St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-05-22
TO PREVENT POLYGAMY
Congress Proposes an Amendment to the
Constitution of the United
States.
The Idea Received With Much Favor
by the Law Makers at the
National Capital.
Senators Insist Upon Their Subsidy
Amendment to the Postoffice
Appropriation Bill.
Additional Life-Saving Stations to
be Placed on the Various
Lakes.
POlYgaMlX.s

POiygaMy.
WASHINGTON, May 21.-The house COM
mittee on Judiciary to-day instructed Chair
man Tucker to report favorably an amend
ment to the constitution declaring polygamy
unlawful. There was but one member OF
she committee who did not agree to the
action of the committee and ne only de-
sired further time to consider it. The fol-
lowing is the full text of the amendment as
il will be reported:
Resolved, etc., That it is deemed necessary
by the two houses of congress to propose an
amendment to the constitution which shall
be voted to all intents and purposes as part
Of the constitution, when ratified. as hereby
proposed by the legislatures of three-fourthS
of the several states, the proposed amend
ment to be numbered and to read as follows,
to-wit:
Article 16. First-The marriage relation
by contract, or in fact by one person of either
sex and more than one person of the other
sex shall be deemed polygamy. Neither
polygamy nor any p olygamous associations
or combinations between the sexes shall
exist or be lawful in any place within the
jurisdiction of the United States or any of
the states.
Second-The United States shall not nor
shall any state, make enforce any law
which shall allow polygamy or any polyga-
nous association or cohabitation between the
shall prohibit the same by law within their
respective jurisdiction.
Third-The judicial power Of the United
States shall extend to the prosecution of the
crimes of polygamy and of olygamous as
sociation or cOhabitaton between the sexes
under this article and congress shall have
power to declare by law the punishment
therefor.
Fourth-Nothing in the constitution nor in
this article shall be construed to deny to any
state the exclusive power, subject to the pro-
vision of this article, to make and enforce all
laws concerning
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
United States any power respecting the same
within any state.
Judge Tucker, chairman of the judiciary
committee, said to-day:
The committee will report the amendment
on Monday, and will then probably take up
the Edmunds Utah bill. The subcommittee
have considered the Edmunds bill, and will
submit their views to the full committee,
which will meet thereafter as often as prac-
ticable The Edmunds bill will be very greatly
modified, but am not prepared to say until
action by the full committee in what respects.
will say, however, that it will not be in
way materially to change the policy of the
government in reference to pOlygamy, but
the effort will be, while condemning the crime
OF polygamy, to do so in consistency with con-
stitutional law and with respect to the liberties
of the people affected. The amendment to
constitution proposed by the committee was
intended to define the crime of polygamy and
the like, as treason is defined by the constitu-
ton itself, so that no element in the definition
of the offense would be left to congressional
action. Having defined the crime, lest it
should continue or be revived in new state,
when it ceased to be a territory, the amend
ment gives congress the power to punish the
crime created by this article, and to the courts
of the United states the power to try it. Then
in order to prevent any inference of it in
favor of the power Of congress to interfere in
the
GENERAL LAW OF EACH STATE
as to marriage and divorce, the amendment
further provides that no construction shall
be given to it which would deny to each state
the exclusive power to regulate that class of
questions, or to give any such power to con-
gresS. The amendment therefore, while
serving as remedy for the crime, even in
the states themselves, is entirely conserva-
tive of the power of the states over the iIu-
portant dom este relations of the family.
The amendment was framed for the purpose
of throwing the weight of the constitution
itself against polygamy. AS the present con-
stitution makes it essential that every state
that comes into the Union, as well as those
already in it, shall be republican in their
form of government, so this amendment pro-
videS that every state in the Union shall be
American in its type of society and not
Asiatic. That is the states shall be repubf-
can as to their form of government and
monogamists as to their social life
Judge Tucker said that he had given the
amendment thorough and mature consider
alton; the sub committee and then the full
committee had agreed to it after full con-
sideration, and it had met with general ap-
proval from perhaps fifty members of con-
gress to whom it had been shown and on
whose judgment he could rely. He in
tended to try and secure speedy and
thorough consideration for it by congress.