Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-12-02
Gus PRECEDENT.
Special washington Correspondents.

| WASHINGTON, ID. c., December l.
| BY one of those curious chances which
! so often upset all calculations in poll
| tics the Roberts case has forced itself
| to the front as the issue which must
be first met. Unfortunately for the
moral question involved, Roberts is
] Democrat and those principally inter-
ested in ousting him from the House
are Republicans. AS the Republican
majority is very small and one seat
more or less of considerable partisan
| importance this is one of the problems
| the solution of which conscience and
| self-interest seem to lend each other
mutual support. However this may be,
| the Democrats also have polygamist
as their quarry, for there is His High
ness, the Sultan of Sulu, whose record
and especially the term upon which he
became the loyal subject OF the SOW
ereign, Mckinley, will be duly venti-
| lated during forthcoming debates.
Senator Rawlins' proposed resolution
of inquiry into the extent to which
polygamy prevails in the United States
or in places over which they have jur-
/ isdiction" squints at senatorial inves-
tigation of His Highness and his mari
| tai habits, so that both parties will
have a chance to make something out
of the Roberts issue.
The feeling against Roberts is much
stronger among members of Congress
than was supposed before they began
to gather at Washington and compare
notes. 1t is certain that an effort will
be made to .expel him; whether it will
command sufficient vote is a debatable
question. The plan of preventing him
| from being sworn in is full Of danger
and open to serious constitutional OBJ
| lection. Responsible House leaders
shrink from so radical step. Mr..
Hepburn, for example, thinks that the
exclusion of Roberts, without hear
ing as to the merits of the case, would
present the appearance of an arbi-
trary proceeding,
FURNISHING A PRECEDENT
that might be turned to partisan use.
If one man could be excluded because
the majority objected TO him for rea-
sons of their own, dozen men, or the
entire minority, could be excluded with
as good show of reason. Ex-senator
Edmunds's view that the House cannot
constitutionally prevent any duly elect
/ ed representative from being sworn in
is the one that seems likly to prevail.
Once sworn in, as Mr.. Edmunds points
out, the House has a constitutional
right to expel any member obnoxious
to il on moral grounds, that is to say,
who has in the language of the consti-
tuition, punish its members for dis
orderly behavior, and with the concur
renee of two-thirds, expel member"
| The constitution does not determine
the grounds of expulsion, which are
| left to the discretion Of the House it,
self.
Two accusations have been brought
/ L
| a convicted criminal who has forfeited
all civil rights and that he Is living In
polygamy in violation of the compact
| under which Utah was admitted as a
State into the Union. To the first of
| these Roberts pleads that although con-
| victed and punished in 1889 for viola
| ton of the Edmunds act, he was par
! doned by the amnesty proclamation Of
| President Harrison and so restored to
| all the rights of citizenship, and that
| by living in polygamy since the admis-
sion of Utah as a State he has violated
no federal law, because the federal law
| in question ceased TO be operative in
| the State after its admission. AS to
/! the second accusation his plea is that
| his behavior has not been in violation
| of the compact, as the constitution of
| Utah does not forbid the fulfllment Of
marital obligations contracted prior to
| its admission as State. Here are
SOME VERY NICE QUESTIONS
OF fact and of law which manifestly
T, cannot be determined by popular cla-
NOR. A full investigation of his case
| can be rightfully claimed by Roberts
| and it ought 10 be granted by the
1 House. all the more az he Is without
any doubt the prima facie legal repre-
| sentative of Utah, as well entitled TO
| be sworn in as any representative.
/ A recent statement issued by the
!. Treasury Bureau OF Statistics shows
| that our exports OF breadstuffs TO Can
| ada fell on over $500 900 in 1893, and
| that the exports OF the same products
to France during the same year fell
off $4,000, 900. This Is but part OF
| the general falling OF in our exports
| Of agricultural which has been here
| tofore noted in this correspondence.
! While this movement has been going
on the export price CT wheat has prac-
/ tically remained al a standstill, and
cotton has shown slight rise within
| the last three months. Thus the far
mer remains an outsider In the race
| for foreign markets. and sells abroad
from year 10 year, On an average, about
the same quantity Of his product The
cotton growers of the United States re-
| ceive no more now for their total pro-
duct exported than they did q decade
ago, and the same thing Is true, leav-
ing out exceptional years, OF the wheat
growers There has been practically