Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-28
OF UTAH'S STATE
HOOD.
CONDITIONS

polygamy was a divine institution, and a
part of the Mormon religion had been
abandoned and that its practice had
substantially ceased, and, therefore,, that
Utah ought to be admitted as a state.
The Only condition in the Enabling act
was that the Utah constitutional cOnven-
ton should provide by an ordinance ir-
revocable, without the consent of the
United States and the people of Utah,
that while religious liberty should be
sacred, "PolygamOus or Plural Mar
riages are forever prohibited.' The con-
stitutional convention, held pursuant to
this act, adopted an ordinance in the very
words Of the requirement | have quoted,
and the convention made all the territO-
rial laws of Utah than in force, a part of
the state law. But in respect of the terri
torial act of the 4th of February, 1892,
defining and Furnishing polysamy, etc,
the convention adopted that act only so
far as it applied to ~polygamous mar
riages; the effect Of which was, following
the very words of the act of congress, to
punish only the crime of contracting a
~polygamous or plural marriage, the proof
of which, owing to the peculiar methods
of the hierarchy, it had been found al
most impossible to make in prosecutions
under the acts of congress-. This difficult
ty had led congress in the acts ! have re-
ferred to, to reach the evil by providing
for the punishment of unlawful cohabi-
tation.
Since the admission of the state, which
was completed by the presidents p~rocla-
nation of the 4th of January, 1896, | have
never heard bf any state prosecution in
respect of any of the acts related to the
subject, and 1t is well understood that
the Mormon hierarchy is in just as com
plete possession of the state in all re-
spects as it was before the acts of con-
gress passed in 1882 and 1887. This dom
ination is not confined to matters of re-
ligious belief or worship, but extends to
all the civil and political operations of
the s~tate-a concentration of power in a
few hands which is perhaps without a
parallel in any government having a
written constitution and protesting to be
a government of the people.
UTAH'S BAD FAITH.
1t is now evident enough that congress
was mistaken when it passed the Ena-
bling act in supposing that pOlygamous
notions had disappeared, and that the
state would go on in the same way as
other states, congress also must have
overlooked the fact that any engage
ments on the part of the state of Utah
a. a condition of its admission to the
Union relating to the administration of
its internal affairs would not be binding
in point of law, and could only bind the
faith of the state government, for a
breach of which the only redress must be
the fOrcible ovcrturning Of the state gov
eminent, which would be simply war.
The instant tina the state was admitted,
every act of 0ngress relating to it's in
ternal policy ceased to nave any force
whatever. The consequence is that in
point of law, the state of Utah has the
same sovereign rights that any other
state has. She may punish polygamy or
unlawful cohabitation. or she may au-
thorize it. She may declare, as congress
han once, that Legitimate children shall
not inherit or she may declare as she APP
pears to have done since her admission,