The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-03-22
I. SYMPATHIZING !" WITH
P0LYGAMY.

1
opponents of opposing some popular
end, because they oppose the par
ticular measure by which the IN
scrupulous politicians seek to attain
that end. 1t is always a piece of
inSolence to impute to a man other
motives than those he avowS for
his action. Mr.. Haskell took adj
vantage of his opportunity in clos
ing the debate to offer this imperti-
nence to the democrats who opposed
his anti-polygamY bill. The Times
OF this city, repeats Mr.. HaskelPs
impertinence.
The impertinence of charging
everybody who opposed the Ed
munds bill with favOring pOlygamy
is less irritating than such a charge
usually is, for the reason that it is
self-evidently absurd. There is
absolutely no party of sympathizers
With polygamy in the country
except its practitioners them
selves, who are at most only
represented in Congress by single
territorial delegate. Nothing can
be more insane than to accuse demo-
Gratis of secretly exchanging vows of
friendship with the Mormons, who
are Of no earthly use to the demo-
Gratis or any other party. There are
not ten votes to be had outside of
Utah by sconciliating" the pOlyg
amous sentiment of the country.
The charge of sympathy is indeed
so absurd that if one knew nothing
else about Mr.. Haskelrs bill he
would infer there was some ras-
cality in it from which the beating
of this tomtom by Mr.. Haskell and
by the Times was intended to divert
public attention. That inference is
warranted by the facts. The bill is
an abominable bill. 1t gratifies that
itch for meddling with other peo-
pies affairs on moral grounds which
has afflicted the republican party
from the beginning. There are
some thousands of people in the
United States who cannot rest I'M
der the knowledge that other people
in one of the territories Of the
United States, for whose behavior
they are nowise responsible, choose
to practice pOlygamy. These people
are willing to take away from per-
sons suspected of practising polyg-
amy every safeguard, to convict
them of crime without trial and to
punish them on suspicion. This is
exactly what this bill does. The
difficulty in dealing legally with
polygamy is the difficulty of prov
ing polygamy. Common rumor will
not do, and common rumor is all the
evidence that can in most cases be
brought in. The bill does away
with that difficulty by disfranchis-
ing all persons suspected by inspec-
tors ofelection Of being polygamIsts
No polygamist is to be allowed to
vote, and no polygamist is to be al
lowed to sit on jury. The queS-
ton at onoe arises how it is to be
determined who is and who is not a
polygamist. Mr.. Reagan undertook
TO settle that question 10y inserting
"any person duly convicted OF telng
polygamIst. This tn House
voted down and thus cloCnedS al IFS
in Utah with III roSpons u
power of excluding from jur.e,. sd
inspectors of Z "ctIUn wI,H a j
responsible power Of exc ud,m, dr ~.
voting, all persons whom In =. cno>t-
to exclude. Imagine law in &c,
in this city by which il W Is pro-
vided that no disrepd able prs
should be allowed to vote at II.
election, and inspectors app 'ini e.
by French and Nichols 10 carry out
the law. All persons WI, did itnt
belong either to the rep.I1.ic. MA
chine or the Tamman' ~ hi It
would of course be diSfrt =: I'll a
once, and every disreput. = erSJ
would be construed to ne er.
reputable person.
Of course such a law in New
York would last no longer than 1t
could be got before a court. 1t is
probable that Mr.. EdmuEds' bill,
though it has been drawn by a
sharp lawyer, may NEE, u IT,. @
When an inspector refuses ,-4v,-
of a person whom h >rS yec-> 81
pretends that he suspects o b. a
pOlygamist, the first court to which
the case is referred wilt probably de
eide that tile mere suspicion of the
inspector is not good ground fer
throwing out vote, md that
pelygamist must mean person who
has been duly convicted of practis
ng PolygamY.
But the republicans i'll Congress
have none the less sho N their dis
position to use the uii Ftrsal senti-
ment of the country against polyg
amy as preteXt TO set up an arbi-
trary and irresponsible government
NJ tah Most Of them know no
more than they care about tile prin-
cipIes of free government. BUTT is
diScreditable to the democratic
minority that they did not vote
solldly against this outrageous
measure, and THAT any OF them
should have been deferred by the
senSelesS accusation OF HASKELL that
they symyathized with polygamy
from voting as every man III 20 be
member of the House OF RenreSen-
tdtlveS must have known that he
ought TO Vote. Such cOlrIg- and
sense US Were shown by Mr. fucker
and Mr.. Belmont were more con
QniPnnnc n