The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-08
STATEMENT BY MIR. ROBERTS
AN APPEAL TO THE AMERICAN N
 PEOPLE TOR JUSTICE.

Denies Right of the House to Try Him.
 Admits That He is a Mormon but Dep
 recates the Wave of Popular Senti
 ment That Hns Been Created by False
 hood-It May be n Catholic or Metho
 dist Next,
 Washington, Dec. 7.-Brigham H
 Roberts of Utah, who was not allowed
 to be sworn in as a representative of
 congress of that state, has issued an address to the American people. It contains much that was said by N1r Roberts on the floor of the house and
 by MT. Richardson who opposed the resolution of Mr. Taylor of Ohio. Af- ter reviewing the facts and proceedings resulting in the appointment of the committee, MT. Roberts says in part
 'The member from Utah is not allowed to take the oath of his office and a committee is appointed to try him as to his alleged guilt of certain charges set forth. A hostile committee has been appointed to inquire into the case. Its membership is made up entirely of those who voted to adopt a hostile method of procedure. If the creation of such a tribunal for such purpose be allowed there is no reason why the committee should not be made up of members of one political faith-for the majority may do as it pleases about that. I ask the American people to stop and think what that may mean to this country in times of high politi- cal excitement and party strife and passion.
 "O-A formidable minority in the house may be reduced each year to very insignificant minority, or even plotted out of existence.
 "(2)--The representation to which a state is entitled on the floor of the house may be denied to it-as in this Utah case--for any length of time this committee may elect to deny it such representation. Suppose that in this case the committee shall see proper to proceed with reasonable expedition to consider the questions involved, but what is there to hinder it delaying it's action under one pretext or another as long as it pleases? It can prolong it's Investigations for two years as we'll as a month, or a year, If it so elects and meantime deny to a state representa- tion.
 If the present house can thus de- prive Utah of her representa- tion there is no reason why it could not deny Vir- ginia hers, even though she has ten representatives for ten representatives as easily as one can be turned away from the bar of the house, and one state as well as another if bare ma jority in the house chooses to have it so, and if the present republican house can do this in the case of Utah or Vir- ginia there is no reason why the next democratic house could not proceed in like manner with representatives from republican states.
 "(3)-This new precedent also strikes down the constitutional guarantee of right to one accused of crime to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state wherein the crime shall have been committed The prop osition is not to deprive me of my seat in congress by the presentation of rec ords of conviction for crime before courts before which have been found y, mittee of the house to send for persons and papers and witnesses to ascertain my guilt or innocence of an alleged mis- demeanor reported to have been com- mitted in Utah It will be useless to deny this statement by saying that in the charge against me which resulted | in the appointment of this extraordina- ry committee of investigation it is said [ that transcript of the proceedings of | a court in Utah evidences the fact that the member from Utah pleaded guilty | to misdemeanor ten years ago, and | when Utah was territory. Whatever f political disabilities were created by that event were removed by the sov- ereign state of Utah when in the adop- lion of her state constitution in 1895 she declared what should be the qualiflca- tions of her electorate, and I possess them all. And this side of the enabling act and the admission of Utah, am at the defiance of my enemies to produce any court record of conviction of crime or at any time since the misdemeanor of 1889, and the house has no right to proceed on any other evidence than such court records
 q deny the existence of the lawful mower of the house to prevent me from heinz sworn in on the presentation of inc same evidence upon which others are admitted to membership. I deny the right of the house to resolve itself into the justice of the peace court to +rv me for a misdemeanor alleged to ,ave been committed in order to find grounds of expulsion or exclusion from Inc high office to which I was elected. deny it's right to confer any such pow ,r upon it's committee.
 eff were guilty of the misdemeanor ,harged. even flagrantly so, here in the a pital I could not even be arrested for he offense, so slight is it considered ,nder the law But why this appeal to he American people? Because the safe ,uards of the rights and liberties of the individual, and of the states are being , ,roken down and many of your repre- ] ,entatives are too cowardly to even make such protest against such pro- l eedines. because they fear they would { ndanger their chances for reelection. t "It is true that the representative t rom Utah is Mormon and just now eainst the Mormon people there is wave of popular sentiment, created by alsehood, chiefly by the charge that I