Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-02-04
REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS.

The local Legislature won't deal witt
the Utah problem, but the National Leg
islature will The fault with most law
proposed in Congress for the cure of po
lygamy in Utah is that they often under
take to settle the local question withou
for one moment, SO far as can be judged
considering the actual situation in Utah
The new Edmunds bill is surely mos
drastic measure, but it is a sort of lock
ing the stable without looking to see
whether or not the horse is in the stable
That bill undertakes to make fourteen
men happy for life, and may succeed in
doing it, but that bill, with all its pro-
visions, neglects one most essential thing.
1t makes no provision for the registration
OF births, the almost head and front of
the offense of polygamy. Families are
founded for the purpose OF raising child
ren, and these children become citizens
the State. The State undertakes to
SO regulate the family that those who
shall be born into the world and become
citizens shall be the issue of lawful we'd
lock. 1t is needless to show why the
State is so solicitous in this matter, but
the reasons for this solicitude are most
powerful and are very patent. Children
born in polygamy are not born in this
wedlock, and in those so born the law
recognizes no rights of family and in
heritance. Why does not the Govern
ment undertake to ascertain the number
of children born in polygamy by compell-
ing the registration of all births? Every
child born in Utah should have its birth
registered, giving the date of birth, the
names OF the parents, etc., and every at
tendant physician or nurse at childbed
should be compelled by law to announce
all births at which they were present to
registrar OF births designated by law.
Ii a mother refused to divulge the name
OF the father of her child, such child's
birth should be registered the same as
all other births, but it should be regis
tered as nullus .fNius, and when it ar
rived at certain age it should be made |
ward of the State and maintained and |
educated by the State. The father of |
sucf. child, when discovered, should be
made liable for the expense to the State
on account of maintenance of such nullus
fttius, but over it he should have no
authority. The mothers of such children
should also have their names entered in
special register. These are but sug-
gestions and do not pretend to be COM
plete in dealing with this matter. 1t is
all nonsense to try to suppress polygamy
and never once take note of the issue
OF polygamous marriages. Polygamists
themselves recognize that the enactment
OF such law as We suggest would do
more than anything else to suppress
polygamy. Ii in the solution of the Utah
question it is important to have a regis
tration of marriages how much more inn
portant it is to have a registration of
births. We heard OF case yesterday =
IN
J registration of births law. In a certain =
settlement south of this city young 7
woman OF about twenty years of age =
married into polygamy within less than =
wo years. She is now living q
n the same house with her 8,
husband and his first family. !,
his young woman will become q
mother in very few months, but it is
afe to say that if her husband were
rrested for polygamy or unlawful cohab-
'ation. not one of his neighbors would
now anything about his family. and no a.
ne in the settlement would have heard g
hat his young wife is shortly to become In
mother, although it is the common talk M
here now. A registration of births law 1t
Tould make it certain in the case to III
'hich we refer that crime had been su
by some one, and such law m
'ould make young woman shrink from de
marriage that brands her as a creature OF
the street and her offspring as the TO
hlld OF no one. A cessation of the prac m
ce OF polygamy is what the Government m
esires in Utah, and no one law which la
ne Government could enact would do in
lore to bring about this cessation than qu
ne enactment and enforcement of a wi
'ringent registration of births law. hs
fri