Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1899-12-07

Washington, Dec. 6.-After an inter
esting debate of three hours the house
Tuesday by vote of 302 to 80 adopted
the resolution offered by Taylor (Ohio),
for the appointment of special com
mittee to investigate the charges
against Brigham ii. Roberts, mormon
representatives. from Utah. Prev
viously the house had rejected the sub
stitute resolution offered by Richard
son, the leader of the minority, to al
low Roberts to be sworn in and SEND
the whole case to the judiciary COM
mittee. OF the 80 who voted against
the Taylor resolution all were demo-
Gratis except two, Loud rep. COLI, and
Newlands, silverite, from Nevada. BY
the terms of the resolution Roberts is
denied seat in the hall.
The reading of the presidents
message was completely overshadowed
by the dramatic proceedings which re-
suited in the action of the house to-
day. The galleries were thronged with
spectators. mostly women, who sat
patiently through the three weary
hours that preceded the debate and
then waited on three hours more UNI
til it was concluded. The most re-
markable feature of the debate was the
fact that of Roberts presentation of
his own side of the case, which lasted
almost an hour, and became so absorb
ing that he won the sympathy of the
men in the galleries and was several
times showered with applause. Dur
ing the debate Mr.. Grosvenor of Ohio
Indignantly repealed the insinuation Of
Roberts that the president had know
ingly appointed men guilty of polyga-
my to federal offices in Utah.
Byconsent it was previously arranged
there should be a three hours debate,
half on each side, one half hour to be
allowed Roberts and to come out of
the time Of the minority. Richardson,
the democratic leader. gave notice of a
substitute he would offer for the
TAYLOR resolution allowing Roberts to
be sworn in upon his prima facte case
and that when sworn in his creden~
tials and right to his seat be referred
to the committee on judiciary. Taylor
then opened his speech in favor of the
adoption of his resolution, saying he
was prompted by high sense of duty.
The power of congress 10 halt the
claimant at it's door he insisted was
clear He read from decisions of the
supreme court defining polygamy
which stated that irrespective Of
al - ~ a1 n1ura |
marriages after the passage of
the Edmund's act and IT.
respective of whether he
since cohabited with a plural wife. he
was guilty of polygamy if he still
maintained the relation of husband 8
more than one wife. But higher than
the civil law was the law of civilization
which demanded that one so tainted.
he excluded. For supporting highe"
law the member was answerable only
to his conscience, his country and ms
constituents. In all his investigation.
Of presidents, Taylor said he failed to
find a single case where the house hest
tated to assert upon proper occasion
it right to halt a member at the bar
when his qualifications for his seat
were questioned. He quoted extensive
ly to support his argument I'VE are
told" said Mr.. Taylor, his voice ringing
out clearly" that we are about to ere
ate an unhappy precedent. Why, Mr..
Speaker, we are doing this in the open
gaze of the whole world, not in clois-
tered court. We are servants of the
people empowered to do right as we see
it. The public eye is upon us. In that
presence we can do no wrong if we dc
but obey it." Taylor's concluding
words were greeted with a storm of APP
plause both from the floor and the gal
leries Few democrats, however, Joined
in the applause.
Richardson, the minority leader, fol-
said, to discuss the merits of the case.
He defed the other side to produce a
single precedent where objection was
raised to the administration of the
oath except on constitutional grounds.
The presidents cited were made
during war and were not to be relied
upon.
Roberts himself took the floor in his
own defense, after Richardson con-
Guided. The most intense interest was
manifested as he arose. The galleries
were hushed. Roberts first sent to the
clerks desk and read his naturalization
papers. He held he had not been ar
raigned or condemned for any crime
since the amnesty proclamation. II he
had been a law breaker why had he not
been punished since the non-Mormon
power prevailed in Utah? Proceeding
ne took up the char e that Utah had
broken her contract with the United
States by the election of an alleged
polygamous representative. II that
were true then Utah had simply fol-
lowed the llustrious example of the
present national administration. Il
AFFIRM" said he, that there is abund-
ant evidence that objections similar TO
those in the present case were made to
the president and senate against the