The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-26
POLYGAMIST ROBERTS
1T is CERTAIN HE WILL NOT BE PER-
MITTED TO TAKE HIS SEAT.
There Is Scarcely a Member of Com
gress Who Will Dare Consent to
This Violation of State Law.
WASHINGTON I.etter in Pittshurg Disnatch.

| ted to sit as a member of the House of Rep
resentatives from Utah until he dispenses
| with two or three of his wives, who. under
the laws of the United States and the Con-
| stitution of Utah. are considered superflu-
/ Gus. That is absolutely certain.
| This is one OF the most curious cases that
ever came before Congress- While it has
been discussed generally, it is yet not gen.
| orally understood. If there be an extra ses-
sion of Congress. the matter will come up
within a few months if there be no extra
session. the unique discussion that must Oc-
cur on this matter will not be heard until
next December No difference what the
time, when Mr.. Roberts comes before the
bar of the House with other members of the
Fifty-sixth Congress to take the usual oath,
he will be asked to step aside on the OBJ
| lection of some member, and while he will
thereafter be allowed the privileges of the
floor, he may not take any part in the pro-
! ceedings of the body until his case is passed
upon.
| Ii will be a discussion absolutely unique
in the annals of Congress. for the reason
that he is the first polygamist who has been
elected to Congress since the enactment of
the Edmunds law, and since Utah was ad-
mitted to the Union with the express stip-
l
polygamy and incorporate in its Constitu-
| ton a prohibition of the system.
The Edmunds act prohibited polygamist
from voting and from being elected to any
Office. Mr. Edmunds did not stop there, but
| extended the prohibition to bigamiSts. This
! applied, of course, to all territory over
which the government of the United States
| had jurisdiction.
There came day when the political lead
! ers OF all parties in Utah said there was no
nav IN hn rEnrrf How Mn, Z
| they, will you be good and let us in?"
| Meantime dramatic scenes had been enacted
in the Territory. Most of the polygamists
| remained faithful to what they had been
| taught was divine institution.
| THE LAWS HAND FELT.
| Hundreds of these were disfranchsed, ar
rested and imprisoned; church property was
confiscated, homes were broken up, and the
suffering and misery entailed were unuues-
! tionably terrible, for it must be remembered
that these people actually believed that what
they practiced ordained by God. No
| more devoted and self-sacrificing lot of fam
! lilies ever existed
| Finally Woodruff, president of the Mormon
CHURCH at that time, had a message from
| the Divine Power which told him that the
| divine law commanding polygamy was "sus-
pended This is the language of the petit
the word may b BE w we TO marx
| gated was not used, and this is pertinent
| TO the present situation.
Inc agonzing petition for amnesty, en-
| REIMBURSEMENT and restoration of church
| property, with the assurance that poygamy
! mad been abolished then and Tor ali time,
| amnesty proclamation Jan. 4, 1893, and
| Cleveland followed with another Sept 25
| schcol property was restored, with the stipu-
| lation that schoolhouses and temples should
| at no time be used for teaching the right
| eousness of the practice of polygamy
| At hearing before the master in chancery
| upon the matter of the restoration of this
| property, Woodruff and other high officials
| OF the church testified that no poygamy ex-
| listed within the membership of the church,
| and, upon close cross-questioning, Woodruff
| admitted he understood that his declaration
| In regard to the suspension of the divine law
and the abolition of polygamy applied to
marriage then in force as well as those in
| contemplation.
The enabling act under which Utah became
| state provided that perfect liberation of
| religious sentiment shall be secured, and that
| no inhabitant of said State shall ever be mo-
| Tested in person or property on account of
| his or her mode of religious worship, pro-
are forever prohibited" The territorial
| Legislature had, after amnesty and restora-
| ton of property were granted, enacted a law
similar to the Edmunds law, defining and
prohibiting polygamy and imposing penalties
| for its practice. When the Constitution for
| the State was adopted this law was ap-
| proved, and into the fundamental law was
| incorporated a provision similar to the stip-
ulation of the enabling act relative to re-
ilSlOuo lolCA alum anu plOIAlDlllOu VI pU-
| lygamy.
PROMISE AND PRACTICE.
Brigham H. Roberts supported this ar
ticle of the Constitution. He declared that
it should appear thatsthe people of Utah in
tend to carry out in good faith and with
out equivocation the condition upon which
| statehood was granted. Congress required
an express stipulation on the subject of
polygamy. and provision of the character
| of that in question was absolutely necessary
| in order to establish beyond doubt the fact
| that they intended to carry out to the let
! ter their agreement as expressed in their
compact with the United States.
/ This is the man who has been elected by
a. majority of about 5000 in a vote total of
| about 500 as a representative of the non
polygamous State of Utah. He was one of
/ the first to commit an infraction of the
| law that he assisted to enact. He has three
| wives by his own admission, and is sup
! posed to have one or two more about which
| he says nothing. He has been arrested once,
| but no jury in Utah can be found that will
| convict a poygamist. He defes the law.
But under the laws of the United States
he is not only a criminal, but he is not a
! Office.
1t is possible, and even probable almost
| to the point of certainty, that there is not
| a -nember-elect of the next Congress who
would dare to vote for him. The effect that
| is being made to work up sentiment all
| over the country, prompted by a fear that
Roberts may win, is labor lost. He cannot
| De
The important fact in the whole perform
| ance is that Utah, in the election of this
| man, has proclaimed to the world that now
| that it is within the Union ii proposes to dc
| as 1t pleases in relation to polygamy
! That the Mormon majority of that State is
determined to re-esta5ish the divine in
| stitution" which President Woodruff in his
| vision was given the power to suspend
| there cannot be a shadow of a doubt. This
! election of Roberts is "feeler.'' to test the
| sense Of the country in the premises.
| What are YOU going to do about it?" is
the question the Mormons want answered
! before they go ahead. I'VE agreed to GER
| tain things to get into the Union' they say
but now that we are in we can DO as we
| please. We may ignore our own laws If We
| please, or we may change them to suit our
| selves We can elect nonpolygamists to the
Senate and House of the national Congress
| and you can't evade seating them; and sc
| we will save our representation"
| And the echo is, what can the United
| States do more than to shut out the polyg.
| amists from Congress?
|
MAGNETISM IN BRICKS.