The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1885-04-30
uN1A wBuL ,coHABrrATIoN.

It was net expected, Though 1t wa
feared, that Chief Justice Zane woule
rule as he has doneson the question tha'
was being argued when the Court ad
journed on Tuesday evening. 1t waf
not expected that he would so rule, be
cause it was believed that His Honor
was too.good lawyer and lad toS
high sense OF consistency and justice
to place himself on record in the way
that he has done; 1t was feared that he
might make this ruling out OF regard
for the public sentiment Of the nation
which declares that polygamists
must be punished, whether or
not the means employed be
regular and lawful. The Judge
has. yieldedsto that, public opinion, and
attempts tejustify himself in the ruling
which will be found elsewhere
in THE HERALD. Passing by tie moral
.homiIy features of his decision, .and say
ing nothing.of the sophistry employed
the Judge helds that Atit is not necessary
to show an offense against this law to
show sexualnntercourse 1t is sufficient
ito show that man lives with mose than
one woman, cohabits with her, and
holds her ou5 to the world as his wife.
That being SO, that he did not have sex
.ual intercourse with her, occupy the
same bed with either of them. lis.no de-
fapsa and iS,jmmaterial'n
We are not going to dispute with the
District Attorney as to the in
tent of the Edmun&s act. We
know as sell as he and as
everybody else that the motive, the
aim and purpose of the law. were ALL
not against immortality, nor in the
interest of morality; that Congress
does not legislate on the subject Of
social morals, and Is not troubled by
anything of the kind; that Utah or
any other Territory in the Union
might be brothel, feeking with lechery
and lust, all its women bad. cts men
depraved and its houses all
houses OF social vice, and Congress
would never think Of making laws to
cure the evils and reform the wicked
and corrupt We know ali this quite as
well as do Chief Justice Zane and At
torney Dickson and we know also as
they do, that the Edmunds bill was not
devised and passed for the purpose of
dealing with social immortality. The
act was designed solely as means for
Furnishing Mormon polygamists. His
Honor and the government attorney
are simply carrying into effect the
intent of the law and of those who
framed and passed it by applying the
act only to Mormon polygamists.
At the same time, deity as the act
was drawn, it could not avoid sem
blance of being in the interest of moral
ity, and not exclusively against the
plural wife system of the Mormons;
but His Honor will not have it thus,
carving into effect the intent when
there might be a failure by following
the act literally. Judge Zane would
not have made a decision like
this from the Illinois bench; he
would not have told the Illinois
man who lived under the same roof
with two women that he was unlaw-
fully cohabiting with them; he would
not have denied to the "Sucker" the
privilege and right of disproving an al
legation that he was uniawfully cohabit-
ing with women; he would not have
said that the law ever contemplated that
any cohabitation could be unlawful or
immoral that was not sexual. But this
is Utah, and the Mormons are to be
punished; if the laws are inadequate,
the Judge can supply the deficiency
from the bench, without troubling the
law-making power.
Mr.. Cannon, the defendant in this
case, denies that he has cohabited
with more than one woman
since it was made an offense to cohabit
with more than one; he has not turned
OF his wives into the street because
he hadn't the heart to do so, and has not
provided her with separate house,
whether from his want of ability or desire
to do SO is not stated; yet he maintains
absolute innocence of violating the
statute, and there is no evidence to
show that he has broken the law on the
contrary. he offers to prove by the most
competent witnesses that could be had.
his innocence; but he::ssis Mormon
polygamist, the Edmunds act was
passed for Furnishing Mormon
polygamists; His Honor steps in and
declares the accused guilty and denies
him an opportunity to even dispute the
charge. With all due respect for the
court and its learned judge, this deci-