Omaha daily bee., 1890-05-28
AN UNYECESSARY MEASURE.

The recent decision of the supreme
court affirming the constitutionality OF
the Edmunds anti-polygamy law is uni
versally regarded as the death blow to
the practice of polygamy in this country.
AS a matter of fact the doctrine of the
Mormon church had been almost wholly
abandoned in practice long before the
decision, and the members of that church
who still accept the doctrine constitute
an extremely small minority, probably
not over four or five per cent in Utah
and still smaller proportion elsewhere.
Nothing is more probable than that the
Mormon church will, as religious or
ganization, at an early day wholly re-
nounce the doctrine of polygamy and
expunge it from its creed The immense
preponderance of non-polygamists now
in the organization will insist upon this
being done in order to save it from COM
plete ACKNOWLEDGMENT and as n matter
of self-protection from the oper-
alton of hostile laws sus-
tanned by an almost universal public
sentiment. Polygamy is declared by
statute to be u crime, and the law has
been pronounced constitutional by the
highest tribunal. The whole power of
the government may be invoked to en-
force it. Further resistance in the in
terest of polygamy must be wholly futile.
Such being the situation, it is entirely
reasonable to expect that the non
polygamous element in the church, being
greatly in the majority, will insist
that the organization shall be
freed from the only doctrine
which subjects it, as religious body, to
legal discrimination.
Existing law being, therefore, ample
for crushing out polygamy, any further
legislation relating to the Mormon
church must necessarily take on the
character Of persecution and be repug-
nant to the provision of the constitution
which says that Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof" OF this nature is the bill now
in congress, which in effect provides that
no member of the Mormon church shall
'either vote, serve as a juror, or be
elected to or hold any civil Office in the
territory Of Utah" A man may be the
most radical of polygamists, but if
he believes in the other doctrines of the
church and remains united with it he
must by the terms of this proposed law
suffer disfranchisement and the loss of
all his civil rights. The injustice of this
must be obvious to all fair-minded
people, and we do not think it at all
doubtful that such a law would be at
variance with the constitutional provis-
ion we have quoted. Its practical effect
would be to condemn the Mormon faith
as whole and to prohibit its establish
ment as a religion, and this congress has
no right TO do. There is a vital princi-
pie involved in this matter which ought
to be apparent to all who are not blinded
by an undue prejudice. No further
dangern-tp the moral welfare Of
society,% IfrUtah or elsewhere in this
country, is to be feared from polygamy.
Even though the doctrine should survive
with a few as an article of faith, its prac-
tice is thing of the past and only the
practice is criminal. The proposed legis-
lation is unnecessary and its adoption
would work great injustice to thousands
who desire to be good and law-abiding
ritivanS