Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-04-15

I
communities.
Reference has been made to GER
tain expressions Of individuals
among the Mormons, under circum-
stances Of excitement and exaspeIa-
ton, as evidence Of disloralty Of the
whole Mormon people. Weare also
arraigned for disloyalty because We
have sometimes protested against
laws and decisions which we deemed
TO be oppressive and unjustly dis
criminative against our people. Our
belief in God as the supreme ruler
OF the universe and His overruling
providence and authority has been
distorted by our enemies into treason
against the government. How would
gentlemen who are eiti.ens Of the
states Ike 10 have their loyalty
tried by such standards as these?
The constituents of the gentleman
from New YORK tMr. Baker, may
freely denounce the governor and
the legislature, criticise the decisions
OF the Judiciary, or denounce their
sherifs, and even send them to the
penitentiary.
The constituents Of the gentleman
from Iowa MIR. Struble) may meet
in State convention and denounce
the prohibition laws and demand
their repeal. The farmers Of Kan
sas, the constituents Of the gentle
man from that State (Mr. Perkinsl,
may meet In convention, arraign
Unite1 States Senators, and protest
against laws which they deem
wrongful aud oppressive. Again,
good and loyal Christians all over
this country may demand such
change as would recognize tGod in
the Constitution as the supreme
ruler of the universe.'' All these
things may be done 10y nom Nor
mons with IMMUNITY; but il Nor
mons criticise and protest against
cruel laws and wicked officials their
acts are brought forward here and
elsewhere as evidence OF disloyalty
and treason.
In this free country there can be
no criterion Of loyalty except ODE
dience to the constitution and laws.
The Medes and Persians were the
only people within my knowledge
OF history with whom the laws were
thought to be 30 sacred, perfect, and
infallible that they were held 10 be
| perpetual and irrepealable. The pro-
test against these laws was treason
punishable in the fiery furnace and
the lions den.
The right Of the people of re-
publican government to protest
against law, or demand its repeal,
or agitate for reform is not TO be
limited to cases where the people
are clearly in the right-that is beg
gtng the question. But il is hard
and cruel, as was the case with the
Mormons in Utah, 10 be charged
with disloyalty for denOuncing and
criticising acts and decisions OF
Federal officers that were clearly
wrongful and oppressive. Recent In
stances OF this kind were related by
an ex-Utah commissioner, Hon. A.
Il. Carlton, before the committee on
Territories Of this House. Though
personally cognizant Of the facts
related by him, | prefer to give his
statement, as he, being a non-Mor-
mon, is not an interested party. l
therefore condense from his testi-
mony az follows
The Federal judges in Utah, few years
ago, made an Extraordinary decision in the
/ application OF what was called "segreEa-
| ton The thIrd section Of the s0-calied
| Edmnnds act OF 1872 makes II an indictable
| onense for any male person 70 cehabit with
I more than one woman, and fixes the maxi
| mum punishment al 4 flne Of 500 and i'm =,
prisonment for siN months. Hut the Judges
l Invented n new noetriue and called 1 uessa.
| rtgafion." the gist Of which was that n a
man had been living with two or more
wives for three years. the period Of the
| statute OF limitations. the grand Jury might
'segre gate;' that is. DIVIDE up the three
years into penods OF n year, a month, a
| week, or day each, and bring IN = separate
l Indictment for each one OF the '-segreEat-
/ ed periods, so thGtithe three years being
-segregated" into periods Of one day each,
/ tho offenders OF three years continuous CO.
habftation might be indicted one thousand
| and ninetyry times with Communicative
! zines and imprisonment, amounting 20
sss- go fines and I've hundred ana forty
| seven years and six months imprisonment.
| This doctrine " : applied IN many cases.
| The Mormons criticised 10 as contrary 70
law and against the whole course Of judicial
| decisions In similar eases both in England
/ and America, and that By a sort OF judicial
| legislation the judges sought 20 punish a
man an indefinite number Of times for one
| Ofense, IN violation OF the Constitution.
I
/ loyrln complaints. and went on ''segregat-
! ing until the Supreme Court OF the United
/ States reversed the cases and decided tbs
the Mornions were sht and the Utah
/ JUDGES were wrong. In re Snow. 80 Unit
/ Cd States Supreme Court Reports. s78.)
| Another Gaze Of Mormon "dislOyalty'
| occurred in the autumn of is-2- A majority
/ OF the Utah Commission decided that man
was not entitled 20 be registered as voter
who had married plural wife subsequent
20 July ]. is69 The date Of the passage Of
/ the first act concerning pOlygamyl although
| All his wives. or all but one, had died from
ten 20 twenty years before.
| The Mormons were 20 cisioyal that they
| criticised the ruling as absurd, unreason.
! able. and contrary 70 law. "How," they
| asked, "can a man be a polyglfaist who has
no wife at alp This decision, however,
l continued 10 be enforced by the Commits
son for over two years, and many OF the
/ leading citizens were denied the right TO
| vote or hold once iamOng them William
Jennings, the mayor OF salt Lake CITY,.
| although they had had no more than one
/ wife for many years Finally, after the
1 customary "law,s delay" the Supreme
/ Court Of the United States decided that
| this ruling OF the Commission was errone-
ous- murphy " Ramsey ct al, lis SUI
Preme Court reports, page 81
The facts stated by Judge Carlton
are undeniable, for they are matters
OF record IN the Supreme Court Of
the United States.
That the position Of the Mormon
| Church relative to laws and govern
ments may be fully understood,
quote from the Book Of Doctrine
and Covenants, standard book of
the Church in matters of faith and
doctrine. My time will no, permit
me 10 read the whole article, but
will print II with my remarks. /
viii content myself by reading two
or three extracts.
The speaker here read from the
section Of the Book Of Doctrine and
Covenants relating 10 'GOvern-
ments and Laws in General.'
Now, Mr.. Speaker, that is the ac-
cepted doctrine Of the church, and
the utteranees Of no man in the
church, be he Elder, Apostle, or
Prophet, ifin conflict with these pre-
cepts, can re set up as superior to
this standard.
The advocates Of this bill divert
attention from the real issue by cry
ing out "PJlygamyl" ''PolygamylI''
thus seeking TO make Il appear that
those who are opposing the disfran
chising clause in this constitution
are opposed TO the suppression Of
polygamy. ] contend that it is nos
a question of polygnmy at all. No
one asks that polygamists shall vote,
hold office, or serve on juries. The
question Is, shall hiormOns who have
never entered into any polygamous
relations-who have never violated
any law, either Of Idaho or the
United Sites, many OF whom pro-
baby do not believe in the doctrine
Of plurality Of wives; shall these
men, possessing every other qualifi-
cation to entitle them 10 the fran
chise, be deprived Of it because they
belong to y church or organization
which holds that under certain cir
afImefances IL is not sinful for 4 man