New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-12-26
TINE TTfH ELL

The bill reportcd by Senator Edounds on the
Mormon question is apparently idcNt'" WI"
the one which passed the Senate iast Ju"''
INIT which was not reached 10y the HOUSE II -
o drastic measure. and its thorough enforce
mpnt would be almost equivalent t. placing 'h'
Territory under martial law. Objection mas
been made to the provisions when a''h"i!@f
tho appointment 10y the President OF fourteen
t.,stoas with mower to control the Mormon
Church corpOration, and that which provides
for the winding up of the Emigration Society.
Il is ARMED that this intcl ference with the
,,o,l,ir,, of a chu,ch establishment. and THIS
invasion of property rights, may create dan
,,orous prccedrnts But one Of these objections
is NOT in accord witt American theory ana
practice. 1t is not to-day that such 'nNaN'o'S
nc nropertv rights are first proposed. Onr
highest court years ago met an 'pheM'I'
nonular clamor by the enunclallon oil pl'h'i}'S
which if carried into effect completely Wo"'u
1aave prnperty defeuceless, and enable dc'"@-
gocnes to procure its cOntscaton ahywhefe
under the rretence of public use.
Having already declared that the demonstIa-
tion of public use juStiEes conii'catlon thtie
is nothing excessive in the Application OIL
similar principe to The Mormon Church
cropcrtv. If this therefore, were the sGic
affection to the Utah bill 1t would not DC
sound. The other consideration Is harder TO
meet. II is to the effect that th" appearance "i
ncrsecutiOu and of Interference with religious
liberty will strengthen instead of weakening
| the Mormon hierarchy, and stultiy thr thlIc"
! STATES. which are committed more cmph"u''HF
| IN thi, doctrine than any Power on EARN
! There is force in this Argument, ana IL must DC
| faced and considered fairly. 1t IS not that inc
Normons are themselves iii position 10 De
critical or exigcnt. They have insisted TOO
long upon living outside the Constitution Oh
| the United States to insist now upon beng
dealt with IN accordance with that t"n'tItu-
finn. The question is, Can the county IN
;ustce to itself afford TO exceed the limitations
il has prescribed for tselfi At first SIGHT tbs
eooms a difficult question, but RECOURSE To
,xneriance will show how to answer 1t. W nat
,o,c the South the strength which enabled 1t
to hold ont az inst the North four years
| No,tb,rn resurct for the Constitution, carried
co far that though secession had been threat
ened for years 10 measures were taken 10
prevent it until war alone was possible.
The history Of MOmOnlsm resembles thdt OF
secession. Hitherto the party Of the Constltn-
tlOn has been pfdclISdHJ H'NNi'''' "-'i'''' Wv
marty which dcfcd the Constitution. Ihc
strength of the Mormon Church has consisted
in it's disregard of constitutional requirements
There is no specific provision in the organic
law for this state of things, but the grant OF
nower 70 Congrcss over the Territories rs ample
to covcr even such an emergency and though
fine Utah bill just reported unquestl"hably
disc,iminotes against the MormOns, practically
disfrorchiscs them, and suspends some rccog
u;zrd rules of legislation and police as regardi
tbor, the ouestion is whether the case does no
iustifv those severe measures. Mormonlsm Il
discrcditing the country all over the world
Tho NIormons refuse tn obey the Federal Gov
ernment. and their Church plainly aims Il
making of them an alien community, certain Il
ha dangerous the moment 1t Is numerical!
strono enough. These men are really outlaw
aud rebels We do not call them SO but sine
E ali mild measures have failed in dealing wit
Them. and since the time has come Tor settlin
,ba matter definitrely, there is much reaso
+ for iustifying the proposed law. 1t canno
,ool,e the Mormons more recalcitrant than the
!, o,e II will prevent them from Fastening thel
o,owth bv immigration. 1t may break up til
obnoxious system. Altogether the advantage
= ottainable by it may yet counter balance IL
Y IL IN he encountered in enforcing it.