The age-herald., 1899-12-09
UTAH CITIZENS ANSWER ROBERTS The Precedent Neither New Nor
 Dangerous HIS STATEMENTS AOT TRUE Many Sentimental Persons Are
 Being Misled. THEY TERM HIM A CRIMINAL Committee Says Charge of Adultery Felony in Utah, Against Roberts Has Been Pigeonholed by
 Mormon Solicitor
THEY TERM HIM A CRIMINAL

Washington, December 8.-Brigham f1. Roberts address to the American people was answered today by delegation rep resenting the gentle element in Utah, who are here to oppose MT. Roberts. The an- swer is follows:
 "In this mornings paper MT. Roberts makes an appeal for sympathy in which are many statements needing correction, while many facts are suppressed.
 MT. Roberts claims that the precedent made by his exclusion is both new and dangerous That it was not new was con clusively shown by MT. Taylor in his able legal argument before the house, and not single precedent to the contrary was cited where the ground of objection was ineligibility. Neither is the precedent dan gerous. Whenever a prima facie case Is made against a members citizenship by showing that under conviction for felony against tine laws of the United States he Is disfranchised and further, that by req son of his present maintenance of the status of polygamist he is again suffer- Ing from a civil disability under the Ed munds anu-polygamy act, such mem- Der refusing even to deny the charge, should be excluded. Nor is this dangerous for 1t is not likely, MT. Roberts seems to assume, that a majority of all the rep resenetatves of large state are coming to congress carrying such burden.
 "In other states men who faunt their violations of these laws of decency in the face of the public sent to the peniten- tiary. It is only In Utah where such in- decency ever added to one's eligibility and aa dati preferment. MT. Roberts contention that no evidence of his guilt can be received except judicial record of his conviction In Utah as a matter of law Is erroneous and as matter of practice dangerous because MT. Roberts and his all-powerful priesthood can prevent such conviction if they consider it worth while.
 ."Mr. Roberts claims that whatever were his c1vil disabilities before statehood, they were removed by the adoption of the state constitution. If, at the passage of the en- abling act MT. Roberts was as he seems in his appeal to admit, disfranchised by act or congress, and therefore not full citizen of the United States by the constitution, he must be to become a member of congress, then he is still in the same condition be- cause the constitution of Utah could not re- store him to federal citizenship and the en- l of Utah, unlike that of some other states, required citizenship of the United States as a qualification for voting and did not confer that citizenship upon those then not such citizens. Hence MT. Roberts statement that by Utah becoming state, he was re- habilitated with the wanting attributes of citizenship is unwarranted.
 Fugitive from Justice
 "Mr. Roberts says he has not been con-
  that he is innocent He is a fugitive from justice in Salt Lake on a charge of un- lawful cohabitation and In Davis county, Utah, where resides one of his polygamous wives with her illegitimate twins, born Au- gust Il, 1897, a charge of adultery a felony under the laws of Utah has been for two months pigeonholed by Mormon prosecut- ing attorney.
 MT. Roberts in his attempt to belittle his crimes, insists that he Is only charged with a misdemeanor. He knows better. He knows that he has been under oath and be- fore the proper prosecuting officer charged with the felony of adultery as we'll as the misdemeanor of unlawful cohabitation. He asserts that in 1889 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor only and also says that if he were guilty of the same acts in the District of Columbia, even f1agrantly so, that as member of congress he could not be ar- rested therefor, because 1t Is only a misde- meanor. Here again Mir. Roberts stated what is not true and he ought to know it. Unlawful cohabitation, under the Edmunds act under which he pleaded guilty, was a felony, as also is adultery, with which MT. Roberts is charged in Davis county, Utah.
 In the District of Columbia both unlawful cohabitation and adultery are felonies, as defined by the statutes, and 1t is only in Utah that the former Is a misdemeanor
 These charges. in view of the Edmunds and Edmunds-Tucker laws Of the United States, still in force, warrant Mr. Roberts expulsion. They are aggravated, however, because his is not an isolated case, but one representative of a system.
 People Are NIisIed
 Many sentimental people are being mis- led by MT. Roberts very ingenious sugges- tons, from which some people infer he took his polygamous wives when it was lawful to do so. There is a mistake. Adul- tery was crime in Utah when MT. Roberts was born and at the time of the passage of the Cullom anti-poygamy act MT. Rob- erts was only six years old. His plea for sympathy therefore amounts only to this; That he should be allowed to continue his criminal practices, notwithstanding he took his polygamous wives in defiance of law. We demand that he should support his families, but also demand that he cease the begetting of further illegitimat3 offsprings, and this is our only bone or contention--