The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1883-10-31

against the laws of Congress and the
sentiments of the civilized world, Is
one of TIE marvels of the nineteenth
century. and can be scarcely sppre-
ciated even by those familiar with
the worlds history in relation to the
difficulties Of government to control
or suppress religious fanaticism.
Certainly no government can per-
NIT violation Of the laws under the
gui5e of religious freedom, and while
Congress may not legislate as TO
mere matters Of opinion, yet it may
denounce and punish as crimes
those actions which are in violation
Of social duties or subyersiye of
good order. The right of Congress
TO suppress this great evil is uns.
doubted; it is equally plain that the
dignity and good name of this great
nation among the nations ofEthe
earth demand such Congressional
action as shall effectually eliminate
this national disgrace.
The Commission renew the re.<
concentrations contained IN the
report of November nth, 1852,
notably the one regarding the enact.
nent of marriage LAWS BIZ Congress,
declaring all future marriages in 8
the Territory null and void unless
contracted and evidenced in the
manner provided by the act. IF the
next Legislature shall fail to adopt
measures IN conformity with tSS
provisions of the act Of 1882 Tor the
suppression of polygany, thu Shm,
mission "will be prepared 0f0C3ns
mend, and Congress certainly I'll
not delay the adoption, Of the most
stringent measures compatible, with
the limitations of the, Constitution
that may be considered NECESSARY
for the suppression of this great
evil" 80 [S&sA
The report refers to. the vafiOus
municipal elections, and says the
most important election was that of
| August 9Th, 1888. The total num-
Der of votes cast in this contestWas
1850. against q, 1853 last .Noy enber
election. The principal falling off
was on the part of the Gentzot
Liberal party" The total of
the Peoples or Mormon party was
23,03S; Liberal, 1854. , In August,
1883, the vote was, Peoples par5a
20,50S; Liberal, 1,453H from which
it appears that large, numbers Of
Liberals refrained from voting. 3
fact much to be regretted for the
reason, it is believed, that by pIaper
effort and good management, one
or more noI-Mormons might have
been elected to the legislature who
would have the opportunity OF put
ting the majority on record. In
conclusion, the commission say that
| recently some ten suits were insti-
tuted in the third district court of
Utah by Mormons against the mem
beTs of this commission, complain
ing that they have been uniustly
deprived of the right to register and
vote. These are understood to be test
cases, designed to contest the con-
stitutionality of the sEdmunds act,
as we'll as the legal construction
The suits are still undecided and
are likely to he sppealed to the SU-
preme court of the United States.
1t has been asSe ted that pOlygS
annie marriages have increased since
the passage OF the EdmuDd5 act;
on the contrary, we have the
opinions of many Mormons and
non-Mormons hat they have COM
paratively decreased since the pas
sage of said act. After diligent in
quiry, we believe that the latter
conclusion Ia correct; but the Utah
Legislature will have an opportunity
of satisfying the country on this
particular subject, by passing such
public marriage law as that which
we have suggested to Congress. By
this and such other legislation as
we have indicated, they will give
the government assurance Of their
loyalty and patriotism, and avert
contest that cannot but result in
their discontinue.
We consider it proper to commend
the zeal of the Governor of Utah in
his Efforts to enforce the laws
(Signed) ALEX. RAMSEY.
A. s. PADDOCK,
~