New-York tribune., 1882-04-22
tuteness.

THE LAST POLYGAMOUS CONGRESSM1N.
No polygamist will ever again occupy seat
in Congress. The vote of the House on We'd
Desday unseating Delegate Cannon entered
that decree. The Edmunds bill, which has
Just become law has decreed that henceforth
no polygamist shall hold Office in Utah Terri
tory. These two acts, both passed by Repub-
Hcan Congress and both opposed by an almost
solid Democratic vote, will stand out Ill pohti-
cal history as the crowning works of this ses-
sion. They mark the beginning OF the end OF
the foul institution of Mormonism in the United
States and they present the Republican party
as the persistent and distinctive enemy of that
institution, even as they present the Demo-
cratic party as its consistent defender and ally.
When the Edmunds bill was before the Senate,
the Democratic Senators spoke against it and
exhausted their ingenuity Ill attempting Its de-
feat When the final vote was taken they were
too shrewd to go on the record and allowed 1t to
be passed by Uird rOce vote. The Democratic
members Of the House were more reckless.
They opposed the bill, and on its final passage
ninety-fvc of them voted against it. Nearly all
tbe votes in its favor were Republican, and in
neither the Senate nor the House was there Il
Republican vote against it. When the vote to
unseat Mr.. Cannon was taken, in the House, all
but eight of the Democrats present voted to
retain him. while all the Republicans present
voted for removal.
What kind of a man was he whom the Demo
Gratis were willing to retain among them! He
was a fit representative of the institution which
he upholds, and which in his final speech he
had the audacity to defend as Christian. He
was first elected to Congress in 1878, and
has been successvely reelected ever since. At
the session of Congress in 1874 project was
started TO have him unseated on the ground of
his polygamous practices and of even more
serious charges. Evidence was collected, but
as it was impossible to consolidate the anti
polygamy sentiment sufficiently at hat time to
secure his removal, the movement was post
poned. The evidence collected was not disclosed,
and we present some of it to the public for the
first time to-day 1t tends to show Mr.. Cannon
not only a jealous pOygamst but also an instl
gator of brutal cold blOOded murder AdOph
Razn "A member of the Mormon Church, made
affidavit in 1874 that in March, 1855, George
O. Cannon went to him and told him it was his
duty as a member of that Church to kill Altman
w. Babbtt, Secretary of Utah Territory He
was to kill him because he had transgressed
the laws of the Church, and under the dc ctrine
of Blood AtOnement, publicly preached by the
Church, no man who had thus uansgressed
could attain salvation unless his blood were
spilled by some of his brethren. This is not the
first time this fcndish doctrine of Blood Atone
ment has been heard Of. 1t has been the cause
and excuse of some of the most brutal murders
ever committed by civilized men.
Cannon not only impressed this religious duty
upon Rain, but he also showed him the way in
which to commit the murder. Mr.. Babbitt was
TO start on the long and lonely journey across
the plains, then unspanned by railway, to
Washington, and it was Cannon's wish that
Rain should accompany him as a friend and