have defended said tenet of said /
church as being, in my belief, revela-
tiOn from God. GEORGE Q. CANNON.
Now We find Mr.. Cannon in 1872 de-
Dying that he had then violated the
statute Of 1862, when his case vas con-
tested in the Fourty-fourth Congress by /
Mr.. Maxwell. He now admits that he /
has taken plural wives, that he lives
with them and they with him, and'that
they have borne him children.
It was in view of these facts, in view of
the fact that in the Forty fourth Congress |
he denied that be had violated the law
that was passed twelve years before-l
say it was in view Of this and in view OF
bis solemn admission in this case now on |
trial, now up for final adjudication, that
he was living 10 polygsmy-thst l said /
he was a self-confessed violator OF the |
laws of Congress-, or words in the EGG |
lish language nave no meaning.
Now, what is bigsmy? turn to
Bouvier's Law Dictionary. I find there |
that bigsmy-that is the crime, that lie
what it is designated in the law. POlyg-
amy is a generic term; bigsmy is the
legal term. Now, what is bigsmy?
The Wilful contracting of q second |
when the contracting party /
knows that the first is already subsisting. |
l ask the attention of this House now |
to this defn ition, for it goes to the root |
and to the very meat Of the matter;
The state of man who has two wives, |
Or of a woman who has two husbands,
living at the same time
Mr.. Cannon says that that was not his |
condition in 1874, but he now admits
solemnly that it is his present condition.
The law was passed in 1862, and Furnishes /
the crime with fine and imprisonment.
w hat lie hina-ou of aornrloO laU2 | Il