The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1899-12-13
XI-Irs HISTORY.
The Roberts Case.

The Roberts Case.
In addition to all the violation
Of their solemn pledges upon the
subject Of polygamy mentioned
last week, and as if to throw
down the gauntlet TO the Ameri-
can people, the Mormons in No
vember. 1898, elected Mr.. Brig
ham III. Roberts as their repre-
sentative in the 56th congress.
He is a Mormon elder and the
author Of one OF their standard
books called New Witness for
God, = which lies before us. In
this he uses all the arts Of sophis-
try and of ingenuity to prove
that Joseph Smith is that New
Witness. We shall have oc.
casion 70 quote from the book
later on other points. We are
concerned now only with his be-
lief and practice as to polygamy.
He is an avowed polygamist,
having at least three wives. Or
rather he has no wife at all, his
first wife having died He is
living in unlawful CO.
with three women.
All of his polygamous wives, If
they may be called such, he has
married since the Edmunds Anti.
polygamy law of 1882, or since
the congressional Anti-polygamy
law of 1862, and hence his mar
riages have all been eonsummated
in the open and willful defiance
of law, as well as in the willful
defiance Of the sense Of morality
of the American people. He was
convicted Of living with plural
wives prior to the amnesty pro-
clamation of President Benjamin
Harrison, January A. 1893, and
Of President Grover Cleveland,
September 25, 1894, for which
offense he served a term Of i'm.
prisonment, to which he was SEN
fenced on May 1, 1889. He has
confessedly lived with plural
wives and has begotten polyga-
nous children since November / !,
1890, and has therefore not COM
piled with the conditions Of either
Of the said amnesty proclamations
which show him to be as defiant
as ever.
In confirmation Of the above
facts we give the following testi.
mony Of Judge John w. Judd,
member Of the su-
preme court of the territory Of
Utah and afterward United States
District Attorney for the state Of
Utah, now practicing law in
Nashville. In an interview pub
lished in the Nashville Banner
sometime ago he said:
Yes, know Mr.. Roberts per-
sonally. He is one Of the bright
est men in the west, and an ora
tor Of more than ordinary ability.
As ! understand his case, and /
think as it is understood by every
one, himself included, it is this:
He had one wife, to whom he was
lawfully married, and after that,
under the regulations Of the Nor
mon church, he took three other
commonly called in Nor
mon nomenclature, plural wives.
His first, or lawful wife, died,
and he never has married, ac-
cording to law, either Of his plu-
raj wives, but has lived with them
all, and does now live and CO.
habit with them as his wives.
This the laws of Utah, as well as
the decencies and proprieties Of
our civilization, prohibit. Never
Mr.. Roberts was elected
by about 6, 600 majority as rep-
resentatiye in congress from
Utah.
Judge Judd goes on to tell
about the Edmunds- Tucker act,
and says:
In 1889 B. H. Roberts, the
present representative elect, was
indicted in the Third District
court Of Utah at Salt Lake City
for a violation Of the law in that
he was living and cohabiting
with more than one woman, az
his wives. To this indictment he
pleaded guilty and was sentenced
to four months in the penitentiary
and fined $500. This sentence
Of imprisonment he served out.
The laws passed by the legis-
lature Of Utah since territory
was admitted as a state condemn