The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-12-01

| property was freed from taxation and which
! trustees should manage for the we'll being of
! the church; that the members should be per-
mitted to worship, to marry and so on; that
! the church should possess and ENJOY contln-
| ually the power ana authority and OF Itself
make laws for the good order OF government
| and control for the punishment or forgive
ness of everything pertaining to church COW
enants. Now, was this a law respecting an
! establishment of religion? 1t looks so to me,
and 1T will be remem bered that when Con-
gress declined to admit Deseret into the gov
eminent it provided a Territorial govern
ment for Utah, and the Legislature of Utah
re-enacted this and all laws passed by the
! said Deseret"
| THE QUESTION OF BIGAMY.
| What unusual power was vested in these
trustees?''
ITO establish order and regulate worship,
and the trustee was not alone to hold prop
erty for the purpose of worship, but in an
! unqualified sense TO hold for management
stores, railways, banks telegraphs, theaters,
cattle, sheep, property now held by the
church, all of which was free from taxa
/ ton"
Where were the bonds OF these trustees
/ filed?'
| Not with the Secretary of the Territory,
as with other corporations, but in the church
recorders office, and not, as is the case with
! others, at the county-seat, but at the seat OF
! general church business"
| II notice that in the fourth section it is
| ordered that the church shall keep registry
OF marriages. if that is the case it seems to
me that it would be easy enough to prove
| bigamy."
That register of marriage is not for pub
! lie inspection, but for the inspection OF the
members, and for their benefit. The courts
OF Utah so far have failed to have the regis
| tiers produced to them, or, indeed, to find
any man who would testify more than that
such records are kept somewhere by some
body"
Was there not law passed in 1852 to
| punish polygamy, and disappearing and an
nnlling the legislative acts of the Territory
| of Utah?'
Yes, but it is questionable whether the
act, alter all, unqualifedly disapproves the
| act OF incorporation alluded to in any pre-
vious answers. The courts of Utah hold, for
| the purpose of criminal prosecutions, that
where properties of the church have been
stolen 1T still has an existence; be-
sides that, the local laws impose
the duty of instituting proceedings
| upon the Attorney general. and no such
official exists. Whether Congress intended
it to be repealed or not, the fact remains that
the trustees continue to buy and sell and to
regulate all matters, whether for the purpose
OF worship or not"
| violated by the Mormon Chulch?'
In the act now under discussion, it is de-
clared that no corporation shall hold or ac-
| quire create real estate than 500 600 in any
Territory, and that all real estate exceeding
| that amount shall be given the United States
| This corporation, according to the last cen
| sus owned property to the amount OF 81
| 100000 in one county alone. The law is null
| lifted by placing the title in the name of diff
| ferent trustees, bishops, and so on. What
amount is thus unlawfully held in all the
counties of the Territory it is impossible TO
| estimate. Even more reprehensible is the
| TACT that the business OF government under
perfected system is continually carried on,
and courts, not open to all citizens and not
known to Congress, constantly exercise
usurped powers, dealing with affairs of men
not only spiritual but temporal"
THE law of 1862 denounces bigamy as a
crime; is it so regardedW
ION the contrary, it is defiantly taughtand
practiced."
RELIGION AND UTAHs COMMON SCHOOLS
''How is the Territorial government OF
Utah supported?'
'The Legislature and other agencies of the
government of Utah, which are outworking
a successful and long continued conspiracy
to defeat the execution of Uniten States law,
not only derive their powers from Congress,
but are paid out of the treasury of the
United States, and when an appeal was
made to this Legislature really the creature
of the Mormon Church, to enact laws in
harmony with the laws of Congress and the
decisions of the Supreme Court, they an
swered that the great majority of Utah's
people believed the act of 1862 to be not
only specially unreasonable, but unconst-
tutional, in that it prohibits free exercise of
a part of their religion and that they view
these laws III the light of history and ex-
perience as improvident mlschievous and
dangerous"
Are there common public schools in
Utahp'
Eyes, but in every instance known to me
the schools are established on the same lot
of ground and under the same roof, or in adj
Joining rooms to the church ward meeting
houses. The entire system is taught and
under control of the elders of the church,
and thousands who are taxed for their sup
port do not, and of necessity cannot receive
benefit in sending their children, and no not
send them"
"HaVe you ever attempted, by veto or
other action, to curb the evil?'
YES. In a veto of an act making appro-
priatons for general purposes, among others
was an appropriation for the erection of n
new building for Deseret University. /
placed among my objections the one that
in all appropriations OF puollc money re-
ceved from taxes upon all classes OF citizens
for educational purposes they should be
made with an unqualified provision that no
doctrinal, sectaran tenets should be taught
or allowed to be taught, or any particular
belief required OF any teacher or officer
thereof / sincerely regret the Legislature
and the Governor could not in their con-
ferences have agreed upon some plan by
which non-sectarian educational work should
have been allowed to progress"
POLYGAMY A LESSER EVIL.
"From the tenor of your criticisms the
country will infer that in your judgment
polygamy is a lesser evil, and that the
growth of hostile government is the chief